Sacrificial Love
Opening Prayer
Loving God, what amazing love You’ve shown me in giving Your Son so that I could be reconciled to You.
Read 1 Samuel 20:18-42
[18] Then Jonathan said to David: “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty. [19] The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. [20] I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. [21] Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger. [22] But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away. [23] And about the matter you and I discussed-remember, the LORD is witness between you and me forever.” [24] So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat. [25] He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty. [26] Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean-surely he is unclean.” [27] But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” [28] Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. [29] He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.” [30] Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? [31] As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!” [32] “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. [33] But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. [34] Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David. [35] In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, [36] and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. [37] When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” [38] Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. [39] (The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) [40] Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.” [41] After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together-but David wept the most. [42] Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.'” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
What was the basis for David and Jonathan’s covenant?Jonathan risked his life for David. The famous verse, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) rings true for both Jesus’ sacrifice and for the price Jonathan was willing to pay to save his friend’s life. Sacrificial loves speaks louder than any words ever could.
I think most people have had to say goodbye to someone important in their life at some point. Perhaps it’s someone they won’t see for a long time—a friend who is moving away, a sibling leaving home, or a church member leaving on a long-term mission. It hurts to say goodbye to someone you love. But surely such pain as David and Jonathan experienced (41) is worth it for the depth and meaning of their close friendship.
God was clearly at the center of David’s and Jonathan’s relationship. Their greatest comfort in saying goodbye is their promise of loyalty to each other and the constant presence of the Lord who would watch over them both.
Apply
Is faith in the Lord the basis for your close friendships? If not, what can you do to make it so?
Closing prayer
Lord, I’m grateful for my close, dear friends. I want You to be at the center of our friendships.
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