1 Samuel 19:1-3 – Being a true friend

David's great success in destroying Goliath had propelled him from obscurity to popularity. He was instantly hailed as the national hero and became the love of the nation. Everyone in Israel loved him especially Jonathan, the king’s son. Besides Jonathan, we are also told that Michal, the king’s daughter also loved him. While Saul rejoiced with David’s success for taking down Goliath at first, he was, however, soon threatened by his popularity. He became jealous of his fame and that jealousy soon created the spirit of fear and hatred. And his hatred for David became so intense that he made two attempts to pin David down with the spear. Besides, he also used his two daughters Merab and Michal as ploys to get David to fight the Philistines with the hope that he would be killed by them. But all his attempts to destroy and remove David failed because the Lord was with him. When he realized that, he became more afraid of David.

Saul knew God had rejected him as king because of his disobedience. There is no clue that he was aware that Samuel had already anointed David as king. In his heart, he might have hoped that Jonathan would be the one to replace him as king. If he was more discerning, he could have guessed who the next leader God had chosen but he remained oblivious. Despite witnessing how David was empowered by the Spirit to accomplish so much, Saul remained clueless. He did not know that in going against David, he was opposing God. So in 1 Samuel 19, we see his hatred for David intensified.

Verse 1 tells us he “…told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death.” His previous attempts to destroy David, using his daughters Merab and Michal were more covert. With Jonathan and his servants, he was blatantly open. He solicited their assistance to have David killed. Saul probably did not expect his son to let him down and reveal the plot to David. He expected him to be on his side. But Jonathan was a true friend. He knew what loyalty meant. He chose loyalty and integrity over his relationship with Saul.  So he warned David about Saul’s plot. He even went on to make plans to save his friend.  Verses 2-3 describe Jonathan’s plan. He said to David “…to stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; if I find out anything, then I will tell you.”

We all need true friends, people whom we can confide and entrust our life to absolutely. But honestly speaking such friends are hard to come by. We can be sure that God wants us to be a friend like Jonathan. If we are to influence the world and make an impact for God, we need to be such a kind of friend. In a world where trustworthy friends are hard to come by, we need to be a friend that our companions can trust. To cultivate such friendship would call for higher loyalty.  Let us aim to emulate Jonathan and be a great friend to have.