1 Samuel 19:1-5: a reflection

1Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. 2Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, live in a secret place, and hide yourself. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.” 4Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you; 5for he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

When Saul orders that David be killed, his son Jonathan, who loves David, does something both brave and generous: he advocates for David to his own father. He warns David to hide, and then he goes and speaks well of David to Saul, reminding the king of David's faithful service and his courage against Goliath: Do not let the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and his deeds have been very good toward you. Why then would you sin against innocent blood? At real risk to himself, Jonathan pleads the cause of one who was in danger and could not speak for himself.

Notice what Jonathan does: he becomes an advocate. David was absent, in danger, unable to defend himself before the king, and Jonathan stepped in to speak for him, to plead his innocence, to remind Saul of the good David had done. He used his position and his relationship with the king to advocate for someone who needed defending, even though it meant risking his father's anger against himself.

That is a picture of advocacy worth imitating. There are people around us who are in danger, unjustly accused, or unable to speak for themselves, and we, like Jonathan, may be in a position to advocate for them, to speak well of them, to plead their cause, to defend the absent and the innocent. It often takes courage, for advocacy can cost us. But it is a good and loving thing to speak up for those who need defending. When you are in a position to advocate for someone in danger or unjustly treated, do as Jonathan did: speak up for them, plead their cause, and defend the innocent, even at some cost to yourself.

Lord, Jonathan advocated for David to his own father, pleading the cause of one who was in danger and could not speak for himself, at real risk to himself. Make me an advocate like that. Show me those around me who are in danger, unjustly accused, or unable to speak for themselves, and give me the courage to speak up for them, to plead their cause, to defend the absent and the innocent. Keep me from silence when I could advocate for someone who needs defending. Advocacy can cost me; help me be willing to bear that cost, as Jonathan was, for the sake of those who need someone to speak for them. Make me a defender of the innocent.