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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 5
29 June 2008
David and Jonathan
(Message delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the Worship
Service, 2:00 pm, June 22, 08)
Text:
2 Sam 1:26
Many of us may still
maintain good friendship with our classmates, colleagues, neighbours,
and Christian brethren and we thank God for this blessed friendship. The
Scripture we are learning today tells us about a blessed friendship
between David and Jonathan. This friendship is so admirable, beautiful,
unselfish and loyal that whenever Jonathan is mentioned, his friendship
with David is always praised.
When David heard that
King Saul and Jonathan were killed in battle, he rent his clothes,
“and mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for
Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of
Israel; because they were fallen by the sword” (2 Sam 1:12),
especially David lamented for his dearest friend Jonathan, saying, “I
am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou
been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women”
(2 Sam 1:26). Have you and I ever lamented for our dearest friend
like David when he or she passed away? May the Lord help us appreciate
and maintain our friendship with those brethren who are bravely standing
for the Lord and His Word and fighting a good fight of faith for His
Name, His Truth and His Glory against the “giant” of apostasy and
compromise in these last days.
Jonathan
Jonathan means “the LORD
has given” or “the LORD’s gift”. There are at least 14 men named
Jonathan in the Scripture, and the Jonathan we are talking about today
is the eldest son of King Saul. He was first mentioned in 1 Sam 13:2
when King Saul chose him to be a commander over one thousand in Gibeah
(1 Sam 13:2). Jonathan is remembered and praised for his loyal and
unselfish friendship with David.
Jonathan was a brave
warrior, skillful at using the bow, and David said, “the bow of
Jonathan turned not back…swifter than eagles,… stronger than lions”
(2 Sam
1:22-23). With his strong faith in the Lord, he dared to attack
the Philistine garrison, saying to his armourbearer, “Come, and let
us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the
LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint (hindrance) to
the LORD to save by many or by few” (1 Sam 14:6), and God did help
him to defeat the Philistines (1 Sam 14:1-15). Dear friends, do you and
I bravely trust in the Lord to defeat the enemies of our souls, even
Satan, sin, self, wrong doctrines and worldliness despite our minority?
Jonathan was
honoured by most of the people of Israel. His armourbearer obeyed him
with his loyalty and trust, saying to Jonathan, “Do all that is in
thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart”
(1 Sam 14:7). The people of Israel gave Jonathan the credit for the
victory over the Philistines and stopped King Saul from killing him due
to his silly vow, “And the people said unto
Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in
Israel? God
forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to
the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued
Jonathan, that he died not”
(1 Sam 14:45). And above all, Jonathan was honoured and
loved by David, who appreciated and highly valued his unselfish love
more than any others’, saying, “I am distressed for thee, my brother
Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was
wonderful, passing the love of women” (2 Sam 1:26). Dear friends,
are you and I a good testimony for the Lord and His Word among our
family members, neighbours, friends, colleagues, and Christian brethren?
The Reason of
Jonathan’s Friendship with David
Jonathan loved
David not because David had loved him or
had done anything for him personally nor because David was rich or noble
with a high-ranking position. At that point of time, David was only a
shepherd, but he had something that almost all others did not have,
“the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward” since
he was anointed by Samuel (1 Sam 16:13). Then, what caused Jonathan’s
soul to be “knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his
own soul” (1 Sam 18:1)? Was there any man who dared to confront the
giant Goliath, who presented himself in the morning and evening defying
the God and the armies of Israel for forty days? No man was brave enough
to come out and fight with this giant!
“King
Saul and all
Israel
(including
Jonathan and the general Abner) heard the words of the Philistines,
they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (1 Sam 17:11) and
“all the men of
Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were
sore afraid” (v 24).
Thank God that it is David, who honoured and trusted in God and bravely
confronted the giant Goliath for the sake of God’s Name and glory,
saying to him “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and
with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the
God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied…
This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; …that
all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel…
And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword
and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our
hands.” (1 Sam 17:47). Jonathan must have been there witnessing
everything happening on that great day, and he must have admired David
and loved him as he defeated Goliath and took away the shame from
Israel, accomplishing the great task that Jonathan could not do!
