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1 Samuel
Chapter Twenty
1 Samuel 20
Chapter Contents
David consults Jonathan. (1-10) Jonathan's covenant with
David. (11-23) Saul, missing David, seeks to kill Jonathan. (24-34) Jonathan
takes leave of David. (35-42)
Commentary on 1 Samuel 20:1-10
(Read 1 Samuel 20:1-10)
The trials David met with, prepared him for future
advancement. Thus the Lord deals with those whom he prepares unto glory. He
does not put them into immediate possession of the kingdom, but leads them to
it through much tribulation, which he makes the means of fitting them for it.
Let them not murmur at his gracious appointment, nor distrust his care; but let
them look forward with joyful expectation to the crown which is laid up for
them. Sometimes it appears to us that there is but a step between us and death;
at all times it may be so, and we should prepare for the event. But though
dangers appear most threatening, we cannot die till the purpose of God
concerning us is accomplished; nor till we have served our generation according
to his will, if we are believers. Jonathan generously offers David his
services. This is true friendship. Thus Christ testifies his love to us, Ask,
and it shall be done for you; and we must testify our love to him, by keeping
his commandments.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 20:11-23
(Read 1 Samuel 20:11-23)
Jonathan faithfully promises that he would let David know
how he found his father affected towards him. It will be kindness to ourselves
and to ours, to secure an interest in those whom God favours, and to make his
friends ours. True friendship rests on a firm basis, and is able to silence
ambition, self-love, and undue regard for others. But who can fully understand
the love of Jesus, who gave himself as a sacrifice for rebellious, polluted
sinners! how great then ought to be the force and effects of our love to him,
to his cause, and his people!
Commentary on 1 Samuel 20:24-34
(Read 1 Samuel 20:24-34)
None were more constant than David in attending holy
duties; nor had he been absent, but self-preservation obliged him to withdraw.
In great peril present opportunities for Divine ordinances may be waved. But it
is bad for us, except in case of necessity, to omit any opportunity of statedly
attending on them. Jonathan did wisely and well for himself and family, to
secure an interest in David, yet for this he is blamed. It is good to take
God's people for our people. It will prove to our advantage at last, however it
may now be thought against our interest. Saul was outrageous. What savage
beasts, and worse, does anger make men!
Commentary on 1 Samuel 20:35-42
(Read 1 Samuel 20:35-42)
The separation of two such faithful friends was grievous
to both, but David's case was the more deplorable, for David was leaving all
his comforts, even those of God's sanctuary. Christians need not sorrow, as men
without hope; but being one with Christ, they are one with each other, and will
meet in his presence ere long, to part no more; to meet where all tears shall
be wiped from their eyes.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel》
1 Samuel 20
Verse 2
[2] And
he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do
nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my
father hide this thing from me? it is not so.
Is it not so —
For Jonathan gave credit to his father's oath, chap. 19:6.
Verse 3
[3] And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I
have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest
he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is
but a step between me and death.
David sware —
The matter being of great moment, and Jonathan doubting the truth of it, he
confirms his word with an oath, which follows in the end of the verse. Only he
interposeth a reason why Saul concealed it from Jonathan.
Verse 5
[5] And
David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not
fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the
field unto the third day at even.
To the third day —
That is, unto the next day, but one after the new moon. His meaning is not,
that he would hide himself in any certain place all the three days, but that he
would secure himself either at Bethlehem with his friends, or in any other
place 'till the third day.
Verse 6
[6] If
thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he
might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all
the family.
Asked me —
Who being the king's son and deputy, used to give license to military men to
depart for a season upon just occasions.
Verse 8
[8] Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought
thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be
in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
Deal kindly — In
giving me timely notice, and a true account of Saul's disposition and intention
towards me.
A covenant of the Lord — That is, a solemn covenant, not lightly undertaken, but seriously
entered into, in the name and fear of God, and in his presence, calling him to
be the witness of our sincerity therein, and the avenger of perfidiousness in
him that breaks it.
Slay me — I
am contented thou shouldst kill me.
For why —
Why shouldst thou betray me to thy father, by concealing his evil intentions
from me?
Verse 12
[12] And
Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father
about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good
toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee;
O Lord God — Do
thou hear and judge between us. It is an abrupt speech which is usual in great
passions.
Verse 14
[14] And
thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I
die not:
Kindness as the Lord — That kindness to which thou hast engaged thyself, in the covenant sworn
between thee and me in God's presence.
I die not —
That thou do not kill me or mine, as princes of another line use to kill the
nearest relations of the former line, from whom the kingdom was translated to
them.
Verse 16
[16] So
Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even
require it at the hand of David's enemies.
A covenant —
The covenant which before was personal, he now extends to the whole house of
David, expecting a reciprocal enlargement of it on David's side, which
doubtless he obtained.
