1 Samuel 20:1-42 CSB
Jonathan Protects David
1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”
2 Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”
Jonathan is not aware of Saul trying to kill David
When was the last time that Jonathan was mentioned in the scroll of Samuel?
1 Samuel 19:6 CSB
6 Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed.”
Jonathan is not mentioned again until Chapter 20.
He doesn’t know.
3 But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’” David also swore, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”
4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
“Whatever [your soul says to do], I will do for you.”
Luke 22:42 NKJV → “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
“Whatever [your soul says to do], I will do for you.”
5 So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king. Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the countryside for the next two nights. 6 If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to go quickly to his hometown, Bethlehem, for an annual sacrifice there involving the whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions.
8 Deal kindly with [Show loyalty to] your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I have done anything wrong, then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”
9 “No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”
Jonathan still isn’t convinced that Saul wants to kill David
Jonathan still has hope for his dad
But David knows.
Psalm 36:1-4 CSB
1 An oracle within my heart
concerning the transgression of the wicked person:
Dread of God has no effect on him.
[There is no dread of God in front of his eyes.]
2 For with his flattering opinion of himself,
he does not discover and hate his iniquity.
3 The words from his mouth are malicious and deceptive;
he has stopped acting wisely and doing good.
4 Even on his bed he makes malicious plans.
He sets himself on a path that is not good,
and he does not reject evil.
10 So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
11 He [Jonathan] answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the countryside.” So both of them went out to the countryside. 12 “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?
13 If my father intends to bring evil on you, may the LORD punish Jonathan [me] and do so severely if I do not tell you and send you away so you may leave safely. May the LORD be with you [David], just as he was with my father. 14 If I continue to live, show me kindness [loyalty] from the LORD, but if I die, 15 don’t ever withdraw your kindness from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” 16 Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.” 17 Jonathan once again swore to David in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
Jonathan makes his covenant again with David.
He gladly gives up his right to the throne.
He surrenders his right to the authority.
He gives the authority to God’s king.
Because he delights in David.
18 Then Jonathan said to him [David], “Tomorrow is the New Moon; you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty. 19 The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target. 21 Then I will send a servant and say, ‘Go and find the arrows!’
Now, if I expressly say to the servant,
‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you—get them,’
then come, because as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem.
22 But if I say this to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you!’
then go, for the LORD is sending you away.
23 As for the matter you and I have spoken about, the LORD will be a witness between you and me forever.”
24 So David hid in the countryside.
At the New Moon, the king [Saul] sat down to eat the meal. 25 He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26 Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean—yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”
Saul repeats himself.
27 However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother?
Saul is enraged. Afraid. Jealous. Paranoid.
31 Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me—he must die!”
32 Jonathan answered his father back, “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”
1 Peter 2:22-25 CSB
22 He [Jesus] did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;[Isaiah 53:9] 23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds [Isaiah 53:5] you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, [Isaiah 53:6] but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer [Guardian] of your souls.
33 Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, so he knew that his father was determined to kill David. 34 He got up from the table fiercely angry and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.
There are consequences to choosing a side.
There are consequences to choosing a side…& living for Jesus.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the countryside for the appointed meeting with David. A young servant was with him. 36 He said to the servant, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.” As the servant ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?” 38 Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s servant picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”
41 When the servant had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell facedown to the ground, and paid homage three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.
David wept more.
God is a feeling God.
God has intense feelings / emotions.
David will now be on the run.
Psalm 32:7 CSB
7 You are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance.
Psalm 4:8 CSB
8 I will both lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, Lord, make me live in safety.
Psalm 140:1-2, 4-11 CSB
1 Rescue me, Lord, from evil men.
Keep me safe from violent men
2 who plan evil in their hearts…
4 Protect me, Lord,
from the power of the wicked.
Keep me safe from violent men
who plan to make me stumble. [to trip up my steps]
5 The proud hide a trap with ropes for me;
they spread a net along the path
and set snares for me.
Selah
6 I say to the LORD, “You are my God.”
Listen, LORD, to my cry for help.
7 LORD, my Lord, my strong Savior,
you shield my head on the day of battle.
8 LORD, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let them achieve their goals.
9 When those who surround me rise up,
may the trouble their lips cause overwhelm them.
10 Let hot coals fall on them.
Let them be thrown into the fire,
into the abyss, never again to rise.
11 Do not let a slanderer stay in the land.
Let evil relentlessly hunt down a violent man.
Psalm 141:8-10 CSB
8 But my eyes look to you, LORD, my Lord.
I seek refuge in you; do not let me die.[f]
9 Protect me from the trap they have set for me,
and from the snares of evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely.
42 Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the LORD when we said, ‘The LORD will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.’”
[Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.]
Jonathan has now chosen a side
Everyday we choose a side.
Whose side will we choose?