Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 1 Samuel 23: 16, 17, NKJV.
Merciful God, we thank You for working beyond our circumstances and upbringing, and offering us an opportunity to triumph by having a personal relationship with You. May this be our reality, in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Those who are using the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide will most likely agree with me, that for the past four weeks we have been having a spiritual feast in the Word of God! The first four lessons of this fourth quarter of the year, have brought us some very good psychological insights into the life of these “background Bible characters” (I am running about eight days late in the publication of these devotionals). The authors, have done an excellent job, in my estimation, of looking beyond the place of these individuals in sacred history, without sacrificing context, and have made their experience very relevant to those of us living in the twenty-first century. I have been blessed.
What I would like to do in some of our devotionals, is share some insights of my own on these lessons, that perhaps were not mentioned; or, at the very least, from the same point of view, as the authors, . These devotionals may not be shared in the same order as they appear in the Sabbath School Guide. Today, I would like to begin by sharing some thoughts on the life of Jonathan.
Our Scripture for today, reveals a most unusual trait of self-lessness in the life of Jonathan, the son of Saul. He and David share one of the most uplifting, and beautiful, friendships that I have ever read, or heard, about! On both sides of the friendship, there is an innocent, childlike, transparency, that I have found very heartwarming! Nevertheless, without any intent to minimize David’s contribution to this extraordinary friendship, I believe that it is Jonathan’s behavior that makes this story so worthy of comment.
Jonathan is on every count, the next in line to the throne; unless, of course, the throne is, according to Saul, usurped by David, the son of Jesse, “Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom” (1 Samuel 20: 30, 31a). Jonathan knows this; yet it does not change the way he feels about David, not does it affect the way he treats him. Jonathan loves David, “as his own soul” (see 1 Kings 18: 1, 3; 20: 17). In all three of these verses, it is Jonathan’s love for David that is being emphasized!
Much has been said about the importance of nature and nurture in the formation of character. I have studied, observed, and experienced, in my own life, the validity of these studies. According to the authors of the Sabbath School lessons, “Nature or nurture? By either measure Jonathan was doomed” (Adult Teacher’s Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, p. 47). I agree. But there is one component we leave out of this life-determining, vital, trio: a personal relationship with the God of the universe! We inherit traits. We learn from our environment. We are molded by the quality of nurturing we receive. But let us never forget, that difficult as it might be at times, the result of all of these circumstances and situations can be transformed, by having a personal relationship with God.
I fully agree with the authors of these lessons, “Jonathan easily could have followed his father’s example. What choice did he have, after all? The same choice we all have. The choice to rely on God rather than himself and to rely on God to make up for the shortcomings we may have inherited from a fallen nature or from flawed nurture” (Ibid). That is the value of a personal relationship with God! Jonathan, the son of Saul, is a worthy testimony to this fact!