1 Samuel chapter 20. 1 Samuel chapter 20. It always amazes me in the Bible why God puts such detail in certain scenes and other things that seem to be so important, He can sum it up in two to seven verses as the, of course, a whole One of the great climaxes in the Bible is the birth of our Lord, and he says it in seven verses in Luke 2. And yet he spends 42 verses on this situation between David and Jonathan. When does that happen? And of course, we know the Bible's written by many different authors, and yet this man was a historian. We don't know exactly who wrote 1 Samuel. There's all kinds of conjectures, but one thing about it He was a court observer. He knew the intricacies of royalty and the courts and so forth. As I mentioned this morning, I don't get into that. You know, the five presidents had a funeral this past week and I see them go in and, you know, okay, they're dressed up, you know, they're all whatever. And one of them was, in fact, one of them was laughing with another a little bit and, you know, it was a somber occasion. But then I read about it from some of the court observers. And did you see the way that so-and-so's wife look at so-and-so? Or did you see the vice president, the way she looked at what? And you're going, whoa, no, I didn't see all that. But I mean, and then they had this lip reader who was telling us what Trump said to Obama. And I'm going, wow, I mean, you better just keep your mouth, you know, whenever you go to a funeral. So there are people like that. And of course, you get into royalty and you get a whole British press that does that with King Charles and all that. And you can imagine living in a glass house like that. I mean, just how, and so this man, he brings out a lot of intricacies, but in doing that, He's showing us the great pathos, the great decisions that some great men have to make, and how that he had to leave mother and father, Jonathan, and betray everything that he was destined to have because he knew God's will was not for him to be king. And he knew that David was, but in doing that, there were all kinds of things that had to be straightened out. Can you imagine if good old King Charles, if he got mad at Prince William today and threw a spear at him, do you think that might hit the headlines? Think so? If he cussed him out and called his mother a very bad name, and public at a big state dinner. Do you think the British press might say a little bit about it? Do you think the American press would say a lot about it? Well, this is the thing that this writer is doing. And in doing this, he talks about covenants. And covenants in the Bible are extremely important. A covenant is something that is not to be broken. And if it is broken, there's all kinds of ramifications. We break our covenant with God. Because we tell him we'll serve him to the end, and we don't. But he tells us he'll never leave us or forsake us. But the Bible also says it's impossible for God to lie. So here we see the intricacies of human relationships and the relationships we have with God. Now, David knew that he was going to be king. Samuel, the man that all Israel knew that was the voice of God, you just have to think that word got out from some of the family about that great scene where Samuel goes down when David's a teenager and anoints him. Anoints him for what? Then he kills Goliath. And then you have that great scene in chapter 18 where we see that the heart of Jonathan was knit to David and he took off his armor and gave to David. From that, there's a that is a to you and me, OK, they're just playing around. You know, I will take off my shield and I give to you. My son's had shields and all these kind of things. But no, that was a political statement. That was saying, you're welcome into the family. And really, you're an heir to the king. Now, he didn't come out and say that you will be king because, of course, that would have caused all kinds of problems. But he was letting people know that David was part of the royal family. He was accepted in the beloved. But then as we see it go on, we see that these two men become very prominent and the king becomes almost irrelevant because we see the interactions between these two men who are godly men. Remember Jonathan, the first time we see him, he is saying, perhaps God will have us do this. In fact, he knew the Lord. And of course, he was a military hero himself. And then, of course, David came along and he says, is there not a cause? Who is this Philistine that is defying the almighty God? And so both of them knew the Lord and both of them became very powerful men. And yet we see that both of them realize that they were I mean, if God was going to perform his will. There had to be, there was all kinds of webs that had to be unraveled. All kinds of political entanglements and so forth. In fact, you know the story that we've looked at in the first part of chapter 20, where they concocted a plan whenever David realized, you know, he'd already been, the spear had been thrown at him three times and he had escaped. But he said, you