Amen. And let us turn now to our reading. God's holy word this morning, 1 Samuel chapter 20. There's some link to this chapter, but it is very closely connected. It's not really a chapter that can be broken up. And so we'll be taking the chapter in its entirety. Obviously we won't be able to consider everything, but we'll be able to get this episode. in the life of David as Saul continues to seek to put him to death. Multiple attempts have been made on David's life, sometimes in forms of secrecy, sometimes right out in the open, and that's chapters 18 and 19. And now here we come to chapter 20, and we see especially Jonathan and David's friendship shining in this chapter and that'll in many ways be our focus as we work through this portion of God's Word. Page 310 in most of the Bibles in the seats. 1 Samuel chapter 20, let us read God's Word. Then David fled from Naoth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, what have I done? What is my guilt and what is my sin before your father that he seeks my life? And he said to him, far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so. But David vowed again, saying, your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes. And he thinks, do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord lives and your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death. And Jonathan said to David, whatever you say, I will do for you. David said to Jonathan. Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. If your father misses me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem, his city. For there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan. If he says, good, it will be well with your servant. But if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?" And Jonathan said, far be it from you. I know that it was determined by my father that harm, if I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you? And David said to Jonathan, who will tell me if your father answers you roughly? And Jonathan said to David, come, let us go out into the field. So they both went out into the field. And Jonathan said to David, the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness. When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? But should it please my father to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan. And more also, if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you. as he has been with my father. If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord that I may not die. And do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, may the Lord take vengeance on David's enemies. And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon and you will be missed because your seat will be empty. On the third day, go down quickly to the place where you hide yourself when the matter was in hand and remain beside the stone heap. And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it as though I shot at a mark. And behold, I will send the boy saying, go find the arrows. If I say to the boy, look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them. Then you are to come. For the Lord lives. As the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the youth, look, the arrows are beyond you, then go, for the Lord has sent you away. And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever. So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty. Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean. But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David's place was empty, and Saul said to Jonathan, his son, why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today? Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. He said, let me go for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers. For this reason, he has not come to the king's table. Then Saul's anger was kindled. against Jonathan. And he said to him, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die. Then Jonathan answered Saul, his father, why should he be put to death? What has he done? But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. In the morning, Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David and with him a little boy. And he said to his boy, run and find the arrows that I shoot. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow behind him. And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, is not the arrow beyond you? And Jonathan called after the boy, hurry, be quick, do not stay. So Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, go and carry them to the city. And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. Then Jonathan said to David, go in peace because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord saying the Lord shall be between me and you and between my offspring and your offspring forever. And he rose and departed. And Jonathan went into the city. So far, the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades. The word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation, At different times in the history of the world, there tends to be different gross sins that the world celebrates and accepts as commonplace and as no problem. At this time in history, the gross sin that was celebrated, expected, or at least accepted was the sin of dynastic cleansing. And that means this, that you take your dynasty and whoever might be competing against the throne with you or whoever was on the throne before you You take them and you kill not only them, but also everyone associated with them, their entire family, especially. It's dynastic cleansing. You keep your dynasty in place, you wipe out the other dynasty. This was accepted practice in the ancient Near East. It was commonplace. And as too often happens, God's people are tempted to accept the sins that the world around them is accepting and celebrating and seeing as commonplace. And so we don't just need to look at the records of the ancient Near East. We can look at the records of scripture itself. And we know that this was not uncommon in the Northern Kingdom in the years to come. And so, for example, in 1 Kings chapter 15, verse 29, we read about how Basha killed not only Jeroboam, king of the northern 10 tribes of Israel, but also that as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed. Or we read in 2 Kings 10 verse 11 about how Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab. We also read in 2 Kings chapter 11 about how Queen Ataliah tried to end the royal line of David in the southern kingdom. But one boy, Joash, was hidden for six years before being crowned