But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill thee; and now, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place and hide thyself;
Saul has just ordered his son and his servants to kill David. The next line turns to Jonathan. Two hearts face the same man: one wants him dead, the other sends a warning and tells him where to hide.
One writer sets Saul's hatred beside Jonathan's delight, and finds there the question that decides every person's destiny.
The contrast between Saul's attitude to David and Jonathan's was very great. The poor jealous king, now often troubled by an evil spirit, hated him and would destroy him… Jonathan, for his part, "delighted much in David." This was the rock on which father and son split, and the break was final. In the same way today, the attitude of a person's soul towards the Son of God settles his eternal destiny. "What do you think of Christ?" is the great question that will either make or break everyone who hears it.
One writer sees the two men as pictures of two kinds of people in Israel, and sees love serving David against his own father.
To my mind, Jonathan, Saul's son, shows us those in whom the Spirit of Christ will work in Israel. Saul pictures that part of Israel which goes deeper and deeper into dark evil, because it does not value Christ. In the end the devil has full power over it… Here was a loving heart that wanted to give David this needed service. He gave it even though his own father was the one involved — a father who, sad to say, now showed open murderous malice.
Another writer reads the same moment as a test that Jonathan's love passed:
That love will soon meet the test, and it will prove true… Will the son obey his father's command? He knew David "in the Lord" — that is, on the ground of a "most holy faith"… Nothing could persuade him to lift his hand against his close friend, the Lord's anointed. He would serve him, whatever it cost; but murder him! The very thought was hateful to him.
Jonathan tells David to take care and hide. One writer sees God's kindness in giving him such a friend, and God's purpose in the hiding itself.
God's ways with His people are touching and gracious! He may see that His servant must learn, through a bitter process, the evil of keeping company with the world, and that he must separate from it. At the same time He provides him with a devoted heart he could fully trust. David had one green spot, one sheltered place. Like a guardian angel it kept him safe from the scheming of malice and all unkindness. The One whom David pictured knew little of such a resource on earth, though no one valued it more than He… When we sink so low that we must "stay in a secret place" and hide, we do not only prove that God is our resource; we settle it for ourselves. When better days return, the soul can compare the rest it had when it seemed to have nothing with the rest it has when natural resources are plentiful. If we are faithful, we value the natural less and less beside the divine. However hard we try, we can never find in the lower resource the rest we have in the higher.
Jonathan does not only warn; he promises to stand next to his father and speak about David. One writer hears a model for Christian witness in that plea, while noting how far the greater Son went beyond David.
Jonathan was willing to speak up for David… In these words we can almost hear the Christian speaking up for his Saviour and Lord. The hated one's words and works had been very good, and his hand had worked a great salvation for Israel. Who dares to accuse the words or the works of the Son of God? Who can deny that He has worked "such a great salvation" for His people? David "put his life in his hand"; our blessed Lord went immeasurably further, for He laid down His life for the sheep.
One writer admires Jonathan's love, then points to where it stopped.
Saul hates him, but Jonathan delights much in him. How precious! And he tries to save his life… And here is just where Jonathan, with all his love and delight in David, fails. He does not follow David, but stays in the house of Saul, where "David's place was empty." He refused to share David's rejection, and he suffered loss for it: he died on the mountains of Gilboa, among the enemies of the man he loved.
- Delight divides. Saul hated David and Jonathan delighted in him. The same man split father from son, and the Son of God still splits people today.
- Delight speaks. Jonathan told David the truth. He would not obey his father, because he knew David as the Lord's anointed.
- Delight shelters. The warning sent David into a secret place. There he proved for himself that God was his resource.
- Delight defends. Jonathan spoke up for David. In him we hear a believer speaking up for his Saviour — the One who laid down His life.
- Delight must follow. Jonathan delighted, warned and defended — yet he stayed in Saul's house. Love that will not share the rejection stops short.
and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and will speak of thee with my father and see what it is, and tell thee.
Saul has now said openly what he had only schemed at before: David must die. Jonathan answers with a plan in three parts: David is to hide, Jonathan will plead his case face to face, and Jonathan will report back what he learns.
The chapter opens with a father and a son taking opposite sides about the same person. One writer sees that split as the pattern for every age since.
The contrast between the attitude of Saul and Jonathan towards David was very great. The poor jealous king was now often troubled by an evil spirit. He hated David and wanted to destroy him. He even told Jonathan and his servants to kill David. Jonathan, for his part, "delighted much in David." This was the rock on which father and son split, and the division could not be undone. In the same way today, the attitude of a person's soul towards the Son of God settles his eternal destiny. "What do you think of Christ?" is the great question. It will either make or break every person to whom it is put.
Jonathan's plan protects David's life before it argues David's case.
Jonathan truly loved David and warned him of Saul's intentions. Still, Jonathan thought he could reason with Saul and persuade him that David was not an enemy, but a true friend. He told David to stay hidden from Saul, while he himself pleaded for him with his father. Then Jonathan "spoke well of David to Saul his father" (v. 4). How fitting it is if we today will speak well of the Lord Jesus before others who oppose Him!
Jonathan does not send a message. He puts himself at the side of the man who is hunting David.
Jonathan, Saul's son, seems to me to picture those in whom the Spirit of Christ will work in Israel. Saul pictures the part of Israel that goes deeper and deeper into dark evil, because it does not value Christ. In the end it falls right under the power of the devil... Here was a loving heart, eager to do this needed service for David. Yet the man in question was his own father, who sadly showed murderous hatred.
Jonathan sets out David's worth and Saul's own past joy in it.