Enemies — If
either I or any of my house shall break this covenant, and shall prove enemies
to David or to his house, let the Lord, the witness of this covenant, severely
punish the violators of it.
Verse 17
[17] And
Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as
he loved his own soul.
Swear again —
Heb. and Jonathan added or proceeded to make David swear; that is, having
himself sworn to David or adjured David, in the foregoing verse, he here
requires David's oath to him, by way of restipulation or confirmation.
Loved him —
Because he had a true friendship for David, he desired that the covenant might
be inviolably observed through all their generations.
Verse 19
[19] And
when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to
the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and
shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
Was in hand —
When this same business which now they were treating about, was in agitation
formerly; namely, to discover Saul's mind and purpose towards him, chap. 19:2,3.
Ezel — By
that stone which directs travellers in the way; namely, in some cave, or
convenient place, which was near it.
Verse 21
[21] And,
behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say
unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come
thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.
I will send — I
will send him out before I shoot, to find out, and take up the arrows which I
shall shoot. And I shall shoot them either short of him, or beyond him, as I
shall see occasion.
Verse 23
[23] And
as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be
between thee and me for ever.
Between — As
a witness and a judge between us and our families for ever, if on either side
this league of friendship be violated.
Verse 24
[24] So
David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat
him down to eat meat.
Hid himself —
Namely, at the time appointed: for it seems probable, that he went first to
Bethlehem, and thence returned to the field, when the occasion required.
Verse 25
[25] And
the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall:
and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.
Arose — He
rose from his seat where he was sat next the king, and stood at Abner's coming,
to do honour to him, who was his father's cousin, and the general of the army.
Verse 26
[26]
Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath
befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
Something —
Some accident which has rendered him unclean, and so unfit to partake of this
feast, which consisted in part of the remainders of the peace-offerings,
according to the law, Leviticus 7:20. Unfit also to come into any
company, much more, into the king's company, lest he should pollute them also.
Verse 27
[27] And
it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that
David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh
not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?
Son of Jesse — So
he calls him in scorn, to note the meanness of his original; and as not
deigning to call him by his proper name.
To day —
For the uncleanness which came by some chance, usually lasted but for one day.
Verse 30
[30] Then
Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of
the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of
Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?
Thy confusion —
Men will conclude that thou hast no royal blood in thy veins, that canst so
tamely give up thy crown to so contemptible a person.
Verse 33
[33] And
Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was
determined of his father to slay David.
To smite him —
Saul seemed to be in great care, that Jonathan should be established in his
kingdom: and now he himself aims at his life! What fools, what worse than
savage beasts does anger make.
Verse 37
[37] And
when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot,
Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
To — That is, near the
place. For the words following shew, that he was not yet come thither.
Verse 40
[40] And
Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to
the city.
Artillery —
His bow, and arrows, and quiver.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Samuel》
20 Chapter 20
Verses 1-42
And David fled from Naioth, in Ramah, and came and said before
Jonathan.
David and Jonathan
1. It will be suitable for us to dwell on the remarkable friendship
between David and Jonathan--a beautiful oasis in this wilderness history.
2. We cannot turn from this chapter without adding a word on the
friendships of the young. It is when hearts are tender that they are more
readily knit to each other, as the heart of Jonathan was knit to the heart of
David. But the formation of friendships is too important a matter to be safely
left to casual circumstances.
A friendly prince a princely friend
I. The princely
friendship.
1. An unselfish and self-denying avowal. He had soon to learn by
experience, and he must have known the fact then, that to befriend David was to
displease Saul. Yet is there no faltering in his fidelity. However contrary the
waves may be, he changes not the vessel’s head; undeterred, he abides faithful.
Calumnies and adulations change him not.
2. The religious character of this friendship is forced upon us. He
begins with a covenant. Are any friendships worth cultivating whereupon we may
not ask the Divine blessing?
3. Such a friendship was not only the affection of a man. He drew the
power to thus “love on” from the Great Source of Love.
II. The purpose
this friendship served.
1. God gave David a friend at court.
2. Another purpose the friendship of Jonathan served was to
strengthen David’s faith. During his exile, especially in the early past, when
his fortunes changed so suddenly, David’s faith became clouded. It is his voice
that exclaims, “There is but a step between me and death.” The strong
confidence is breathed by Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:14-15). When pressed
almost beyond endurance and weary with continual flight, it is Jonathan who
directs the trembling heart to God (1 Samuel 23:16-17).
Lessons:
1. Sanctified friendships are God’s hands of guidance. Such lead us
always to Himself and never from Him.
2. Friendships formed for social or temporal gain are akin to traffic
and bargain driving on the Temple floor, and must end in ruin. That is no real
friendship which fails to lead us to God.
