Jonathan

I remember that first day David came into camp. I suppose everyone there remembers. He was carrying a bag of cheeses and bread for the troops, but he had really come to see the battle. He seemed to stir up a crowd of soldiers wherever he went. And there was plenty to be stirred up about in those days. Goliath the famous Philistine warrior was challenging the army of my father to a one-on-one contest. David arrived just as the great warrior was issuing one of his daily taunts.

Goliath presented a real dilemma for my father. He was not afraid of the giant from Gath. Saul is as fearless as a bear. But he was the king. I think the Philistine commanders were hoping Saul would go out to face Goliath. But my father was too smart for that. I would have gone up against him, but my father would not hear of that either. And frankly, no one else would dare face Goliath.

Rumors of reward from the king were spreading through the army on the day David burst into the camp. He heard those stories as well as the giant's own bellowing harangue. David did not carry a bow, but I would have sworn that he knew how to use one. He was not heavily muscled, but he looked like someone who lived out in the weather.

As I stood watching him from a distance the wind caught at my cloak and swirled it out from me. I remembered how my father had given me the robe I wore. He had come home from one of his victories over the Amalakites wearing it across his shoulders. I ran out to meet him, and cried, "Father you look like a great king in that golden cloak!" He laughed and threw the cloak around me as he swept me up into his arms. "When the top of your head touches my beard," he promised, "I will give it to you, then you will look like a great king." I grew faster than Saul expected. By the next year I was almost as tall as my father. And he was true to his word. At my bar mitzvah father gave me the cloak. I was as proud as a king even if I did not quite look the part in those days.

David did not even have a cloak. He wore one of those wool shepherds' garments that double as a bed roll at night. But he wore it like a warrior. Eliab, his great oaf of a brother, thought David was just being cocky. But he was the only one who thought that. Even my father took David seriously, and he is no mean judge of warriors. David was not tall like my father and I, but there was a power about him. I may have been the only one in the army that day who knew where David found his might.

Evidently my father had not seen him before that day, even though David had spent countless hours within a few feet of his throne. That's the kind of man my father is. He is always thinking about battles and strategy. Nothing ever distracts him while his mind is at work. Saul would never have noticed a harpist playing in his great hall.

You see, from the time the prophet Samuel anointed my father to be the king, Saul had been prone to prophesy. There was never any question that his utterances came from the LORD. But the greater his battles the fiercer his angry bouts became. He often gripped his sword, cleaving the air as he preached. His listeners were terrified. Several times he buried his spearhead in a beam of the wall no more than a foot from some poor soldier's head. So his officers decided to bring singers to soothe my father's prophetic fits. David was one of those musicians.

When the shepherd boy played, the angry prophet would grow calm, and God's peace would return to the room. David was skilled with his instrument. And he had a strong clear voice. But it was not his musical ability that made such an impact--it was the words of his songs. They were marvelous! They made me think the Lord was right there in the room. David must have spent all his days out on the hillside praying and thinking up the lyrics to his tunes. As David defied the Philistine in the name of the Lord our God, it was not an empty taunt. David knew the Lord God was with him.

But it was not the calming voice of a menstrual that filled the valley as David went out to face Goliath that day.

"I do not come against you with sword or spear. I come in the name of the Lord Almighty!"

My hand automatically went to my sword hilt as David ran to meet the giant. I had once defeated the Philistine army with that sword in my hand. The rest of our soldiers were in hiding for fear of the Philistines. So I said to my young armor bearer, "We were going out to face them alone. Nothing can keep the Lord from saving whether by many or by few." I knew it was the Lord who gave us the victory.

And I knew the sword hand of the LORD held the pebbles in David's hand. I heard the whirr of his sling, and the stone shot out toward Goliath's head. Everyone in both armies was stunned when the giant crashed to the ground. David had killed the warrior with his own sword before the cry rose from the Philistine ranks and they all turned to flee.

My father began shouting orders to our army to pursue them! This was going to be his greatest victory over the Philistines. Crowds of officers and men gathered around David as my father shook him for joy and promised him a command in the army. When my father turned away to see to rest of the battle, I rushed up to David and greeted him in the name of the LORD. I gave him my own bow. And I pulled off my sword belt and gave it to him sword and all. Then I threw my cloak around his shoulders and said. You need a cloak if you are going to be a warrior." Some of the officers laughed and said, "He can't wear a cloak, he doesn't even have a tunic." So I pulled off the tunic my mother had made for me and gave it to him as well.

"From this day on," I said, "you are my brother." And I have loved him as I love myself. We became united, not by the sword as some of the soldiers said, We became brothers in the Lord who alone could have given us victory.

And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

1 Samuel 18:3-4

Worship and reflection

(A pastor may want another person to lead this time of reflection, especially if he has dressed up as Jonathan to deliver the monologue. The worship leader needs to read the concluding verses, 1 Samuel 18:3,4) Read Psalm 133 together.

Leader: How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

People: It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.

Leader: It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.

People: For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Worship Reflection sheet

"Take a pen. Lets go through this together "

1. Have you known someone whose spirituality impressed you as David must have impressed Jonathan?

2. Have you had a friend who stood by you in the Lord as Jonathan stood by David?

3. Have you ever had a strong Christian friendship? How did it effect your life?

4. What personal possession have you generously given to a friend?

5. Do you believe strong friendships are good for our church?

Can you check the box below as you response to God?

q I will seek to strengthen my commitments to others in the church.

6. How do you think David knew he could trust God to defeat Goliath?

7. How can you find strength in the Lord as David did against Goliath.

Can you check the box below as you response to God?

q I commit myself to spend time alone with the Lord every day.