Therefore “And it came to pass, when he (David) had made an
end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit
with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1
Sam 18:1). The verb “knit” here means “bind, fasten, join together,”
this same verb is used to express Jacob’s soul being bound up
with his young son Benjamin (Gen 44:30) and to indicate the binding of
God’s Word to God’s people and children as a command from the Lord,
“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine
heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they
shall be as frontlets between thine eyes” (Deut 6:6-8). Rev Dr
Timothy Tow, the founding principal of the Far Eastern Bible College,
said that his heart became knit with Dr McIntire’s heart for the Bible
Presbyterian movement and for the ICCC (International Council of
Christian Churches) standing against the compromising, liberal,
modernist and ecumenical stand of the WCC (World Council of Churches).
How about your heart and my heart? Is it really bound to the Word of God
and to those brethren who dare to stand firm for God’s Word and fight a
good fight of faith for God’s Name and His Truth? That is why we are for
FEBC and pray for her and wholeheartedly support her. What is the reason
of our friendship with others? The friendship will be honourable and
blessed when our hearts are knit with the hearts of those brethren who
honour God and His Word and dare to stand for His Truth against the
giant of compromise, apostasy and false isms in these last days.
Jonathan’s Friendship
Was for the Right and the Truth
Jonathan did not envy
David when the women sang that David killed ten thousand and his father,
King Saul, only a thousand because he was for the right and the truth.
David deserved to be praised, admired and loved for the great job he had
done in the Lord’s Name.
Being a filial son,
Jonathan was still not for his father when he planned to kill David. His
loyal friendship for the right and the truth can be seen when he truly
loved David, had concerns for David’s well-being, defended him and
protected him from the harm of his father (1 Sam 19:1-7; 20:1-42).
Knowing that the Lord was
with David and trusting that He would establish David as the king of
Israel, Jonathan made a covenant with David and caused him to swear to
be kind to him and his house, “And thou shalt not only while yet I
live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: But also thou
shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the
LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the
earth” (1 Sam 20:14-15; cf. 16-17, 41-42). Therefore, Jonathan did
not care for what his father has said about establishing his “kingdom”
(1 Sam 20:31), but went to David to strengthen David’s hand in God and
was humble and willing to be next to David, saying, “Fear not: for
the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king
over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father
knoweth” (1 Sam 23:17). What a beautiful and unselfish friendship
for the right and the truth! How about your and my friendship? Is it
also loyal and unselfish for the Lord and His truth?
David’s Unselfish and
Loyal Friendship with Jonathan
David, a man after God’s
own heart, did appreciate and maintain the precious friendship with
Jonathan. He neither demanded much from Jonathan nor took advantage of
Jonathan’s love or kindness. David did not ask Jonathan for anything. It
is Jonathan, who “stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and
gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow,
and to his girdle” (1 Sam 18:4) while David had not expected that.
David only asked Jonathan to witness his father’s reaction to David’s
deliberate absence from the meeting with the king for three days. When
Jonathan knew surely that his father wanted to destroy David, how
touching it was for both of them to depart, “David arose out of a
place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed
himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with
another, until David exceeded” (1 Sam 20:41).
Next, David did
remember and much appreciate how Jonathan loved him and what
Jonathan had done for him, so he mourned for Jonathan’s death, “I am
distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been
unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”
Finally, David
did keep his promise and vow he made to Jonathan. David did
not cut off his kindness from Jonathan’s house, but searched for
Jonathan’s children and fetched Mephibosheth to dwell in Jerusalem and
let him sit and “eat continually at the king’s table” (2 Sam
9:1-13). David even brought the bones of Saul and Jonathan from
Jabeshgilead and buried them “in the country of
Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of
Kish his father”
(2 Sam 21:12-14). How beautiful,
unselfish and loyal it is for the friendship between David and Jonathan!
Conclusion
Dear friends, how about
our friendship with others? Is it unselfish and loyal and based on God’s
Word and God’s truth and for His name and glory? Then, we should
appreciate and maintain this blessed friendship with the brethren who
trust in the Lord and His Word and dare to stand firm and fight a good
fight of faith for God’s Truth and glory. Above all, our Lord Jesus
Christ is our best Friend and King. Shall we not appreciate and maintain
the blessed friendship with Him with our trust, loyalty and submission?
Jesus says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever
I command you” (John 15:13-14).
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