1 Samuel 20:1-8: a reflection

1David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” 2He said to him, “Far from it; you will not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me. Why would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.” 3David swore moreover, and said, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, ‘Don’t let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved;’ but truly as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.” 4Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you.” 5David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to dine with the king; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem, his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’ 7If he says, ‘It is well,’ your servant shall have peace; but if he is angry, then know that evil is determined by him. 8Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you; but if there is iniquity in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”

David comes to Jonathan in desperation, hunted by King Saul, Jonathan's own father. What have I done, David pleads; what is my sin, that your father seeks my life? There is only a step between me and death. And Jonathan, who by every worldly calculation should side with his father and protect his own future throne, responds instead with total loyalty to his friend: whatever your soul desires, I will do it for you. He puts himself entirely at David's service.

This is covenant friendship at its finest. Jonathan and David had bound themselves to each other before God, and Jonathan honors that bond even at great cost to himself, standing by David when David's life hangs by a thread. He does not offer vague sympathy but concrete help, arranging a plan to discover his father's intentions and warn his friend. Loyal love, the kind that sticks in danger, is willing to act, to risk, and to stand by the one it loves when standing by them is costly.

In a world of convenient, low-cost relationships, Jonathan's loyalty stands out. He shows what it means to be a true friend: to stand by someone in their danger and desperation, even when it costs you, even when self-interest would pull you the other way. Ask whether you are that kind of friend, one who shows up and acts when a friend is in trouble, not just when it is easy. And thank God for any Jonathans in your own life, and for the greater Friend, Christ, who laid down his life for those he loves.

Lord, Jonathan stood by David in his danger with a loyal love that cost him, offering not vague sympathy but real help. Make me that kind of friend, one who shows up and acts when others are in trouble, even at cost to myself. Thank you for the faithful friends you have given me, and above all for Christ, the greater Friend, who laid down his life for those he loves. Amen.