by Aaron Lawrence
The Restoration Herald - Jun 2026
David’s primary purpose for facing the giant was to honor God, but, secondarily, he was helping to save Israel from the Philistines. David showed the greatest act of love for both God and Israel by putting his own life on the line for them. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” David’s brave act showed his love for both God and Israel, which included Jonathan. This marks the beginning of a noble friendship.
In the covenant between Jonathan and David, we find the formula for their friendship. In 1 Samuel 20:42, Jonathan states, “May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.” God was to be the common factor between them. They would honor God in the way they dealt with one another from now on, no matter what.
However, this covenant would quickly be put to the test as Jonathan would have to choose between his own father and his friend. Here is the key: his decision was not based on popularity; it was centered around honoring God. When Saul became jealous of David and tried to kill him, Jonathan interceded. He protected David from his own father because what Saul was doing was evil. Jonathan chose to follow God and do good for David, even over family ties.
When Saul attempted to kill David again, David fled to Samuel in Ramah, and Saul sought to kill him there. David fled from there and met up with Jonathan, who was still undecided as to whether his father was truly seeking David’s life or not. David came up with a test to know for sure, and they devised a plan on how to communicate after the fact.
On day one of the feast, as predicted, Saul noticed David’s absence. On day two, he questioned Jonathan about it. Here, Jonathan interceded once again, placing his own life on the line for David, but this time, Saul’s anger was aroused, not subdued. Saul accused Jonathan of choosing David over him and made this statement in 1 Samuel 20:31: “For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom.” Saul obviously saw David as a threat to the kingdom and tried to convince Jonathan to help him kill David.
Whether Jonathan knew that God had chosen David to be king or not, he knew that killing David would be evil. Again, Jonathan chose to honor God and do good for David over doing evil with his father. In this text, it is easy to see which side is evil and which one is good. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one’s life for his friend. David laid down his life at the beginning for God and Israel; now Jonathan lays down his for God and David.
That day, Jonathan was sad and ate no food, but not because his father had tried to kill him. Scripture says he was grieved for David because Saul had treated him shamefully. The next morning, Jonathan kept his promise to warn David of the danger. They kissed one another and wept together. First Samuel 20:42 records Jonathan’s words to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord.” We also have the oath the friends swore: “May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.”
Scripture tells of only one other encounter between the two before Jonathan’s death at the hands of the Philistines. When David found out about the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, he was greatly distressed and lamented with a song recorded in 2 Samuel 1. However, this was not the end of David’s kindness towards Jonathan. In their covenant, they promised kindness to each other’s descendants also. After David was established as king, he inquired and learned about a son of Jonathan’s who was still living, named Mephibosheth. David sought him out, took him in, gave him his father’s land, and treated him as his own son.
What made David and Jonathan’s friendship so great, even in the hardest of times? It was the fact that they agreed to put God as the common factor between them. They agreed to always honor Him in the way that they treated one another, and they did. You and I cannot always convince the people on the other side of our relationships to agree to this, but we can and should set our minds to always honor God in the ways that we deal with other people. This will make the most noble of relationships.
Discussion Question: Are our friendships founded upon God and His will or the standards of the world?
I think I will attempt to answer the question in three parts: 1. I should not go out of my way to be unnecessarily offensive. 2. I should not be afraid of being offensive when necessary. And 3. I should get busy doing practical good deeds that, in general, people will find it hard to object to.
In his 2015 book, “Extreme Ownership,” author Jocko Willink defines the title concept as follows: “On any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes & admit failures, take ownership of them, and develop a plan to win.”
A few years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to become a part of the Board of Directors of International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES). I’ve been exposed to IDES and their incredible ministry for as long as I can remember and have, on several occasions, had the joy of sharing in its work. From participating in work trips to a storm-ravaged Pearlington, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, to helping with shed building projects after a tornado ripped through our neighboring region in 2012, to volunteering with numerous “God Always Provides” (G.A.P.) food packing events, IDES has always been a familiar and beloved mission to me.
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