3. True friendships are stable. Human alliances are as fragile as the
flowers the frost has traced upon the window, which melt away before the pure
beams of love or the heat of trial from within. All friendships that are worth
anything must begin with a covenant. (H. E. Stone.)
And David fled
from Naioth, in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan.
David and Jonathan
1. It will be suitable for us to dwell on the remarkable friendship
between David and Jonathan--a beautiful oasis in this wilderness history.
2. We cannot turn from this chapter without adding a word on the
friendships of the young. It is when hearts are tender that they are more
readily knit to each other, as the heart of Jonathan was knit to the heart of
David. But the formation of friendships is too important a matter to be safely
left to casual circumstances.
A friendly prince a
princely friend
I. The princely friendship.
1. An unselfish and self-denying avowal. He had soon to learn by
experience, and he must have known the fact then, that to befriend David was to
displease Saul. Yet is there no faltering in his fidelity. However contrary the
waves may be, he changes not the vessel’s head; undeterred, he abides faithful.
Calumnies and adulations change him not.
2. The religious character of this friendship is forced upon us. He
begins with a covenant. Are any friendships worth cultivating whereupon we may
not ask the Divine blessing?
3. Such a friendship was not only the affection of a man. He drew the
power to thus “love on” from the Great Source of Love.
II. The purpose this friendship served.
1. God gave David a friend at court.
2. Another purpose the friendship of Jonathan served was to
strengthen David’s faith. During his exile, especially in the early past, when
his fortunes changed so suddenly, David’s faith became clouded. It is his voice
that exclaims, “There is but a step between me and death.” The strong
confidence is breathed by Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:14-15). When pressed almost beyond endurance and weary with continual
flight, it is Jonathan who directs the trembling heart to God (1 Samuel 23:16-17).
Lessons:
1. Sanctified friendships are God’s hands of guidance. Such lead us
always to Himself and never from Him.
2. Friendships formed for social or temporal gain are akin to traffic
and bargain driving on the Temple floor, and must end in ruin. That is no real
friendship which fails to lead us to God.
3. True friendships are stable. Human alliances are as fragile as the
flowers the frost has traced upon the window, which melt away before the pure
beams of love or the heat of trial from within. All friendships that are worth
anything must begin with a covenant. (H. E. Stone.)
Verse 3
There is but a step between me and death.
Solemn News
Notice the views and feelings that will naturally possess a man
who believes “there is but a step between him and death,” or that his end is
near.
I. The world, with
its pleasures, pursuits, and prospects, will, appear small. The mask is taken
off now.
II. He will feel
that his own personal salvation is to him above all things else in point of
importance.
III. Next to his own
salvation in point of importance, will be that of his family.
IV. He will not
feel at home in the company of the wicked, or in any pursuit or pleasure upon
which he could not ask the blessing of God.
V. He will desire
to settle all, disputes and old grudges, and forgive his enemies.
VI. A man who
believes “there is but a step between him and death” will desire to make his
will. (T. Kelly.)
But a step
This was David’s description of his own condition. King Saul was
seeking to destroy him. The bitter malice of that, king would not be satisfied
with anything short of the blood of his rival.
1. There is a
sense in which this text is no doubt literally true of every man--There is but
a step between me and death; for life is so short that it is no exaggeration to
compare it to a step.
2. But, in another
sense, there is but a step between us and death, namely, that life is so
uncertain. How unexpectedly it ends.
3. And this is all
the more true when we consider that there are so many gates to the grave. We
can die anywhere, at any time, by any means. Not alone abroad are we in danger,
but at home in security we are still in peril. Wherever you are, you may well
feel, “There is but a step between me and death.”
II. That to some
this is specially true. To persons who have reached a ripe old age this is most
certainly true: “There is but a step between me and death”? Now, do not object
to think about it and talk about it. If you are all right with God, it can be
no trouble to you to remember that as your years multiply, there must be so
many the fewer in which you are to abide here below.
III. Suppose it is
not so. There may be some here that will live to a very great age. Well, what
then? If so, I should recommend you to follow the Scriptural advice, “Seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.” Suppose that it is not true
that there is but a step between you and death; nevertheless, while death is at
a distance, health and strength furnish the best time for coming to Christ.
IV. But now suppose
that it is so. Suppose that it is so, and suppose, as yet, that you have no
good hope. If there is but a step between you and death, yet there is only a
step between you and Jesus. There is only a step between you and salvation. God
help you to take that step. Suppose that it is so, that you are moon to die;
then set your house in order. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The mystic stop
.
I. It is a certain
step. All must take it.
II. It is an
uncertain step.
1. When we must
take it we cannot tell.
2. Where we must
take it is altogether hid from us.
III. It is a final
step. It is final because it puts an end to human distinctions.
IV. It is a parting
step.
