God sends David a friend

1 Samuel 23:14–18 KJV 1900

14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. 15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. 16 And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. 18 And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

Introduction

David is living a life on the run.

Saul would like nothing better than to see David dead.

He knows that David has been anointed king.

He is jealous of David’s success and popularity.

He is frustrated by his inability to capture of kill David.

David had just escaped Saul’s attempts to catch him.

A city named Keilah had been under attack from the Philistines.

David had come to their aid and driven the Philistines away.

While he was recovering from the battle, the people of Keilah had sent messengers to Saul letting him know that David was in their city.

Saul had mobilized his army to quickly move to Keilah to trap David.

David was warned about Saul’s plans and had escaped into the wilderness.

Up to this point, David had enjoyed some semblance of stability.

It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t like what he was about to experience.

Leaving Keilah, David begins a period of wandering from one hiding place to another.

David leads his 600 man army into the wilderness of Ziph.

He stayed only in strongholds that provided some protection.

These strongholds are most likely hills or small mountains where David’s men could keep watch for the approach of Saul.

David would have possibly left small garrisons of his troops on these strongholds throughout the wilderness.

Finally, it seems like David, himself, settled into a hiding place near the town of Ziph.

Ziph was about 15 miles SE of Keilah.

It was a small town in this hill country.

The town of Ziph belonged to the tribe of Judah.

These were David’s kinsmen.

They were members of the same tribe.

David knew better than to try and hide in the city of Ziph, though.

Instead, verse 19 tells us that he hid on a hill called Hachilah.

This hill is only about 100 ft tall.

To get the right picture, don’t think of David living in the Rocky Mountains.

Instead, think more of Keetonville hill.

V 15 & 18 tells us that David hid in the woods on the mountain.

Try not to imagine Robin Hood in Sherwood forest, instead imagine Clint Eastwood among among mesquite trees and tumble weeds.

The “woods” that the Bible references would have been like briars or what we might call thickets.

That’s what covered this region called the wilderness of Ziph or the Wilderness of Judah.

When modern day visitors to the Holy Land see this area, they are amazed that anyone could survive there very long.

It was a pretty large area too.

Stretching from the dead sea to the mountains of Judah, you can see why it was difficult for Saul to find him in this area.

The real reason Saul couldn’t find David was because God didn’t allow it.

Why was Saul so desperate to find David?

V 15 tells us that he wanted to kill him.

This is the 14th time that the Bible has told us Saul sought to kill David.

This was a long-time source of stress on David.

If Saul could have captured David, he would have ended his life.

This is not an intense game of tag.

This is an unstable monarch searching for you every day of his life hoping for an opportunity to murder you.

This is a stressful, taxing time for David.

Yes, he was alive.

Yes, he had been promised by God that he would be king.

Yes, he was a recipient of God’s protection.

But, just like in our lives, spiritual realities are easily overlooked when stress levels are high.

David was the recipient of God’s blessings and protection.

But, not even a man after God’s own heart was immune from discouragement.

While Saul sought to end David’s life, his son, Jonathan, risked his own life to encourage David.

Jonathan travels to see David in the wilderness.

On the surface, it seems ironic that Saul could not find David while Jonathan doesn’t seem to have any problem locating him.

Remember, David probably stationed his 600 man army all over the wilderness.

They knew of their leader’s friendship with Jonathan.

The first team of soldiers in a stronghold that saw Jonathan probably escorted him to David’s hiding place.

Jonathan was David’s best and truest friend, but it had been a long time since they had seen each other.

Some believe, and I think it’s a reasonable theory, that Jonathan was David’s source of information in Saul’s administration.

Correspondence between the two would have enabled David to make his escape from Saul successfully on so many occasions.

It also would allowed David to give Jonathan an idea of his whereabouts.

Jonathan had one purpose for seeking out his friend, encouragement.

The Bible tells us that friendship for Jonathan, was a matter of spiritual importance.

He shows up for David in the middle of a barren wilderness.

He’s not there to strengthen his self-image or self-confidence.

He’s there to strengthen David’s hand in God.

He did this by reminding David about God’s presence with him.

Jonathan was convinced that David was sheltered by God’s special protection.

He doesn’t focus on the past deliverances, instead, he looks forward to future deliverances.

Jonathan was confident of God’s promises.

He encourages his friend to trust God too.

Though God had given David every evidence to trust Him, David benefitted from a friend that cared enough to remind him of God’s faithfulness.

Saul would continue to chase David and hunt him.

But he would not be successful.

Saul was destroying his own kingdom by fixating on David.

He was neglecting the important matters of his kingdom in order to search for David.

His preoccupation was opening the door for a Philistine resurgence after God had given them victory after victory over the Philistines.

Jonathan tells David that even his father knows that David will inevitably reign.

Think about how strange it is for Jonathan, of all people, to be the one encouraging David.

His father is the king that David will replace.

His birthright was to inherit his father’s throne.

And yet, Jonathan knows that some day David will sit on the throne instead.

When that day came, Jonathan assures David that he will have the support of his friend.

Jonathan hasn’t just accepted the inevitability of David’s reign, it seems like he is looking forward to it.

Jonathan intends to support David in the future that God has planned for him.

This really isn’t a surprise if you know Jonathan’s character.

It’s a surprise given the circumstances.

It’s a surprise given the example modeled for him by his father.

Jonathan had always proven that jealousy was foreign to his heart.

Some commentators dig into this idea of Jonathan standing next to David’s throne.

They see it as an indication of a formal role within David’s administration.

Had Jonathan and David agreed on some type of coalition government?

If you know the story of what transpired when David finally did become king, you know that he wasn’t met with 100% acceptance for some time.

The supporters of Saul took years to fully accept David as their king.

God obviously had other plans, but perhaps David and Jonathan planned on using their combined influence to restore peaceful rule in Israel.

Whether or not, this is the case, we see the indisputable genuineness of Jonathan’s friendship with David.

It stands as a true example of selfless love.

To be able to wish for the success of a friend even if it means your own diminishment.

How truly humanizing is Jonathan’s fond hope that when David became king he would stand next to him supporting him.

He understood that David had stolen nothing from him, and in turn he begrudged David for nothing.

What kind of impact did all of this have on David.

We can only imagine.

The Bible doesn’t tell us.

I have to imagine that David was deeply moved by the gesture of his friend.

It’s difficult for us to look at this and form an adequate conception of the courage, the faith, and the moral grandeur of this act.

The best thing to do is to try and imagine how we would feel if we were in David’s shoes.

What would this have meant to us?

Unfortunately, this was the last recorded meeting that ever took place between David and Jonathan.

Jonathan is not mentioned again until chapter 31 when he died on the battlefield with his father.

He had no idea that he would be dead before David became king.

We all need friends like Jonathan.

Someone willing to leave their comfort zone.

Someone willing to speak truth to us and remind us of what’s real and important.

We should all strive to be a friend like Jonathan.

Strengthen someone in the Lord.

Point them to the future of what God has for them.

Comfortable with someone else’s success or advancement, even if we don’t get the same.

We never know if we will get another opportunity to be a friend.

It seems like Jonathan had this last chance and he didn’t waste it.

Don’t waste the opportunities you have to be a true friend to the people in your life.