as king at the age of seven. It is in this context of political rivalry and accepting such actions as not sin, but normal behavior that the friendship between crown Prince Jonathan and anointed Prince David shines brightly. A friendship in the name of the Lord, a friendship between two men who have shown their deep trust in the covenant promises of God on the very battlefield against great odds, a friendship which shines brightly against the trends and sins of their day. And so we consider this friendship and we consider Christian friendship with this theme this morning, godly friendship will encourage continued reliance and hope in the Lord. We'll see along the way many, many marks and characteristics of the friendship of David and Jonathan. So our first point is this, friend, face the facts. The first thing we see David and Jonathan doing in chapter 20 is that they are helping each other to see and understand the facts of their situation. David first needs Jonathan's help in order to be sure what the facts are. And so we see the question that David comes with in verse one. What have I done? What is my sin? Jonathan Friend, help me to face the facts. Is your father just a madman seeking my life? Or have I sinned? Am I guilty? Should the king be coming after me? What's going on here? I don't understand. Help me, Jonathan, to face the facts. You see, David is wise. He sees that Saul is ungodly. in his pursuit of destruction. And so though the king is the judge, he's saying, I don't trust Saul's judgment, but I want to be open to correction. And so how does he say it in verse eight then? In verse eight, he says to Jonathan, but if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself. You see what he's saying? David is saying, okay, I don't trust the judgment of your father. He is a tyrant. He is pursuing my destruction. But is there guilt in me? Tell me what it is. And faithful friend, friend in the Lord, I trust your judgment. I know I need to be open to corrections. I'm gonna trust you. If I am guilty, put me to death yourself. See, this is a heart. after God's own heart. Remember that description of David when we first meet David? He is open to correction. Now, he's not trusting the word of a tyrant. He's like, I'm not gonna trust Saul's word, but if you, faithful friend, tell me that I'm in sin, I will hear you. You can even put me to death yourself. Now in this case, David is innocent. And notice Jonathan just dismisses the question. He just goes right on to a different subject. But this is an essential characteristic of believers. that we would be open to correction. It doesn't mean we have to believe the word of the tyrant, like Saul, seeking our destruction, but we must be open to correction. We must be open to hearing our sins and confessing our sins. And so, what is this the heart of? This is the heart of David, who later in his life, when he is at fault, will have another friend come before him, a friend named Nathan the prophet, and when Nathan the prophet exposes his sins and says, David, you are the man, David, who has always been open to correction from faithful friends, will receive the word of the faithful prophet, Nathan, and be driven to repentance. People of God, may we have faithful friends who would point out our sins to us in love and lead us to confession. certainly confessing our sins is at the heart of our faith as sinners in need of our Savior Jesus Christ. Well, Jonathan also needs David's help to face the fact. And what Jonathan is struggling with is this, that his father really is this evil. That's what Jonathan is struggling with. I mean, we just read chapters 18 and 19 for those who were here the last couple weeks. I mean, Saul is hurling spears at David. He's sending men with swords to stand outside the front door of David's house and put him to death. And he's running after him in Ramah with a sword in his hand like, Jonathan, can't you see what's going on here? Like, your father has thrown a spear at David twice. Face the facts, man. Your father is seeking his own will. He's seeking destruction. This is his father. This is a hard fact for Jonathan to face. It's his father. Perhaps he's making excuses. Perhaps he's believing excuses that His father is spouting whatever it is. Jonathan is having a hard time believing that his father really wants to kill David. But when David pleads with him, no, my life is in danger. There is but a step between me and death. Help me. You have made a covenant with me. in the Lord and we are both believers in the Lord I trust your word and now I'm pleading with you help me at least test your father so Jonathan agrees and Jonathan will do this and as he agrees he'll do it with his own words of strong promise words in the name of the Lord words in the name of the Lord this takes us to our second point Lord be with you Yes, there are going to be facts in life which are difficult to face, but may we at least be willing to sound out the matter. And that's the language of Jonathan describing what he is now willing to do. When I have, middle of verse 12, sounded out my father, then I will come and I will disclose it to you. But may the Lord be the witness between us, and verse Verse 13, may the Lord be with you through this. This is the words of a faithful friend, Jonathan, seeking to protect his friend, David, even if he's not yet convinced that protection is necessary. Throughout this conversation, they're using a very strong language. They're affirming the covenant that has been made between them. There are times when they swear in the name of the Lord What's going on here? Is this something that should be part of our everyday speech? Well, let's pause and remember that, first of all, the narrative is always a description. We are not always given a precise detail from the narratives of the Old Testament as to whether what we're reading is right or wrong. And so that's one thing, but in this case, this strong language is almost certainly appropriate. Why? This is a life or death conversation. Remember who they are to each other. Remember what the expectations of the world would be that they would be trying to kill each other. And so in this life or death conversation, they're reminding each other of the covenant bond that they have. and of their commitment to protect one another as friends in the name of the Lord. And so reading this chapter does not mean, well, I'm gonna go forth and I'm gonna take a vow in the name of the Lord all the time. I'm gonna do this for serious things like a life or death conversation or taking a vow as I make