A Friendship Like No Other (1 Samuel 23:15-18)

‘One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him.  Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God.  “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him, “My father will never find you!  You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.”  So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord.  Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.’ (1 Samuel 23:15-18)

David was near Horesh.  Horesh means ‘forest” which denotes a place of protection.  David was protected by God from Saul who wanted to kill him.  Jonathan had a holy friendship with David under God.  He was David’s confidant.  A very rare friendship between two young men.

Jonathan was so close to David that he knew God’s mind concerning them and he knew David was going to be the next king after Saul who was Jonathan’s father.  Jonathan did not mind that David was the next king because God had chosen him instead of him.  There was no jealousy between the two because of that genuine pure love they had for one another.  It was God's love.

Even so Jonathan declared and encouraged David that Saul would not get a hold of him or kill him.  Why? And how did Jonathan know that much?  It is because he knew their God.  The God they had made a pact of friendship with.  Jonathan’s name means God has given.  Gift of God.  Jonathan was truly God’s gift to David at the time and Jonathan became a great blessing to David.  Sometimes God puts special friends in your life for a certain time in your life and you ought to be very thankful for them and also be that friend to them. Not to spoil the ending but Saul and Jonathan are killed in battle and David loses his special friend then.  What a heart wrenching experience that must have been.  We must not take any friend like that for granted.  Do you have a friend like that who watches your back.  Hang on to him and be very thankful.  Friends like that are willing to overlook each other’s fault and let love to cover their multitude of sins.  It is so precious that only God can do it.  If you have never experienced a love like that start with Jesus.  He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  He will never fail you and there are men like that that will be that close to you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legacy of Wisdom Proverbs 8:17

    I am more than excited about the wisdom I find in Proverbs from the Bible these days.  A wisdom that I want to grow into and be able to pass it on to future generation The book of Proverbs is to me in part an admonition from a father to his son.   A legacy of wisdom and character.   Very obviously and more than anything he does not want his son just to be wealthy    but rather, want him to be rich in wisdom from God, the highest kind of wisdom there is.   The kind of wisdom that you want to know intimately and even pass it on to the next generation.   Men, I am talking to you or with you While still reading and meditating on the Book of Proverbs from the Bible, I cannot help but experiencing it as an admonition from a father to his son.   The Father wants to pass on a legacy to his son.   Are you a father or one to be? Or perhaps, like me a grandfather who has struggled all his life to put food on the table?   Now is my second chance to build a future filled with wisdom into my
Read more

Making Promises to God

  One thing we must watch for, it is keeping our promises to God. It is so easy at one time to make a casual promise to Him and then forget or discard as not so important...but God has not forgotten and that is why this verse warn of danger.     It is a trap for a man to [speak a vow of consecration and] say rashly, “it is holy!”    And [not until] afterward consider [whether he can fulfill it] (Proverbs 20:25)     Now in the book of Judges 11:30-31 a man by the name of:       Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give the Ammonites into my hand. Then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites, it shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”     As you read on in that same chapter you realize that it is his own unique virgin daughter that he had to sacrifice. Today this would not be allowed but in biblical times it was accepted. Nevertheless, however this is one of the saddest stor
Read more

The Fruit of the Spirit...Patience?

  As I was being tested, patience was required, and I was waiting with much complaining.   Then my wife encouraged me to read the Fruit of the Spirit out of the Amplified version of the Bible.   So, I did and here it is: “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others],   joy [inner] peace , patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting],   kindness, goodness,   faithfulness,   gentleness,   self-control.   Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) These verses not only apply to us as we go through our daily life but especially as we wait for the Lord’s return.   How we act while we wait for him does matter and it is very important.   We learn as we go through trials.   For a lot of people, the word “patience” is not welcome in their vocabulary, and I can tell by my own life I am not the only one who finds it difficult to act well while we wait.   We can all wait as this
Read more