1. It parts us
from this world of matter. We must bid farewell to flower and star.
2. It parts us
from friends near and dear to us.
3. It parts us
from ourselves. That tender union that subsists between soul and body is rudely
torn asunder,
V. It is a
solitary step. Death is a lonely thing.
VI. It is
altogether a solemn step.
1. The step of
birth is solemn.
2. The step of
prayer is solemn.
3. Not less solemn
is the step of death. Lord, prepare me for taking this step. (J. Dunlop.)
The nearness of death
This is true physically, morally, socially, influentially.
1. Physically--Breath
is in the nostrils; we know not our narrow escapes from death; the point of a
needle may destroy the life of the body, etc.
2. Morally--Character
may be ruined in a moment; one sin broke up human history into ruin and sorrow,
etc.
3. Socially--When
character is ruined, society is closed against a man, etc.
4. Influentially--A
man’s influence should be the measure of his moral standing; by one false step
influence may be impaired or destroyed. The fact that there is but a step
between life and death should do five things:--
I. It should give
high significance and value to time. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,” etc.
II. It should
awaken the most anxious vigilance. Only one step, and it may be the next!
III. It should
stimulate to preparedness for the future.
IV. It should
impart a tenderer interest to all the relationships of life.
V. It should lead
to the right use of temporal possessions. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Certainty of death
it was seemingly true concerning David.
1. This teaches us
how liable we are to be wrong in our judgments. We can only judge from
appearances; therefore we should draw all inferences of importance with
caution.
2. Yet this
judgment of David’s, perhaps, was the instrumental cause of his preservation.
It made him cautious. Thus Providence sports with our calculations; “man
knoweth not his appointed time, but is like the fishes ensnared in an evil
net.”
II. The text is
really true concerning some individuals now in the world.
1. Let us in the
first place look at the great number of the sick scattered over the face of
this well-peopled world.
2. Go into the
gloomy ceils of condemned criminals, whose life must, pay the forfeit of their
crimes on the coming morning.
3. Look at the
combatants that are now preparing for deadly battle; their country’s cause
palpitates at their heart, and burns on their tongue. They are destined to fall
in the struggle.
4. Listen to the
cries of those mariners in distress; “they are going up to the heavens, and now
down to the depths.”
5. View those men
of apoplectic structure. How precarious the hold they have of life! Fresh and
hale one minute--the next dead.
III. The declaration
in the text may be true with regard to some of us.
1. Sentence of
death has been passed on all men.
2. This sentence
has never been repealed. It has not become obsolete; it is not like the
antiquated page of an almanac of past times.
3. But this
respite is not for any given length of time. It is frugally extended only from
moment to moment. A respited criminal knows the length of his respite; we do
not. (T. Macconnel.)
Verse 6
A
yearly sacrifice for all the family.
The family
festival
The
word in this verse rendered “sacrifice” is in the margin of our English Bible
rendered with somewhat greater felicity “feast.” There comes to view,
therefore, in the narrative an unusually interesting fact; namely, that the
family of Jesse continued to keep up their residence in Bethlehem, and carefully
observed the household festivals through the year, as in earlier days they had
been accustomed. The members of that scattered circle summoned each other
regularly to a social reunion annually.
I. The advantages found in the observance of this yearly thanksgiving
festival.
1. Of course, first and chief of these is the consideration that for
all God’s love and care for us there is due at least full acknowledgment of the
hand which has given them to us. “Count up your mercies.” A day in each year is
surely not too much to be given to this formal rehearsal before God of our
plentiful gains and prosperities.
2. In the second place, there is manifest advantage in these annual
festivals growing out of the cultivation of our domestic affections and the
perpetuation of our home tastes and feelings. It mingles religion with our best
sympathies. He cannot be called a manly man who did not feel himself a weaker
man from the month when his praying mother died and was buried, or who does not
feel himself a braver, better man, if now perhaps the beloved old voice still
lives to be his counsel and his inspiration.
3. Again: there is a manifest advantage in these thanksgiving
festivals found in the perpetuation of ancestral memories to which they are
calculated most strongly to minister. It is instinctive in the heart of every
true man and woman to desire to live beyond the limits of an immediate
generation. We toil hard for many a season to keep our name unsullied and
preserve our fair fame unstained for the sake of our offspring.
4. And this leads me on to mention a fourth advantage derived from
this annual feast; namely, the opportunity it offers for kindling and
quickening a true patriotism in the hearts of the people.
II. With this exhibition of manifest advantages I can hardly need to
argue further for such observance of the day. If we go with David at all on his
errand, it must be in imagination only. And I think it will be profitable now
to ask and answer where he did go.
1. To his own city.
2. In the second place, I suppose David went straight as was possible
to his own home in Bethlehem.
