David and Jonathan, Pt 2

Lessons in Friendship from David and Jonathan, Devotional #2

Submitting to God’s Choice

So this covenant between David and Jonathan became the foundation for the richness of that friendship. In ancient times, covenants were solemn agreements between two people who promised mutual kindness and eternal loyalty to one another. The covenant that Jonathan makes with David is only the first of a series of new or reaffirmed agreements between the two men over a long period of time (see 1 Sam. 20:16-17; 23:18). They came back to it and affirmed it a couple more times in chapters 20 and 23.

To demonstrate how serious he was about his covenant commitment, Jonathan "took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt" (18:4).

• As King Saul’s firstborn son, Jonathan was the heir apparent to Israel’s throne.
• By giving his robe (a symbol of the kingdom) to David, he was submitting to God’s will by affirming the Lord’s choice of David to become the next king (see 15:27-28).

One of the greatest obstacles to covenant friendships is the idea of fairness. You can go right back to toddlers and toys and you better believe that fairness and friendship are related. It takes a great deal of maturity in adults to be able to hang out comfortably with someone on a different socioeconomic level: richer or poorer.

But it’s more than just money. When you have a strong idea that someone else has received some sort of preferential treatment or you have been overlooked, it’s tough to not feel jilted.

…it’s just about impossible.

How would you like to spend your life being groomed to be the next king and then have that taken away?! But then Jonathan goes the step farther and willingly submits to the Lord’s plan, and offers lifelong friendship to the usurper. But it wasn’t usurping or manipulating at all. It was just God getting the right people in the right places.

You’re going to have opportunity after opportunity in life to be the victim. The moment you believe it is the moment it happens. You can be so easily hurt. But to refuse to ever go there is to become great friend material. The Holy Spirit will help you work through that stuff. Get some prayer and some healing so you can move on!