profession of faith serious times not normal everyday conversations. And as they're using this language to speak to each other, people of God, it also reminds us of the importance and of the place of covenant language. It's one of the things that are constantly reminding each other. I've made this covenant with you. We're in a covenant bond of friendship. I'm not going to turn you over. There is within faithfully made covenant promises protection. There's protection, there's peace. This is true when it's an earthly covenant between two people that the world says should be killing each other. This is true in the covenant promises of God to be our people. to save us from our sins as we would come and confess our sins and trust in Him. I will be your God to you and to your seed after you. You see, covenant promises are promises of protection. It's the covenant promises of God which are promises of life for our very soul, so much greater even than than the earthly covenant promises that protect the physical life of David. You see, in earthly terms, two God-fearing friends remind each other of a covenant they have made, which helps to spare David's life. In heavenly terms, we need to depend upon the eternal life-giving covenant promises of God, sealed by the very blood of Jesus Christ, poured out for our sins. In earthly terms, two God-fearing friends can have a covenant promise which they keep and it makes them closer than brothers in heavenly terms. We need God's covenant promises. We need to grab hold of them by faith and so know that Jesus Christ is our elder brother who died and who and who died not for angels, but for the offspring of Abraham, using the language of Hebrews 2. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers, Hebrews 2, verse 17, in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. You see, Jonathan is a picture of faithful friendship, protecting the physical life of David, but there is a much greater friend who becomes a much greater brother whose brotherly act of love is the very sacrifice of his life to take away our very sins, to give eternal life to our souls. Surely the friendship of Jonathan then is A beautiful light shining brightly against the common sins of the world and that day. But it is nothing but a very dim shadow compared to our savior who died for the sins committed by his believers in any age. Now let's consider that friends would say, I grieve for you. This is our third point. Friend, I grieve for you. Jonathan hears David's pleas. They've made this plan to sound out Saul. While keeping David safe, they come up with a code in verses 18 to 22 by which they can communicate after the New Moon Festival. The New Moon Festival, it's basically a once a month Sabbath. where you have some extra sacrifices and some extra prescriptions. It's a little bit like if a church in the New Testament context had monthly communion. And so you have worship every Lord's Day, but once a month you have some extra celebration. The New Moon Festival is a little bit like that in the Old Testament context. Once a month you had some extra sacrifices and feasts on the Sabbath. and tied to the time of the new moon. So it's, there's, and this time it's gonna be a two-day feast, which it was depending on when the moon came. And David's like, I'm supposed to be there. I'm not gonna be there. This is our time. This is how we're gonna sound out my father-in-law, your father, Saul. And so Saul has, an excuse the first day, verse 26, but now the second day, he's like, all right, what's going on here? Where's David? And he begins to question Jonathan. And the answer of Jonathan does not satisfy Saul. And so in verse 30, he begins to yell at his son, yelling in rage, language that borders on vulgar, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman. One translation offered, you son of a, well, you can look it up. It's bordering on vulgar language here. He's going to speak against his son. He's gonna speak against his wife in the process by speaking against his son's mother. He's going to do everything he can to cause pain to those who don't go along with his own will. William Blakey once said it this way about the words of Saul, quote, what strange and unworthy methods will not angry men and women resort to to put vinegar into their words and to make them sting? People of God, let us not kindle our anger lest it consume us and burn those around us. Let us not be consumed with our own will to advance our own kingdom to lash out against those who would be speaking up in the name of God about the truths of God. Here, the truth of God is Jonathan saying, what has David done? Why do you want to kill my friend, your son-in-law, this faithful servant? who loves the Lord. What is going on? Remember what we said about the common sins of the day? You see verse 31? For Saul, it's all about his own kingdom over and against David, the son of Jesse's kingdom. It doesn't matter that he's had a direct revelation from God through the prophet Samuel that his kingdom will be taken from him. That doesn't matter. He doesn't care what God has said to him directly. He wants his own kingdom, his own will. He wants to celebrate the common sins of his day. Now, do we see how the applications to our own day just start to line up? Well, it's accepted today that a person can say he is whatever gender he is. whatever sexual orientation he is, whatever he wants to be. I can establish my own kingdom. Whatever God's word has said directly on the matter, my will is what matters. And don't you love me? Don't you want my will, my kingdom to be established? Jonathan, you're my son. This is your kingdom too. What do you mean you don't want me to establish my kingdom? and in pursuing their own desires, their own will, their own kingdom. There's anger. There's, how dare you judge me? There's, are you really my son? Are you really my father if you can't accept me for who I am and what I want to do? You see, the common sins that are accepted of the day are different. And hopefully there's not literal spears being hurled around like Saul, the tyrant monarch, is about to do. But there sure are swords in the tongue, even if it's said in that supposedly calm way, the common sins of the day. It's just what people do. Don't you know? We just need to establish our kingdom. That's what kings do. And in the process, the relationship between father and son can now never be the same. Because Jonathan, though he is the crown prince, cares about God's will and God's anointed, David, who's already been anointed by Samuel. And Jonathan will not