know, Jonathan, you know, things are getting pretty bad and your father's going to try to kill me. And they concocted a plan, which, again, they were not perfect men. They made a lie. They said, hey, listen, give me permission. And David was still considering him the crown prince. So he said, give me permission to leave and go down, because I don't want to be at that banquet that we're going to have on the new moon or whatever, because I don't want to be a target again. And Jonathan is saying, my dad just he just promised me that he wasn't, you know, this is over. And so you got a son that is extremely loyal to his dad, to his nation and to his friend. But you got a real problem here. Because how can you be loyal to a man like Saul and a friend like David? So he's got all these things going on, and of course, a subject to the Lord. And so we see, as you go back to chapter 19, We see that after they've concocted this plan about Him not being at the Feast of the New Moon. We see before they did notice that you go back to To Let's go back to verse 14 of chapter 20 He says you shall not only show me kindness of the Lord while I still live so David I know that you're going to be the king. I don't know how in the world God's going to do it. But as long as I live, don't make, you know, you know, when when someone becomes the king besides the king's son, then they kill each other or they kill any opposition. And you know, remember, and later on, Saul's going to call his own son because he's so mad at him. He calls him a very bad name, like an illegitimate son. But he calls his mother a very bad name. And he does it publicly, shaming his own son. And so but we see that. And but you remember later on, David, his own sons started killing each other because they didn't want Solomon, who was an illegitimate son, to be the king. And so here, I mean, all these things are going on. But we see that he says, and it shall be not only show me kindness of the Lord while I still live, though I may not die, but you shall not cut off the kindness of my house forever. Now, whenever you see that word, my house, that means You know, the king, that is, that's the source of power. In my father's house are many mansions. Well, why do you have a house within a house? But no, it's the idea of government. It's the idea of your house. And when I go to your house, you're king, you're king of your castle. Now, if you have the biggest state or if you are the governor or the king, especially in England or whatever, then you own a whole lot more and you represent the country. It's your house. And so as a result, your house is everybody involved in that house. So you have King Charles, and then you have, what's the kid there? The good guy. Prince William, and then you have the bad guy, Prince Harry, and all the intrigue, and they're always writing about it. I get bored with it, but other than you can't escape it, it's always out there. So everyone saw there'll be a clickbait or something that I'll look at. But he says, you know, from my house forever. So, you know, we're going to have some political people following us. And I don't want to be at war with you. I don't want it to be the Hatfields and McCoy's. I don't want it to be, you know, the the war of the roses. Why were the Hanover's and the tutors and all that kind of stuff? He says the kindness to my house forever. No, not when the Lord has cut off every one of his enemies of David from the face of the earth. No, you've got a lot of energy enemies and notice I realize that God is going to cut off a lot of your enemies but David I Hope that my house will not be your enemies and swear to me Now let's make a covenant together that you're not going to destroy my family and all those around me. I And David did. But we see that, so Jonathan made a covenant. A covenant is an unconditional promise with an unconditional result. In other words, I will do this no matter what happens. That's what a marriage covenant is, till you die. Of course, by the hardness of the heart, a man breaks his covenant, but not with God. And so we see that they set a covenant. It was with the house of David. Notice my house and your house. Now you don't have much of a house now. You're still just the shepherd boy hiding out in the field. But I realize that you're going to have an entourage. And so I don't want it to be like so many of the houses of what was the Tudors and the Hanover, was that it, or whatever, I forget all those different wars that they had, kings and so forth trying to fight over that. You get all those gothic novels and movies about Richard the Lionhearted and all his brothers and all that kind of stuff, the political intrigue. Well, David said, I don't want that. Or Samuel, Jonathan said. So he said, let the Lord require it at the hand, let the Lord require it at the hand of David's enemies. So you're going to have some enemies. But can you spare my house? Now, here he is, the crown prince, politically, and everybody is thinking, hey, he's the next guy. He's the Prince William. He's the