3. Then, finally, I imagine David would want to go to various houses
of his brethren. I take this from the fact that this day’s invitation was given
by his brother. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Christmas and
New Year festivities
I. Remember to exalt God in your family festivities.
II. Thoroughly survey the history of the year since your last family
festivities.
1. It was a yearly sacrifice. Year short space in time, but may be
long in events. What changes may crowd into its weeks. Christmas does not
always find the family in the old home.
2. On some homes shadows lie thick, others bathed in sunshine. Here
Jacob has lost his Joseph, or Rachel mourns her children; here sportive
childhood cries, “Oh, call my brother back to me, I cannot play alone.”
3. And then, they who come to the festivities come from such various
scenes. Here at Bethlehem was David from the court; and Eliab, Abinadab, and
Shammah from the camp.
4. Nor will any true heart give a secondary place to changes on
character the year has produced.
III. Consider the personal obligations each owes to the family.
IV. In your festivities think of others. (G. B. Johnson.)
Verse 10
What if thy father answer
thee roughly?
A word for the persecuted
I. Our
first point is, what you may do, what there is a possibility of you doing,
should your friends answer you roughly.
1. You
may “by-and-by be offended.” I mean that you may leave Christ altogether,
because you cannot bear his cross.
2. Or,
it may happen to you that, instead of being by-and-by offended, you may
continue for awhile, but you may gradually give way, and at last yield
altogether. There are many among us who could bear to lose our heads at a
stroke for Christ, but to be burned at a slow fire--ah, that would try us!
3. But
if left to ourselves we may fall into what is as bad as open apostasy. When we
find the father, or the wife, or the friend answering us roughly, we may make a
pitiful compromise between Christ and the world.
4. I
will tell you what you may do also, and I pray that the Holy Spirit may lead
you to do it. You may take up humbly, but firmly, this decided stand:--“If my
father answer me roughly he must do so, but I have another Father who is in
heaven and I shall appeal to him. If the world condemn me, I shall accept its
condemnation.”
II. What
the trial will do for us if we are helped to bear up under it. “What if thy
father answer thee roughly?”
1. First,
it will grieve us. It is by no means pleasant to be opposed in doing right by
those who ought to help us in it. It is very painful to flesh and blood to go
contrary to those we love.
2. The
opposition of your friends will try your sincerity. If you are a hypocrite you
will soon yield to opposition.
3. The
rough answers of opponents will try your faith. You say you believe in Jesus:
now we shall see if you do, for if you cannot bear a little trial from men and
women, surely you will not be able to bear the worse trials from the devil and
his angels. If you cannot bear the trials of life, how will you endure the
ordeals of death?
4. Persecution
will try your love to Jesus. If you really love Him you will cheerfully stand
in the pillory of reproach with Him. Your valiant soldier in quiet barracks at
home could fight, no doubt, but how do you know till he has passed through a
campaign?
5. The
rough answers of those who should be your friends will keep us awake. I think
it was Erskine who used to say, “Lord, deliver me from a sleepy devil.”
6. Such
afflictions drive you to your knees.
7. Trials
from the enemies of Jesus confirm our faith. Those who are never tried usually
possess a poor, tottering faith, but trial, especially persecution, is like the
rough March wind which goes howling through the forest, and while the young
oaks are almost torn up by the roots at first, it loosens the soil for them,
and they send out more rootlets, till they get such a firm grip that they defy
the hurricane.
8. Rough
speeches, too, will have this good effect, upon genuine Christians, it will
lead them to plead for those who utter them.
9. Certainly
opposition has another good effect, that it drives those subject to it into the
truly separated path; they are known to be Christians, and proclaimed as such
by their revilers.
10. One
good effect of being persecuted at home is this, it makes you gentler abroad.
III. How
should you behave under the trial?
1. Never
court opposition.
2. Endure
whatever you have to endure with the greatest possible meekness.
3. After
bearing with meekness return good for evil. For cruel words return warmer love
and increased kindness. The most renowned weapon for a Christian to fight his
antagonists with is that of overcoming evil with good.
4. Here
let, me also remark that to this gentle endurance there must be added by the
persecuted Christian much exactness of life.
IV. In
doing all this what comfort may you expect.
1. You
may have this for your comfort, that the persecutor is in God’s hands. He
cannot do more than God lets him, and if God permits him to annoy, you may
cheerfully bear it.
2. Next,
remember, if you keep your conscience clear it is a great joy. Rough answers
outside need not trouble you while within there is the answer of a good
conscience towards God. Injure your conscience and you lose that consolation;
preserve it from evil and you must be happy.
3. Remember
that by patiently enduring and persevering you will have fellowship with the
grandest spirits that ever lived.
4. Remember,
too, that if you have extraordinary troubles Jesus will be doubly near to you.