go along with his father's own will, but will be subservient to the will of God. Of course, this is something which causes grief. and anger. We're not told if this was righteous anger or not. It could have been either. There are degrees of righteous anger that Jonathan could have had. The text simply doesn't say if it's righteous anger, unrighteous anger, a mixture of both. It does say that he grieved also for David. He grieves for the suffering which the sin of his father causes. It is a sad day. Jonathan is unable to eat. Have you ever been so sad you're unable to eat? That happens in the lives of God's people. And so Jonathan goes to his friend who is hiding in secret. And he says to David, the Lord be between us. Through all this mess and pain and danger, Jonathan and David keep their reliance upon the Lord. The plan is carried out, although they eventually throw the secrecy out the window and there's no one else there. David just comes out of hiding. kiss, which is common greeting still in many cultures. They embrace, they shed tears together. It doesn't tell us why David wept more than Jonathan. Maybe it's because he knew that his friend was not only giving up his place in the kingdom, but that his friend could also never have the same relationship with his father that he has had before. Whatever it is, they are both grieving for each other. They are both weeping, it says in verse 41. They have a friendship which is willing to mourn one for another. They have a friendship of mutual respect. David is the true prince. He is the one who has been anointed. He is the one who has authority. Jonathan has respect for David and has recognized this, and he spoke about it clearly in verses 13 to 16. I could paraphrase those verses this way. David, when you are king, like my father is king now, please promise not to hurt me. There's mutual respect, though. It goes both ways. David shows respect to Jonathan. He even bows before his friend three times, though David is the anointed prince. David is the one with authority. It almost makes one think of the scene in Lord of the Rings when Aragorn is crowned king of the kingdom and then he's walking through and he sees his four friends, the little hobbits, and they bow to him and he says, my friends, you bow to no one. Though he's just been crowned king, though he's the one with authority, he has great mutual respect for his friends. and he bows before them. That's a little bit like what's going on here. He bows three times before Jonathan. They have great mutual respect for each other. It's a wonderful thing when a friendship is working both ways. Each friend seeking to honor and encourage the other and doing this in the name of the Lord. The Lord be between us. You know, pious language does not save us. It does not make something good. We saw in the last chapters that Saul is still very pleased to take pious language upon his lips to try to hide his motives. But pious language is a good thing. We should have friendships where we can speak the name of the Lord to one another. You know, if pious language sounds strange in our circles of friendship, we should work on our maturity and build each other up saying things like, the Lord bless you, the Lord keep you, the Lord be between us. This is appropriate when it's said genuinely. It is good and it is genuine here. The Lord be between us. That's Jonathan's parting words in verse 23. It's his parting words in verse 42. That's how their conversations end. That's a truth in their friendship. They are friends with one another, but they are friends with the Lord at the center. The Lord be between us. And David adds, and between my offspring and your offspring. Just very briefly, let's note that it's a wonderful detail of biblical history that after Jonathan dies and after David is ruling as king, David will take the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, and not put him to death, but give him a place of honor in his courts. That was a common thing of the day, that Mephistophesheth would have been put to death, and in fact he was hidden from David, because they were afraid that would happen. And David says, no, no, no, I'm looking for him. I want to give him a place of honor in my court. And so he does. And let's look at one more detail of those parting words of Jonathan. He says to his friend, go in peace. See that at the beginning of verse 42? Go in peace. Go in peace? What do you mean? The king, the most powerful person in the kingdom is seeking after my life. I'm an outlaw now and I will be for the foreseeable future. I'm gonna take off running for the safety of my life. Go in peace? You see, They are not denying the reality of the situation. They are not denying that it is a grievous situation. They are weeping together. But through tears, go in peace. Why? Because God's people can, through affliction, know the presence and peace of the Lord. Psalm 34, turn with me to Psalm 34. A Psalm written shortly after this, perhaps just a day or two after this. Psalm 34 verses 18 and 19. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Again, this is one of the songs where we're told when it was written. It's written by David. It's written a matter of days, if not even a single day after many afflictions. He's only gonna see his friend one more time in his life, and that briefly. He is running for his life and he will be for the foreseeable future. But when Jonathan says, go in peace, David doesn't say, what peace? My life is miserable. I have to run for my life now. No, no, no, no. David accepts that word from his friend and he prays this song. This doesn't mean that we ignore the sadness. He said, go in peace with tears running down his cheeks. We cry with each other, we mourn with each other, but people of God, we keep the Lord at the center. And we see that through whatever we and or our friends are going through, we can speak a name of peace in the name of the Lord. Prophet Isaiah says it this way in Isaiah 26 verse 3, you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. May we keep God in the center of our life, in the center of our friendships between me and you. And may we know Jesus as our very dearest friend so that we might be able to take lips to take upon our lips words like, go in peace. Even when we are running for our life, go in peace. The Lord is between us. And in so doing, may we encourage one another to always rely upon and trust in the Lord, our covenant God. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord in all the earth, your name is great. Through afflictions of various