guy that's in charge. And yet he realizes that he's not going to be, but he has no idea what God's going to do. Nothing. He's totally out on a limb. God hasn't told him what he's going to do. All he knows, David is recognizing him as the crown prince. And we'll see this later. But at the same time, David is realizing, yeah, God has anointed me king. So what do I do with you? And we've got a problem here. We've got a major problem between two very powerful people that love one another. That's one of the strangest situations in all of history, and especially in the Bible. And so we see in verse 20, so David, verse 17, and Jonathan again calls David to make a vow. Okay, he's really driving this home because he loved him. For he loved him as he loved his own soul. So he was really placing a lot of trust into David. And he said, you know, sooner or later I'm going to have to give up the throne. But I love, you know, in spite of that, I'm not jealous of you. God has given, notice God had knit his heart to David back earlier in chapter 18. And so these two men had a heart for God. David was a man after God's own heart, but so was Jonathan. What do you do when two good men have some conflict like this where things have to be worked out but they have no idea how to do it? And so of course they made that covenant and then they made their plans. And then we see the scene where David hid in a field, verse 24. And notice now how this historian brings it out. Now, the king sat on his seat. So he was on his throne. He was at the head chair at this banquet. And as at other times, seat by the wall. A very interesting A little detail, the kings usually sat against the wall so that nobody could sneak up behind them or if there was an entourage. You know his back was to the wall and he wasn't going to be stabbed in the back. So it's just interesting how they put all this in there. And Jonathan rose and Abner, who was Jonathan's cousin, part of the house, you remember David later on would not kill Abner even though he was the general of the army of that was under Saul when Saul died and Jonathan and Saul both died and Abner actually became the defuncto king because they killed the They killed Saul's other son. And then, of course, unfortunately, old Joab killed Abner. And boy, David made a big display of that. I just had nothing to do with it. And so we see that Abner sat by Saul's side. So he's really giving you a picture of what this is all about. But David's place was empty. And everybody in there, let's see, whose wife was not at the funeral this past week? Michelle was not at the funeral this past week. And everybody knew. She was vacationing in Hawaii. I don't know. I mean, poor old Michelle. I mean, maybe she didn't know the guy, you know, whatever. Maybe she just tired of politics. Maybe she didn't want to be, who knows? I mean, I don't fault her for that. I don't like her politics, but as a person, I don't have anything against her. But what was the big deal about Michelle not being at a funeral? Wouldn't you hate to be a part of that family in certain times? In certain times, it'd be a great time. But as a daughter or a wife of a president or a son of a president or whatever, just how exciting it could be or how dangerous it could be. But David wasn't there. And nonetheless, David did not, or Saul did not do anything that day, first day. Now, think about Saul. He's thinking, you know, Maybe he doesn't want to come because I've already tried to kill him three times. Maybe he's not wanting to dodge another spear or whatever. Maybe he's sick. Maybe he's unclean. And of course, this is a religious holiday. So we'll watch it. But now the second day, he's a little concerned. And it happened the next day in verse 27, that David, the place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan, why is the son of Jesse? Notice he won't even use his name. He doesn't say David because he's so tired of hearing that name and how that's been exalted and women dancing in the street with their tambourines because David has killed his 10,000s and all this kind of stuff. He's a military hero, so he doesn't even want to name his name. The son of Jesse, not come to eat either yesterday or today. So now Jonathan does, but Jonathan takes this little scheme, and when you start lying, you start getting, it gets a little bit bigger and bigger. Now, again, we see that, again, man's not perfect and even in his plans. And he said that David earnestly prayed for permission to go to Bethlehem. And he said, please let me go for our family, so far so good, as a sacrifice. And my brother has commanded me to be there. You don't see anything about that when David and Jonathan made their plans. Nothing about his brothers. And of course, he had seven older brothers. And he said, yes, I'd like you saying, you know, he's still the shrimp of the family. And he had to go back and take care of family business. And they wanted him back. And it was very important for him to go. He didn't have to say all that. But he knows he embellishes it. And now, if I