5. You
have the sweet thought also that you are doing more good where you are than if
you were placed altogether among the godly. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse
17
And Jonathan caused David to swear again because he loved him.
Love plighting troth
I. Now, first, great love
desires to bind itself to the beloved one. And, first of all, remember that
Jesus bound Himself to His people by covenant bonds.
2. Then, next, Jesus would
have us bound to Him on our part. This kind of bond can never be all on one
side, for true friendship leads to mutual love.
II. Great love desires renewed
pledges from its object: “Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he
loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.”
1. It was not out, of
distrust, but by reason of a sort of sacred jealousy, that “Jonathan caused
David to swear again.” Our Saviour is as jealous of us as His Father is; the
immeasurable greatness of the love of Jesus Christ to us moves Him to feel an
infinite jealousy of us.
2. This is the only return we
can make for His love.
3. It is for our highest
benefit that we should do this. Our love is often so feeble and cold that it
needs to be stirred up again.
4. We are often tempted and
allured by other loves, and are apt, to lend a listening ear to the charmer’s
fascinating voice.
5. It is for our benefit that
we should often renew our pledges of love to our Lord, because we cannot be
happy unless we are wholly taken up with love to Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
He loved him as he loved
his own soul.
True friendship
I. true friendship reports
itself by practical sympathy in times of distress.
1. This friendship was truly
unselfish.
2. This friendship was truly
generous. David was a shepherd boy, Jonathan the king’s son.
3. This friendship was truly
practical.
4. This friendship was truly
reciprocal. David loved Jonathan as fervently as Jonathan loved David..
II. True friendship reports
itself by solemn compacts in times of distress. “And Jonathan caused David to
swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.”
1. This covenant was formed
in a reverent spirit. Jonathan appeals to God to witness his sincerity, to
judge his motive, and to prosper his friend.
2. This covenant was
submitted to a severe test.
3. This covenant was
confirmed by an affectionate parting. (J. T. Woodhouse.)
Verse 18
Thou shalt be
missed.
Being missed
There are two
aspects of truth in these words. One fact is plain enough; the vacant chair
will one day be our own. I do not say that the highest motive that can inspire
us is to be found in a desire to be gratefully remembered. No; Christian duty
has its highest motives in the love of Christ, and in devotion to the right as
right.
I. There is a recognition of reality all around and about us. Men are
for the most part known for what they verily are.
II. There are graduated spheres of influence.
III. There are capacities individual to ourselves. Each Life is a
separate creation of God’s. No two dogs even have the same countenances.
IV. There is a recognition of special friendship. We cannot feel alike
to all if we would. (W. M. Statham.)
Thy seat shall be empty.
The vacant chair
1. I point out to you the father’s vacant chair.
2. I go a little farther on in your house, and I find the mother’s
vacant chair.
3. I go on a little further, and I come to the invalid’s chair.
4. I pass on, and I find one more vacant chair. It is a high chair.
It is the child’s chair. If that chair be occupied, I think it is the most
potent chair in all the household. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verses
20-37
And I will shoot three arrows.
The claims of friendship
I. The arrows taught that a
strong and noble friend was standing in the breach.
1. Never be ashamed to own a
friend. Do not count him your friend whose name you are ashamed to mention.
2. Never be ashamed to speak
up for the cause of Truth. Let the arrows witness to the simplicity and fervour
of your allegiance to whatever is lovely and of good report.
II. The arrows spoke of
imminent danger. “Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to put
David to death.” “The arrows are beyond thee.” You have hoped against hope; you
have tried to keep your position; you have done your duty, pleaded your cause,
sought the intercession of your friends, prayed, wept, agonized: but it is all
in vain; the arrow’s flight proves that you must go whither you may. But take
these thoughts for your comfort.
1. There are things we never
leave behind. David had an inalienable possession in the love of his friend, in
the devotion of the people, in the memory of God’s goodness. There are threads
woven into the fabric of our life which can never be extracted or obliterated.
2. There is a Divine purpose
determining our course. To the had there was but royal caprice in the flight of
the arrow. “What are you going, my little fellow?” “I am picking up the
prince’s arrows; we generally go for game, but he is playing at it today.” That
was all he knew; how little did he divine the purpose of his Master, and still
less realise that each flitting arrow was, so to speak, taken from God’s quiver
and directed by His hand. There is no chance in a good man’s life. Let us
recognise the providence of the trifle. He is sending us away.
3. The going forth is
necessary to secure greater happiness than we leave. Had David lingered in the
palace, his life would have been forfeited, and he would have missed all the
glory and bliss with which his cup ran over in after years. This was the way to
the throne. Follow the arrow’s flight then--beyond the warm circle in which you
bare so long sheltered; beyond the southland to the icy north; beyond the known
to the unknown. Like another Abraham, go into the land which God will show
thee; like another Columbus, turn thy prow in the wake of the setting sun.