Jonathan preaches grace to his father. He sets before him what David was, and what David had done for him at the risk of his own life. He also reminds Saul that he himself had rejoiced at first when he saw these things: "You saw it, and rejoiced." David's activity was far above anything Jonathan could do for him, and Jonathan knew it, even though he loved David as his own soul.
The same writer weighs what Saul's promise was worth.
Saul listens to Jonathan and swears, "As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death." God sets grace before the heart of the natural man, and this halts the growth of his wickedness for a moment. But this is not conversion. Saul's plan to murder David changes, yet he does not repent.
Jonathan promises to report back whatever he sees. Speaking up for a hated man draws fire.
Follow Christ fully. What will be the result? "Javelins." If we make much of Christ, Satan must oppose... Yes, David risked his life, but Jesus laid down His for us. We have every reason to "speak well" of Him. But if we do, what then? Look out for javelins. Satan cannot touch Christ, but he will touch you if he can.
One writer sees Jonathan's effort as real love aimed at the wrong target.
He could speak for David, and speak nobly and well; but he could not — or rather, did not — follow him. Yet Jonathan was not idle in David's cause, though his efforts were misdirected. He laboured to persuade Saul and his followers to receive him again, and for a moment seemed to succeed... But his father's heart had not changed, and David had to flee for his life again. It is the story of Christendom briefly retold: kind efforts by true Christians to reconcile worldly people to an acknowledgement of Christ, while their hearts are far from Him.
- Delight. Jonathan's course begins with his delight in David. That delight divided him from his father — the same question every person faces about the Son of God.
- Warn. Love acts before it argues. Jonathan hides David first, then goes to plead for him.
- Stand. Jonathan stands beside the very man who wants David dead. Love serves where serving costs most.
- Speak. His argument is pure grace: what David is, what David did at the risk of his life, and how Saul himself once rejoiced in it.
- Limit. The plea wins a pause, not a changed heart. Commentators differ on it: is Jonathan's pleading a model for speaking well of Christ, or love aimed at the wrong target?
And Jonathan spoke good 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 thee; for also what he did was very advantageous to thee;
Saul has just ordered his son and his servants to kill David. Jonathan answers with words alone: can words change a hard heart, and what will they cost him?
Jonathan warns his father that killing David would be the king's own sin. Then he argues the case in two halves, one negative and one positive.
Jonathan loved David and warned him of Saul's intentions. He advised David to remain hidden from Saul, while Jonathan interceded for him with his father… He speaks of the negative fact that David had in no way harmed Saul. Then he speaks of the positive fact that David's works had been very good. This included venturing his life against Goliath, which had caused Saul and all Israel to rejoice.
The plea also reaches back to what Saul himself once felt:
Jonathan preaches grace to his father by presenting to him what David was, what David had done for him at the risk of his own life, and by reminding him that he himself, Saul, had at first rejoiced after he had witnessed these things: "You saw it, and rejoiced." How far superior David's activity was to all that Jonathan could do for him! Jonathan knew this, even though he loved David as his own soul.
David is in hiding. He cannot defend himself, so Jonathan defends him. Writers hear in this a picture of speaking up for Christ where He is unwelcome.
Jonathan was willing to speak up for David. His protest as given in 1 Samuel 19:4-5 is deeply touching… In these words we can almost hear the Christian speaking up for his Saviour and Lord. The hated one's words and works had been very good, and his hand had worked a great salvation for Israel. Who dares to accuse the words or works of the Son of God? Who can deny that He has worked for His people "so great salvation"? (Heb. 2:3). David "put his life in his hand"; our blessed Lord went immeasurably further, for He laid down His life for the sheep.
The same reading turns the verse into a direct question for the reader:
And as Jonathan spoke good of David, oh can we not speak good of Jesus? Has He not worked a great salvation? Apart from Jesus, is there anything truly great or good? Has any other one glorified God about sin, as He has on the cross?
The plea works. Saul swears David will live. Yet writers weigh what that promise was worth.
By presenting grace to the heart of the natural man, God allows his wickedness to be stopped for a moment. But this is not conversion. Saul's murderous intention changes, yet he does not repent. He takes back his decision and makes a new resolution when faced with the appeals of a man of faith. But the resolution is barely made before he shows himself in no way free from his impulses. His behaviour proves that he is a miserable slave of Satan.
Jonathan's strongest point — "you saw it, and rejoiced" — exposes Saul instead of curing him:
But it was a mere passing emotion; not a trace of divine feeling had any place in his soul. Rocky ground hearers are very emotional. They seem full of divine joy while the wonders of divine grace are set out. But it passes quickly, like the dew before the sun (Matt. 13:20-21).
Defending a hated man draws the hatred onto the defender.
Three times he had tried to kill David. But when David is out of sight, Saul tries to kill Jonathan, who stood up for him. That is just like the Christian; when Christ is out of sight, he has to stand up for his Lord, and is persecuted.
Much in Jonathan is worth copying. Yet writers note the line he never crossed.
We may well marvel at his simple-hearted admiration of David, his great love for David, his delighting much in David, his speaking well of David, and his effort to ensure the safety of David. In much of this we might well copy him. But how very sad is the failure: with so much that is praiseworthy, he was held back from that complete devotion that would share all the dangers and hardships in the outside place.
- Love speaks. Jonathan loved David, so he warned him and then argued his case to the man who wanted him dead.
- Speak facts. David had done Saul no harm. He had risked his life and won a great salvation for Israel.
- Speak good of Christ. Writers read the scene as a picture of confessing Jesus where He is opposed. His words and works were good. He went further than David: He laid down His life.
- Speech may not convert. Saul swore David would live. Writers agree this was not repentance. His old joy over Goliath was passing emotion.
- Speaking costs. Saul later threw a javelin at Jonathan for defending David. And Jonathan, for all his love, never joined David in the place of rejection.