found favor in you, he said to me, if I found favor in your eyes, now wait a minute, notice he's coming to me rather than to you, Saul. So he still considers me the pecking order. And so he asked me permission to go. And he said, please let me go away to my brothers. He didn't say that. He said, let me go to my family. Therefore, he has not come to the king's table. And Saul's anger was aroused against David. And he said, you son of a perverse woman. And you could put any epithet in there about a guy cursing a guy's mother. I mean, it was bad stuff. And you can imagine what the press would do something like that with any leader saying that to his own son. Do I not know what you have chosen the son of Jesse to in your own shame? Hey, he's going to take your the son of Saul knew that David was becoming very powerful. And you're gonna let him do it? Everybody in the kingdom probably knew that David was becoming way too prominent just to be down the pecking order. And so there was a sense, there was a fear, there was something there. And he says, for as long as the son of Jesse, notice he won't use his name, lives on earth, you shall not be established. nor your kingdom, nor therefore sin and bring him to me that he shall die. Let me go ahead and kill him, you fool. Don't you realize that everything that I have is going to go to you unless he steps in. Now you can see the problem both publicly and privately that poor old Jonathan is having. He's caught in between God's will and yet an uncertain future and a hostile father. And then the ultimate happens in verse 32. And Jonathan answered Saul, his father, and he said, why should he be killed? What has he done? And Saul picked up a spear and notice and cast a spear at him to kill his own son. by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David. Now, if you're going to try to kill me, you know, look what he's doing. So here we see now Jonathan finally gets the message. There's no way that there's going to be a compromise. There's no way that my father is ever going to really realize the will of God. My father has turned away from the Lord a long time ago. Samuel used a picture of the robe being torn from him, saying, your kingdom will not prosper. Remember, that was a public statement. And Jonathan knew. Whatever but wait a minute, but all this was going on and the train was going and how do I get off? I mean after all I'm caught I hey, I'm the guy that can't inherit the kingdom if Samuel what he told my dad was true So, how do I get off the train? How do I get off of the situation and yet? God has given me this weird tremendous love for my adversary David and I mean, can you imagine a more precarious position to be in, in all the world? And so here he's got to, he has to think of the Lord and what he's doing. And so we notice now that David had hidden in the field. And so here you have the shepherd boy hiding in the field and he's the anointed. And you have the appointed that is at the royal feast. And yet the appointed realized that his appointment was about up in verse 35. And so it was in the morning that David went out, that Jonathan went out to the field at a time appointed with David. And a little lad was with him, and we know the story about that. Now, whenever you have someone preaching or telling these stories, don't get wrapped up in making certain things that God doesn't say are emblems of something else. I've heard people talk about, these arrows represented something. What do they represent? You know, you get into all kinds of things there. If God doesn't tell us, I leave it alone. All he was doing was shooting the arrows and saying, if they shoot too far, then that means that you better stay hidden. If they're short, then you can come out. Now, of course, as we said last week, they said that David and Jonathan could not be seen together anymore. because anybody who saw him would be worse than that funeral last week. I mean, what are they saying to one another? And do you realize that he just got a spear thrown at him and now he's talking to David. I mean, we got some problems here, folks. Let's put it on the London Times or the Washington Post. I mean, we got some things. Boy, isn't this exciting, you know, a political intrigue. We can write column after column about it. And so, of course, they couldn't be seen together. And so they made that signal. And of course, the David or Jonathan shot the arrows, just like he had promised. And that meant scram, get out of here. But there's something about Jonathan that he could not follow through. He had to see David one last time. As far as he knew, it was going to be his last time. He could not, so he sent the boy back in town. Now the boy, if he had found out about it, of course, all he had to do is tell one person and it was over. Hey mom, dad, guess what? I went out with Jonathan and he shot arrows and then David came out from behind a rock and they talked to him. Do you imagine how many cameras would be on that boy the day after? And so he had to send him back into town. But once he did, he still took a chance. I just can't let him go. We've got to at least have our goodbyes. And one of the most emotional scenes in all scripture, as we see that in verse 38, so Jonathan cried after the lad and said, make haste and hurry and do not delay. So David, Jonathan's lad, gathered up his arrows and came back to his master. But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. So notice he's making sure that as a court observer, he's making sure you understand that. Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the lad and said, carry them back into the city. Okay, here's just something to do, kid. I'm gonna stay out here and get a suntan or I'm gonna stay out here and just think a while. And so the boy being innocent, now an older person probably would have thought about it. He said, I'm not sure, but this boy just, you know, he just followed orders and went back home, innocent as it could be. But as soon as the lad had gone, in verse 41, David arose from the place toward the south. and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times, and they kissed one another and wept together, but David more so." Now there's a whole bunch of stuff going on here. First of all, David bowing to the ground, he's still recognizing Jonathan as king, or as royalty. He realizes he's still the shepherd boy, he has no power. And so he says that he rose from the, he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times and they kissed one another. Now, this is where 21st century theologians or would-be internet theologians get into, oh, see, they were gay. They, folks, this is, would be an abomination. Now, I'm not from Latin America and I'm not from Italia, Italy especially. But you take some of those big old guys over there, mafia or whatever, and they go and kiss each other on the cheek and all that kind of stuff all the time. You call them gay and you might wind up looking like a pretzel or worse. When Sodat came over to Camp David with President Carter, He kissed him on the cheek, both sides. That's just what they did. I had a man in our church, Brenda's husband, Brenda's father, a good man, big strong man. But that's what he did. He just came in, and boy, I just dreaded to see him come, honestly, because he would, oh boy, how do you? But to me, so this is a common thing, and it has nothing to do with perversion, nothing whatsoever. So if you ever hear that, drive that person up, quit listening to them, because they are perverting the word of God. And so, but that's prominent. Oh, see, David and Jonathan, boy, no, no, no, no, no. And so we see that David, the more so. It's interesting, why does he put that? Jonathan would be the one who's given up everything. David is the one who's going to become the king, and they all know it. Why wasn't David saying, you know, boy, this is going to be good, and I'm going to make all kinds of promises. And just as soon as we get your daddy out of the way, we're going to have a good time together, guys. No, David realized, boy, we've still got a problem, and we don't know how to get out of it. And the thing about it, at the end of the chapter, they depart, but they still don't know how to handle the problem. It's like so many war brides who would kiss their husbands when they went off to war, not knowing what was going to happen, and if anybody, if they would ever see each other again. But David the more so, and then Jonathan said to David, go in peace, since we have both sworn. So we've noticed how Jonathan keeps coming back to this covenant. Now you've promised me, you promised me. He's sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, may the Lord be between you and me and between your descendants, your house, and my house forever. So he arose and departed. And Jonathan went back into the city. You know, Jonathan, he couldn't change the situation. It reminds me a lot of Fiddler on the Roof, if you ever watched that movie. It's just full of Jewish tradition. It was written by Jews. It was played by Jews. I mean, it was a very good depiction. If you want to learn a lot about Jewish culture, Even when they go through the door and what they would do with those little tassels on the side and so forth, I mean it was a thoroughly Jewish movie. But oh, his name Reptevia or Tevye or whatever the guy's name is, the star of The Daddy, and he lost two girls. You know, he lost his, I think his second and third born girls. One to a liberal Jew who fell in trouble with the czar. And of course, had to go to Siberia. And that scene where he let his girl go against everything that was against him. And she is saying, goodbye, Papa. And he says goodbye, but he doesn't say the Lord be with you. And you could see him going off and there's a big song, sunrise, whatever the song is. And very dramatic, but he was separating from his daughter. But then at the end of the movie, where he lost another daughter, she married a Gentile of all things, a Russian of all things, and they are having to leave Russia. And as he's going off, his another daughter is saying, goodbye, Papa. And