1 Samuel 18:30–19:7

Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you.”

Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed.” Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.

David’s performance in all things is impressive. So Jonathan has a lot of “ammo” for his argument that Saul should spare David.

But first he has to warn David. Of course, David had already twice evaded a spear thrown by Saul back in 1 Samuel 18:11. But that was while Saul was being tormented by an evil spirit, so maybe he wasn’t in his right mind.

This time Saul seems to be in his right mind and is giving orders to all his subordinates that they should kill David. This is particularly distressing to Jonathan because: a) it’s nuts, b) David is his soul friend, and c) he’s aware of God’s plan for David.

So he jumps into action, first with David and then with his dad.

It almost surprising that this time logic wins. Saul actually listens to Jonathan.

There’s an interesting lesson in what this is not. Notice the contrast between what Jonathan is doing and what Abraham and Sarah were doing when they cooked up their madcap scheme to “help” God fulfill his promise of an heir for Abraham.

There, Abraham and Sarah “do the wrong thing” to try to help God. This showed a lack of faith (yes, lack of faith) in God’s ability to keep His promise.

Here, Jonathan is just doing the right thing.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.