III. The arrows taught that
human love must suffer separation. This was the lash meeting of these two noble
hearts for a long time. Indeed, the friends only met once more, shortly before
Jonathan’s death. They had realised that this must be so. These are the hours
that leave sears on hearts and whiten the hair. Christ comes to us in these
dark moments as of old to the disciples, on whom had broken the full import of
his departure. “Let not your hearts be troubled.” (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Verse 25
David’s place
warn empty.
The empty place
“And the king
sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and
Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty” (1 Samuel 20:25). I shall look at these words in the spirit of accommodation to
the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. There, too, will be a feast, a feast
provided not by an earthly king, but by Him who is the King of kings. Let us
consider some of the reasons which may probably be assigned for these vacant
places.
1. But some places are empty. Some are empty, and we may envy the men
and women, brothers and sisters in Christ, who once sat there, but will sit
there no more. They are gone to claim the inheritance of which the Lord said,
“I will give it you.”
2. But other places are vacant not through this heavenly translation.
And as we ask, “Where are they who usually occupy them?” the answer comes,
“They are suffering under the Lord’s hand.” Yes, many places are empty for this
reason, and where this is the reason the vacancy is no reproach.
3. Sometimes David’s place is empty because he is engaged in
Christian work.
4. Other places, too, are vacant from motives which are entitled to
tender consideration, and which also require as tender correction. They fear
they are not in a true and befitting mood for the sacrament. They are cold.
They know not bow it is, but somehow the spiritual temperature is low.
5. But other places are empty for reasons less worthy. Their blank
spaces tell, it may be, of hearts that are dying through habitual sin, or
habitual neglect of the very conditions of life. (E. Mailer, D. D.)
The empty place: A
Christmas Day sermon
I. The empty place in the persecutor’s house: “David’s place was
empty.” David had good reason for vacating his place at Saul’s table, for the
passionate king was so malicious, and so embittered against him, that he sought
his life. The child of a Roman noble had stepped into some little place where
humble and unlettered people met to hear the gospel preached, to sing songs in
the name of Jesus, and to keep holy one day in the week; and there that
youthful heart had learnt the story of the cross, and by the grace of God had
been brought to love the Saviour. As soon as the fact was made known, the
officers of justice would take away the child from the father’s house, and hale
the young believer off to prison, and so another seat was empty. You know how
it was in our own land, how many a seat was empty during the persecutions of
Queen Mary. If martyr days should come back again, could we vacate our places?
Could the husband let his wife and children go for Christ’s sake?
II. There is another place which sometimes becomes empty, that is, the
place of sinful pleasures. This empty place is the result of the working of
God’s grace in the heart.
III. The place of our occupation has been empty.
IV. During the past year, many of you now present have had a place is
the assembly of God’s people.
V. I have now to say just a few words specially to the members of the
church about their place at the prayer meeting.
VI. There is another David’s place that is sometimes empty, and that
ought not to be so, it is the place of christian service.
VII. Again, I hope that our place at the Lord’s table will not be empty
at any time when it is possible for us to occupy it.
VIII. When you will be keeping the Christmas feast, there will be many
family gatherings, and in those family gatherings there will be some households
where David’s place will be empty.
IX. There will be no empty place in heaven. In that great family
gathering up above, they will not be able to say, “David’s place is empty.” (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Verses
32-42
And Jonathan answered Saul, his father, and said unto him,
Wherefore should he be slain?
David’s friend, Jonathan
“There is little friendship in the world,” said Lord Bacon. “O
friendship,” wrote the author of Endymion, “of all things the most rare;
and therefore most rare, because most excellent.”
1. Friendship means more than affection. Strange to say, greater
friendships exist than in the family circle.
2. Again, friendship is not identical with the religious hope. The
well-meaning, but ignorant, have beheaded the saints.
3. But while friendship is by no means involved in the family or the
church affection, it yet remains true that the purest religious hope is the
basis of the highest friendships. Great deeds are never done by those whose
belief cuts off immortality.
I. True friendship is based
on righteousness. Friendship is the outgrowth of righteousness. The most
hallowed relationships afford no ground for unjust deeds among friends. The
child’s love for the father is no excuse for wrongdoing at that father’s
command.
II. True friendship makes no
account of personal danger. The world is slow in learning that there is a
greater existence than self.
1. We turn from majorities and minorities to observe that personal
comforts and discomforts are no criteria of action. The question is not as to
pleasure and pain, but rather as to the highest obligations.
2. The true friend is never afraid of danger. The son may die by the
father’s javelin, but Jonathan’s friendship is true.