he just keeps on going, much like David went back, you know, he left here. He kept, goodbye, Papa, and he's not saying anything. Goodbye, Papa. And finally, he says, May the Lord be with you. Oh, Papa, you gave me the blessing, you know, I mean, that you've accepted me. You blessed me. May the Lord be with you. I mean, it was all. And so here you have a guy going back into the city, but knows he wasn't going back to his father. He realized that there was irreversible damage and separation from his dad. It would never be the same, but he had no idea what was gonna happen in the future. And that's the way the fiddler on the roof ends. They're going off, but they have no idea what's gonna happen. But here you have a picture like that. of the pathos that goes on, separation. You know, the Lord said that, you know, he didn't bring peace to families, but many times a sword. You think about, you know, one of the fastest growing, where Christianity is growing faster than most other places in the world is in places like China and the Middle East. But if you get saved in the Middle East as a daughter, they can burn you alive. A man who gets saved, oh, he's giving up, he's gonna get killed. I mean, mercy, why they call honor killings and all that kind of stuff. They're coming over here and all of a sudden you're seeing that in the news every once in a while. Some person from that background will go out and kill his daughter or kill the guy who's gonna marry his daughter and all these different things. And so whenever a person gets saved, many times in many places in the world, they don't know what's going to happen next, and they might lose their family. And that's exactly what Jonathan has done. He's lost his family. He's lost his dad. There's no going back. The headlines have already been revealed. There's a big estrangement here. Saul's trying to kill his own son, even though they get back together politically. And he fights and they die together. And yet the relationship is dead. Can you imagine being Jonathan? I think there's going to be a very special place in heaven for a guy who gave up all for the will of God. And I think David is gonna have his place, but you'll see now the rest of the chapter, or the rest of the book, how that David becomes more and more prominent, and Saul is shoved into the background. Because as we said back in chapter 16, God was starting to bless David, and his spirit was being removed from Saul. And so when that happens, that creates a lot of problems, especially in very high places. But, oh, that God, that we would be true to God. no matter what the cost. How many people? I think of people I was in college with and, you know, they gave their hearts to the Lord. And I think of one man specifically right now that his spirit said, OK, if you go to college, not only I'm not going to support you, but you're not going to get any. I'm writing you out of my will. If you become a pastor. I don't know whatever happened to him. I could name him right now, but I won't. But what do you do with that? If you marry that guy, you'll never be a daughter of mine again. He's a Christian. He wants to be a missionary, whatever. People have done that. I mean, people have gone through things like that. And there again, it doesn't have to be that dramatic. It's just I don't like the guy, but he's a Christian and I don't want you. I think of one lady. She was mad because her daughter got saved and her husband got saved and they were growing gloriously in the church. And she was mad because her girl wouldn't go out to the bars with her anymore and dance on Saturday nights. And she tried her best to. Destroy that marriage. What do you do in situations like that? There's no real answer as far as I can't tell you what's gonna happen next And do we know what happens next? Yes, because he wrote it down but at this time They two men are left in limbo David's running for his life And it gets worse and worse for him for quite a while. And Jonathan goes back into the city. Can you imagine trudging back into the city saying, oh my, the things I gotta put up with from now on. And yet they were two men after God's own heart. And how that God blessed both, even in death of Jonathan. I think his reward is great in heaven, don't you? And of course we know what God did with David. Let us pray, Father. We thank you for your word. We thank you for what it can show us. So many times we've gotta make decisions having no idea what the result's gonna be. Sometimes we have to give up or we think we're giving up all. And yet, Lord, we have no idea how that you're gonna bless those who Find out that they can't out give you the blessings that you give to those who love you. Oh Father, we pray that you'd bless those here tonight, those who are listening to us today that might be making some sacrifices. It might cost them their job. It might cost them a relationship to follow you. But oh Father, how we pray that you'll find us faithful no matter what the cost. For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.