1 Samuel 18:1-5: a reflection

1When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2Saul took him that day, and wouldn’t let him go home to his father’s house any more. 3Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 4Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his clothing, even including his sword, his bow, and his sash. 5David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. It was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

This passage describes the beginning of one of the great friendships of Scripture, between Jonathan and David. Jonathan, we are told, loved David as his own soul, and made a covenant with him. And he expressed that love in a striking act of self-giving: he stripped off his own robe and gave it to David, along with his armor, his sword, his bow, and his belt. Jonathan, the king's son and heir, gave David his own royal robe and the symbols of his standing, a costly gift of self-giving love.

Notice the self-giving in Jonathan's love. He did not merely feel affection for David; he gave, and gave generously, even sacrificially. The robe he gave was his own, a mark of his royal status; the armor and weapons were his own. In loving David, Jonathan gave of himself and his own, holding nothing back, though David was in some sense a rival for the throne Jonathan might have expected. His was a love that gave, generously and without grasping.

That self-giving love is a model for our own loving. Love that is real gives; it does not merely feel warmly, but gives of itself, sometimes at cost, holding back neither its possessions nor its own advantage. Jonathan's love for David gave even his royal robe, even in the face of what it might cost him. Let your love for others be a giving love, like Jonathan's: not merely warm feeling, but a readiness to give of yourself and your own, generously, even at cost. Do not love only in word or feeling, holding back what it would cost you to give; love as Jonathan loved, giving of yourself, your possessions, even your own advantage, for the good of the one you love. Self-giving is the mark of real love; let yours give, as Jonathan gave David his own robe.

Lord, this passage describes Jonathan's love for David, who loved him as his own soul and gave him his own royal robe, his armor, his sword, and his belt, a costly gift of self-giving love, though David was in some sense a rival for the throne. Let that self-giving love be a model for my own. Love that is real gives; it does not merely feel warmly, but gives of itself, sometimes at cost, holding back neither its possessions nor its own advantage. Jonathan's love for David gave even his royal robe, even in the face of what it might cost him. Let my love for others be a giving love, like Jonathan's: not merely warm feeling, but a readiness to give of myself and my own, generously, even at cost. Keep me from loving only in word or feeling, holding back what it would cost me to give; help me love as Jonathan loved, giving of myself, my possessions, even my own advantage, for the good of the one I love. Self-giving is the mark of real love; let mine give, Lord, as Jonathan gave David his own robe.