October 16, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Effective Friendship

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Gracious Father, keep me alert as I read and pray. Enlighten my mind with Your truth and fill my heart with Your love.

Read 1 Samuel 20:1-17

[1] Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?” [2] “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!” [3] But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.” [4] Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.” [5] So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. [6] If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ [7] If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. [8] As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?” [9] “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?” [10] David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” [11] “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together. [12] Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the LORD, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? [13] But if my father intends to harm you, may the LORD deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the LORD be with you as he has been with my father. [14] But show me unfailing kindness like the LORD’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, [15] and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family-not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.” [16] So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.” [17] And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“Christian friends help us face into the truth of who we are in Christ. They help us face down the lies that shape us, and they orient us in the direction of God’s patient love” (Adele Ahlberg Calhoun). We all need friends like that.

The friendship between Jonathan and David is legendary and was based on their shared commitment to God as well as mutual interests. David’s first recorded words for some time reveal a young lad who is genuinely bewildered by what is happening (1); his life has changed dramatically! Jonathan by this stage is the one stable factor in David’s life. They have already made a covenant together–a pledge of mutual allegiance and dependable support in the face of all odds (18:1-4), and they re-commit themselves to each other now (14-17). They will do so again, later, before God (23:18).

Their plans now include a promise by David to be faithful to Jonathan and his descendants, as well as a realistic appraisal by Jonathan of the state of his father’s mind, with the promise to aid David’s escape if necessary. Continued mutual trust and transparent personal integrity were vital to their relationship and to David’s safety. David was the ancestor not only of a line of kings, but of Jesus himself (Matt. 1:1-17). Had he been killed at this point, God’s purposes would have been severely compromised. Thus Jonathan played a significant role in God’s purposes for Israel and for the world.

The power of friendship for encouraging, protecting and sustaining another person should never be underestimated. Jonathan himself never knew how important his role was; he died in battle before David became king (31:1,2). Are we prepared to give friendship generously, even when we do not know what the outcome may be? Or are we prepared to give of ourselves in caring ministry, even though we may not live to see the fruit of it?

Apply

Jesus told his disciples that he counted them as his friends (John 15:15). What do you think that being a friend of Jesus really means?

Closing prayer

Lord, help me to be the person that my friends need me to be, to free them up to become who You want them to be.

Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.

© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.

Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.

View all readings

Get ENCOUNTER:

in your email:

in Print:

Become a Member | Visit our store