JONATHAN AND DAVID A NOBLE FRIENDSHIP
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
1 SAMUEL 18 : 1-4, 20:16-17, 32-34, 42 2 SAMUEL 1:26-27 21:7
Key Verse
“And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city”.
1 Samuel 20:42
INTRODUCTION.
Friendships are very important for the mental health today and happiness of human beings. People are social beings and it is a part of their DNA, their innermost desire, to have someone to share their thoughts, their desires, expectations and what they would like out of their life. People also want someone they can turn to and who they are able to trust. Mental health experts are alarmed that there is an alarming drop in friendships, and personal dependence among people. There is less and less family loyalty, community loyalty, and friendships and this is one of the factors that has led to crashes in mental health.
Friendships are very important for happiness in life and even people who lived long ago recognized this. The Story is often told of something that happened several thousands of years ago. The story ia as follows:
“Pythias was a young statesman in Rome who got into trouble with the government and was condemned to die. When he was awaiting execution, he indicated a desire to go home to his family and bid farewell to them. His friend, Damon, took his place in prison as security for him while he was gone. The Emperor, Dionysus, was so touched by this display of friendship that he granted them both a pardon, with the proviso that they include him in the secret of their friendship. I think we can understand why Dionysus would feel that way, for we too would like to know the secret of friendship”.
The Bible tells us of many friendships and the one we are studying today is the friendship between Jonathan and David. David was a young man who lived in the country area and so when he came to visit his brothers who were at the battle area fighting with the Philistines, David saw that they were all afraid of Goliath the champion of the Philistine army. But David, unlike the king and the princes and the other soldiers, was not afraid, and he fearlessly went to meet Goliath with only a slingshot and killed him and so took away the danger from the army of Israel. When Jonathan the son of King Saul who was heir to the throne of Israel saw this, he had a strong bond and liking for David. He was a brave soldier himself, and he loved the Lord God of Israel, and he recognized this quality in David. They were both alike in many respects and both of them developed a very close friendship. They made a covenant between them to look after each other. Jonathan knew that God was going to hand the kingdom over to David and David would be the new king instead of his father. But Jonathan loved God and what God had done, and so he decided to look after David and protect him from his father King Saul who would be looking to kill David. They made an oath between them to look after each other and David agreed with Jonathan that if Jonathan died in battle and David became king, he would look after the children of Jonathan and made sure that nothing bad would happen to them.
The friendship was very close. They were loyal to each other. They loved the decisions God had made about their future. They accepted the decision of God that David would be the new king of Israel and that Jonathan who even though he was the heir to the throne would not be king. They trusted each other. They were determined to protect each other from danger and death. They talked to each other honestly and supported the truth about their situation even when they felt that the other person who was dangerous to them and opposed their friendship might be at fault. They were not afraid of being judged by their other friend. They were true friends. Their friendship came from the friendship that they both knew God had with them.
So we learn all kinds of lessons from this Study. You need friends and so you should ask God to provide friends for you for sometimes it’s dangerous if you make friendships without the approval of God. When you have great friends you will be in peace. God will protect both of you and protect you and will look after you, your friends. and your children.