III. True friendship rejoices
in others’ prosperity. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Verse 34
And Jonathan arose from
the table in fierce anger.
Jonathan’s moral courage
I propose to enquire into
the moral meaning of this incident; to see whether there is anything in it that
applies to our own circumstances. I think it impossible to read this story
without having the mind arrested as several points of unusual interest.
I. Here is the
saddest of all sights--man arrayed against man. Not man against a savage beast;
but man against his own kind.
II. Here we have
the rupture of the most sacred bonds. Who is it that is offended in this case?
It is not a stranger; it is the son that rose in fierce anger, being grieved
for David and ashamed of his own father. When fathers occupy their right
positions, sons, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, will be likely to
occupy theirs. A good example is never lost.
III. Here, too, is
the assertion of the highest instinct. What is it that asserts itself in this
case? It is the spirit of right. Men that get up from dinner tables and say,
“Not I am ashamed of your evil doing; and I will not taste your bread!” We,
poor hounds, tarry at the trough and satisfy our appetites, and slake our
thirst, but the man that is going out will save the world!
IV. Here we have a
disproof of a familiar proverb. The familiar proverb is, “Blood is thicker than
water.” Jonathan says, “Right is thicker than blood.”
V. Here we have
the espousal on a noble policy. What was the policy of Jonathan? He espoused
the cause of right against might. David had no resources. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 42
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have
sworn both of us in the name of the Lord.
Real friendship
“All faithful friends went on a pilgrimage years ago, and none of
them have ever come back”; so wrote one of the Puritan divines, whose heart was
depressed at the time most likely. Perhaps the best definition of friendship is
that given by Addison: it is “a strong and habitual inclination in two persons
to promote the good and happiness of each other.”
I. True friendship
requires some acknowledged basis of individual worth. To be very popular is
very different from being beloved. Froissart says of Gaston de Foix, “In
everything he was so perfect that he cannot be praised too much; he loved what
ought to be beloved, and hated what ought to be condemned; and he never had
miscreant with him.”
II. True friendship
demands courage and self-sacrifice in instant answer to the call. When Jonathan
rose up from the table there was more than one javelin in the air coming
towards him; there was the mad king’s wrath shooting lances of fire also.
III. True friendship
becomes more disinterested as it becomes more loving.
IV. True friendship
shows itself by delicate and sometimes mysterious signals of communication.
Indeed, when two men become fast and sympathetic comrades, we sometimes fail to
discover what they find in each other so companionable.
V. True friendship
finds its highest model in the Lord of life and glory. (C. S. Robinson, D.
D.)
Divine goodness in human friendship
I. In its freedom
from all jealousy, Jonathan’s conduct was most exemplary. It was here that the
son proved himself to be so much more noble than the father; for Jonathan saw
himself surpassed by David, and yet was his faithful friend, and indeed found
one reason for his love in that superiority which David had secured.
II. The friendship
of Jonathan was eminently practical. It did not consist either of fair and
flattering words which he uttered, or of a mere luxury of sentiment which be
enjoyed. On the very first day of its life it proved its power, by prompting
Jonathan to put his royal robes on David’s shoulder, to gird his sword on
David’s thigh, and to place his bow in David’s hands; as much as to say, “I
will give thee of my best. Thou art more of a king’s son than I am. These befit
thee more than me.” There are friendships in the world which cost those who
cherish them nothing, and like many other cheap things they are worth just what
they cost.
III. Jonathan’s
friendship for David was eminently unselfish. It was much that he could do for
David; it was but little that David could do for him. Personally, he had no
interest in David’s continued life and increasing power; but, speaking after
the manner of men, his interest lay in the opposite direction. To Saul’s
selfish heart this nobleness of love and self-forgetfulness seemed nothing but
wilful wickedness and sheer madness. How could he comprehend it?
IV. Jonathan’s
friendship had the crowning grace of constancy. It began in the midst of
David’s new-born posterity, but it lasted through all his reverses.
1. There is one fact belonging to this history which has seldom had
the attention it deserves. While Jonathan was always faithful to David, he was
never false to his lather. Some men wail cultivate one virtue alone, and make
it an Aaron’s rod--swallowing up all the other virtues; but this man did not
suffer his virtues as a friend to devour his virtues as a son.
2. It needs no word to prove that the friendship we have been
studying must have been a great help and blessing to David. How great, is known
only to Him by whom the boon was bestowed.
3. As we contemplate the character of Jonathan, we are made
increasingly thankful that the immortality of the good is revealed in God’s
Word beyond the possibility of doubt or question. We are forbidden to think
that the love of Jonathan’s heart, which wrought so beneficently on earth,
labours no longer for the welfare of the others. Can it be possible that the
God who created it in His own image doomed it to indolence? Would not that be
to doom the possessor of it to misery? (C. Vines.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》