WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday August 4, 2019
Over 208,000 readers worldwide
larrydalexander.blogspot.com
A
COVENANT BETWEEN FRIENDS
(GOD
honors relationships that are rooted in HIM)
(1
Samuel 18:1-5 and 19:1-7)
From
his humble beginnings as a young shepherd boy, David blossomed into a highly
loved and respected, GODly king of Israel, who had, not just a reputation as a,
near invincible warrior, but also was seen as a great spiritual leader, and a
savvy political juggernaut. He had been chosen by GOD to be the founder of a
dynasty of kings, and he was providentially prepared by GOD to be able to
handle such a task.
As a soldier, David successfully expanded
the territory of Israel tenfold, and established his beloved nation’s army as
the greatest in the world at that time. His victory over the feared Goliath of
the Philistines, moved him from the fields where he had shepherded his father’s
sheep, and into the good graces of the royal family of Israel, where King Saul
would first love, and then later, fear him, because of his great popularity
among his people.
As spiritual leader, David moved Israel’s
worship center from the foot of Mount Gerizin, and established Jerusalem as the
national place of worship. He restructured the worship of the people of Israel
into something that was more intimately pleasing to GOD, and wrote many of the
psalms and hymns that were, and are, still used in public worship today. His vigor
and piety serves to forever brand him as “the ideal king” for any nation to
have.
David’s early life of serving as a “shepherd
of his father’s sheep” gave him a real sense of how to protect what he was
given the responsibility to oversee. His protective heart later served him well
as king of GOD’s chosen nation of Israel. Sadly however, his popularity with the
people of Israel led to the ultimate deterioration of his relationship with
King Saul, his predecessor. Saul would become very jealous of David, and would
attempt several times to end David’s life.
As GOD would have it however, all this envy
on Saul’s part, toward David, perhaps planted the seeds for, and led to, one of
the greatest friendships in the annals of biblical history. In 1 Samuel 18,
verses 1-5, we see the beginnings of this friendship unfolding, as David
formerly meets King Saul’s eldest son, Jonathan, for the first time. Jonathan,
even though he was heir to his father’s throne, bonded closely to David from
day one, and David’s feelings regarding Jonathan were mutual.
One would have to be especially impressed
by Jonathan, considering all that he would soon have to give up for David’s
sake. Soon he would come to realize David’s calling as leader of Israel, but he
would not allow that divine calling to interfere with their friendship. In fact,
He boldly defended David against his jealous father, Saul, even after he became
aware that David was destined to follow Saul as king of Israel. When forced to
take sides, Jonathan chose to support David, and was willing to face his father’s
fury in order to save David’s life (1 Samuel 20). Jonathan and David made a
covenant of friendship together (1 Samuel 20:11-17) to treat each other with “the
faithful love of the LORD” for as long as they each shall live.
David continued to honor his friendship
covenant with Jonathan, even after Jonathan’s death, as he fulfilled his
promise to him, “to always show kindness to the members of Saul’s family”. Over
in 2 Samuel, chapter 9, we see how David sought out, and eventually located,
Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was crippled in both of his feet,
and for certain, needed special help and attention, because of his challenged
condition. David had Mephibosheth brought to his palace to live, and he cared
for him for the remainder of his life.
In 1 Samuel 19, verses 1-7, we see further
evidence of Jonathan’s loyal friendship to David come into view, after Saul
urged him to lead “a hit squad” to assassinate David. Instead of following his
father’s instructions, Jonathan went to David and informed him of his father’s
plot. Jonathan urged David to hide out until he could convince Saul to abort
his murder plot against him.
The next
morning Jonathan went to Saul and presented his case to him in defense of
David. He was able to gain, what turned out to be, “a temporary reprieve” from
his father concerning David. In a very short time however, Saul’s jealousy of
David proved to be so strong and overwhelming, that, he was unable to keep his
word to Jonathan, “not to harm” his beloved friend. After another military
victory by David, Saul’s “tormenting spirit” of jealousy returned, and he tried
to kill David with his own spear one day, as David was playing harp for him in
his palace.
Jonathan’s defense of David, against his evil
father’s wishes, was truly a courageous undertaking that put his very life on
the line. However, JESUS HIMSELF would explain centuries later, when HE taught
HIS disciples in John 15:12-13 on “how to measure true friendship”. There JESUS
first commands us to love each other in the same way that HE loves us, and then,
HE follows up by telling us how we can measure the kind of “friendship love”
that HE was speaking about. In verse 13 HE tells us that, “the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their
friends” (NLT). Jonathan, and David, clearly believed and understood this
concept, even way back then, because the SPIRIT of the LORD had given this
understanding (of true friendship) to them. And clearly, even in this day and
age, any true Christian can see how their hearts gladly embraced it.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY
D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
No comments:
Post a Comment