Tag: jonathan

Jonathan’s Loyalty

Today’s Reading : I Samuel Chapter 20 

Camaraderie. Compassion. Friendship. Loyalty.  These words are used often in the New Testament, but are seldom used in the Old Testament in regards with people relationships.  In the Old Testament, people are only interested in their own gain and power.  We have a glimpse of true devotion and friendship in today’s reading between Jonathan and David.  

Jonathan is the son of King Saul.  He is also the brother-in-law to David.  David and Jonathan became great friends during Saul’s reign as king of Israel.  After David stood up to Goliath and saved Israel from their enemies, David came into the court of the king and became a trusted advisor to the king and Jonathan.  Saul became paranoid and needed assistance from David to soothe his thoughts, so David became more trusted by both Saul and Jonathan.  Along the way, Saul started to question the loyalty of everybody including David and Jonathan.  Saul conspired with Jonathan and his other advisors to plot against David and kill him.  But through all of the lies and conspiracy of Saul, Jonathan remained faithful to David. 

This loyalty and friendship is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit on David.  David had eight brothers [we are introduced to earlier in Samuel] and all of them were not concerned about David while he was in the fields as a shepherd.  The brothers even despised him as David brought them food and refreshment in the battlefield.  David had known how to be a brother, but none of his blood relatives would be committed and dedicated to him.  After David is anointed and has conquered the Philistines, he is brought into the court of Saul and Jonathan. Here the Spirit creates a bond between Jonathan and David that is stronger than birth or blood.  

Proverbs 18:24   

 A man of many companions may come to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I wonder if Solomon is referring to his father’s and Jonathan’s relationship here.  This relationship literally save David’s life several times. Jonathan and David embodied the Hebrew commandment that are later spoke by Christ and shared with many  

Romans 13:9 

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: 

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

David and Jonathan knew that their purpose was far greater than anything that they could imagine.  They knew that God’s hand had placed them together for a reason. Their loyalty to each other would transcend both of their lives and live on after their deaths.  This is the goal for us a Christians:  to give unconditionally to all we encounter.  Not only should we give to our friends, but also to the ones that are searching for friends and those who have turned away from us. We cannot give up on the people that may have hurt us in the past.  We need to seek the Spirit of God to reconcile our relationships to create this type of peace and loyalty that is exhibited by Jonathan and David.  

Father God, 

Create the opportunities for the Spirit to open our relationships to create trust, peace, and loyalty that is indiscernible and amazing.  Thank you for the blessings in advance.  Amen 

Love vs. Law

 

Today’s Reading:  I Samuel 21; Psalms 22

In today’s reading, we find David, our anointed king running for his life. King Saul has been attempting to trap and kill David, but Jonathan has been a savior for David. This friendship has proven more valuable than the relationship that Jonathan and his father, Saul, had together. In I Samuel 21, David is fleeing and terrified for his life and safety. David enters the temple of God and request food and weapons.

I Samuel 21: 1-6

 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

It was against the Levitical Law for anyone to eat of the holy bread except the priest and this was a very important law, which had fatal consequences if broken. The priest was faithful, even with the potential of death to show love for David. David had been anointed the next king of Israel, but it was not revealed to many.   But the Spirit of God revealed something in David to the priest, and this caused the priest to show compassion toward him. By listening to the Spirit, the priest empowered David to face his adversaries with the needed nourishment and protection. This account with David is so impactful that Christ in the New Testament about the Love vs. Law scenario references it.

Matthew 6: 1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Over the last several weeks, I have been reading and spending meaningful and intentional quite time and have had several enlightenment times that circle back to the necessity of learning the word of God, but allowing the Spirit of God to lead and direct me. Sometimes I get wrapped up in the “obligatory” and traditional ways and manners of worship and lose sight of the true purpose of the “why”.   In this passage the priest listens to the Spirit of God and loves the person and presence of God in David.   I have attempted to be more like David and search for God’s heart. As Christ and David understood and lived, “God desires mercy, not sacrifice”. It’s not the “act” that God wants from us, it is the “want and need” to be close to him. Can we desire God more today, this week, and so on going forth?

Lord, allow us to desire you the same way that you desire us. Allow us to love you as you have loved us. I pray that my prayers and actions are not just to perform them, but to actually seek you and your presence. Amen

A Special Friendship

Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 18 and Psalm 19.

“…the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul…”

1 Samuel 18:1

Today we read about the wonderful friendship that Jonathan and David developed, despite Jonathan’s dad, Saul, disliking and being jealous of David. Jonathan being selfless, humble, and giving stripped himself of his own robe, armor, bow, sword, and belt and gave it to David. It says after this David was successful.

This past year, my Dad lost his Jonathan. His best friend, Doug McCumber, left this Earth to be with his Lord and Savior in Heaven unexpectedly. When my Dad and Mom moved to Tuscola, Illinois for a teaching job in the 1970s, knowing Doug, but not extremely well, Doug helped them get a house before they even arrived in town without them even seeing it! As a banker, he helped them get on their feet financially as well. From there, he continued to help my Dad get plugged into a community where he knew no one. They played tennis and basketball together with Doug taking him with his tickets to Illini basketball and football games which they both were passionate about. The only thing they never agreed on was Cubs and Cardinals. Even though my parents moved a few short years later from Tuscola, and this was way before cell phones, text messages, and emails, the 2 remained extremely close with Doug becoming my Godfather when I was born a few years later. Later in life, they enjoyed their morning walk and talks on Ft. Myers Beach each year with some of their most deep and memorable ones being this last summer which neither of them knew would be their last ones. Doug wasn’t just the average friend to my father. Like Jonathan giving up his most prized battle possessions, Doug never let you pay for a meal, and if you were lucky enough to steal the check from the waiter, he was genuinely mad. He didn’t want you to bring food to the tailgate. He’d supply that, along with the tickets to the game, too! That was just Doug. He was a true best friend, and I know my Dad will forever be grateful for all Doug did for him.

One of the greatest gifts God gives us is relationships. Of course, our relationship with Jesus is the top priority, but He also gives us relationships with others in this world to help us. In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, King Solomon says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

We need our friend to help us in times we are struggling. We need our friend to let us know when we may have a blind spot we are not aware of. They can help us when we are struggling with our marriage, with finances, career issues, our children, and numerous other things….even when we don’t know we need it or just don’t want to hear it.

What battle are you fighting alone right now? Don’t. Go to your Jonathan. They will give you their robe, armor, sword, bow, and belt to help you. God put them in your life for a reason.

On the flip side, who do you know that’s struggling? Who can you be Jonathan for? It’s not easy. We’re busy and have our own lives, and it could make things uncomfortable with your relationship depending on their reaction. But, God put you in their life for a reason. Maybe this is it. Maybe you can help them. I’d say it’s worth the risk.

If you’re reading this a little bit sad because you are not sure if you have a Jonathan and David relationship in your life, I bet you do. You just don’t know it yet. Maybe you need to give to someone like Jonathan did. If Jonathan would not have been so giving, when he didn’t need to, it’s likely this friendship would have never become what it was with David. If Doug wouldn’t have bent over backwards to help my Dad, asking nothing in return, their special friendship likely would have never developed.

Don’t fight battles alone. Go talk with your Jonathan, or go be a Jonathan!