1 Samuel 20 today....... 1_Samuel 21 tomorrow...

Read it.
Sandj


Chapter 20: verse 1-3... it surprises me that Jonathan is surprised that Saul wants to kill David, yet again, since in Chapter 19, Saul flat out told Jonathan and everyone else to kill David then (see verse 1, etc).
verse 4-7, 24-29... interesting the plan that is set up... Jonathan is a good friend to agree to helping David
verse 8-11... yet, there seems to be some mistrust or something between them since Jonathan does not fully believe David, and David is not so sure that Jonathan will tell him the truth... I wonder why this is so... maybe becuase of the relationship each has with Saul... Jonathan still loves his father, and David is still afraid of Saul, so each are reading things through their own viewpoint of things... David might assume Jonathan's love for his father might overpower his love for David... and Jonathan might think that David's past problems with Saul might be clouding David's current judgement?
verse 12-17, 42... but Jonathan and David are still great friends dispite their uncertainties of the other... makes me think about how we love our friends (and they love us) despite the disagreements or imperfections or differing viewpoints or whatever that each of us has... there is a great unconditional love here, and a loyalty based on a love for God, not just for the deeds of man... Jonathan still recognizes God's calling of David and honors him for it... I do not know if I would want to have "the Lord with [me] as He has been with [Saul]" though, since God is no longer pleased with Saul, but maybe this is just a way of Jonathan blessing David, and yet, still honoring his father.
verse 18-23, 35-40... I like the code language :)
verse 30-31... why bring Jonathan's mother into this?!... funny how a 'rebellious' child is always the other parent's child... anyway, is Saul angry because David asked Jonathan's permission and not his? because Jonathan sided with David? because David wasn't around for Saul to keep an eye on? because he was stressed about David and even the smallest thing 'tipped' him 'off the edge'? because he knew his time of kingship was up, but was hoping Jonathan's time would carry on, and was angry that David stood in the way of that?... interesting how Saul doesn't use David's name, instead, he calls him by 'son of Jesse' just like he does not call Jonathan by his name... I wonder why?
verse 32-34... now Jonathan is quite a friend!... he was not angry because of Saul's insult of him or his mother... he was not angry because Saul just tried to kill him... he was angry because of Saul's mistreatment of David! wow!... I could stand to learn from this, as so often I would have gotten angry about how I was treated... yet, instead, I should remember,it is not about me... I should put others first... etc
verse 41... I wonder why David bowed 3 times?... I understand their sadness in the whole situation... they were both losing a dear friend, they were sad because of the intense wrongness of the whole situation, and David was not forced to give up so much in order to follow God even though it did not seem fair for him to have to do so... sometimes we think following God will be glorious and exciting, and to be sure, God's plan is always for His glory and it is exciting to know we are a part of that... but there is still much grief we might have to work through when the reality of all we are giving up hits us... I am encouraged that David did not try to stuff his grieving, or 'put on a happy face', or whatever... instead, he was real, and faced this grief so he could move on in obedience and not dwell on unresolved disappointment, sadness, grief, etc.... and Jonathan allowed David to grieve and even joined in with him... sometimes I think that we, as Christians, think it is 'wrong' or 'unholy' to be sad about things in this life, or to grieve and show disappointment about the way things are playing out... as if we are showing distrust or disobedience in God or something... yet, I think that God is fully aware of our human nature and our need to express our emotions, one of which is grief over loss... He did create us afterall... and look at all the times people did express their 'negative' emotions throughout the Bible (in Psalms, Job, even in the stories we have read so far, etc)... I think that the only way we would be dishonoring or disobeying God is if we cursed Him for the loss, allowed it to draw us away from faith in Him, or wallowed in it our grief and did not move on after we had had time to grieve.
sandJ