And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of Jehovah, that I die not,
David is now a hunted man. In a field away from Saul he and Jonathan swear an oath, and Jonathan asks for a kindness that must outlive him — one that covers his family too.
Jonathan is the crown prince. When he asks David to spare him and his family, he is conceding that the throne is not his. One writer puts him beside a man in the Gospels who came to Jesus in secret:
This sad but deeply moving meeting of David and Jonathan holds more than their love for each other. In Jonathan we see the godly in Israel owning their king. They confess Him before they see His glory; and they are themselves weak and in fear. Nicodemus is most like Jonathan. He too came to the Lord Jesus in secret, for fear of the Jews, just as Jonathan came to David in fear of his father, unknown to him and to the nation. He acknowledges David as the king of Israel. Earlier he had stripped off the signs of royalty and given them to David. Now he acknowledges that his life is in the hand of David. It is complete and perfect submission. There could be no fuller confession of David's rights as king of Israel, for he pleads not only for himself, but also for continued kindness to his house forever.
Jonathan is sure David will reign. Yet he asks for mercy while David is running for his life. One commentator holds both facts together, then turns them into a question for the reader:
David, the man of faith, knows very well the danger his faithfulness exposed him to. He sees only a step between himself and death (v. 3), and he knows that his only resource is in God. Jonathan is still counting on the help he believes he can give his friend (v. 2)… Jonathan has still not understood that God has rejected Saul, even though all his confidence is in David. Is he not assured of David's power in the future and of his goodwill?… And when does Jonathan choose to commend himself to David's protection? At the moment when David is fleeing, his life exposed at every instant! Is it not the same for us? Have we not found our protector, our refuge, and all our hope in a rejected Christ?
Jonathan expects David to outlive him. One writer says his sight stopped at David's throne — and that he was right:
Jonathan sees nothing beyond David's throne being set up in power. In this he was right. Nothing on this earth will ever replace it. But to outward eyes, how unlikely this looked! David was now a fugitive, yet he was to sit on a throne, and the house of Saul would owe its escape from death to his mercy. Jonathan expected to see David begin his reign, but he did not expect to outlive him.
The same writer who saw Jonathan's confession finds more in the plea than Jonathan knew:
Jonathan pleads, but his plea agrees with the counsels of God, and so his prayer has a prophetic aspect.
Years later David went looking for Jonathan's family, to keep his word:
David kept the covenant he had made. At the height of his glory and greatness he remembered it, and his kindness to Mephibosheth proved it (2 Sam. 9). Later, near the end of his reign, he acted on it again. He spared Jonathan's son from being hanged by the Gibeonites for Saul's slaughter of the Hivites (2 Sam. 21:7).
Jonathan asks for the LORD's own kindness. The ESV calls it "the steadfast love of the LORD"; older translations read "the kindness of the LORD," and writers see the gospel in it:
In faithfulness to his oath, David shows Mephibosheth the kindness of God. This is indeed a faint foreshadowing of the kindness that God now in grace shows to poor repentant sinners who trust in Him.
That kindness reached the house of Saul, the man who hunted David:
The covenant that David had made with Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:14-15) was the reason for David's words and action. But guilty sinners had no claim on the kindness of God. In His sovereign love, God has taken up such guilty sinners… He has given us the blessings of sonship and heirship in association with His own Son, to show the universe what His kindness is.
- Surrender — Jonathan, the heir to the throne, admits his life is in David's hand. Commentators call it complete and perfect submission: the godly owning their king before anyone sees his glory.
- Kindness — he asks for the LORD's kindness. That sets the measure: God's own kindness, not what the receiver deserves.
- Divided — all his confidence is in David, yet he has not grasped that God has rejected Saul. His refuge is a rejected king — as ours is.
- Reach — the oath reaches past Jonathan's own life. He pleads for his house forever, not only for himself.
- Kept — David kept the covenant at the height of his power, and again near the end of his reign. The kindness reached his enemy's family — a faint picture of God's kindness to sinners with no claim on Him.
but thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever, no, not when Jehovah cuts off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth.
Jonathan is heir to Saul's throne, and his father wants David dead. Instead of guarding his own future, he asks the hunted man to spare his family once the kingdom is his.
His words are a plea, but underneath is a confession. He asks David to protect his descendants, and in asking he hands over the crown before David wears it:
He acknowledges David as the king of Israel. He had before stripped himself of the emblems of royalty and given them to David. Now he acknowledges that his life is in the hand of David. It is complete and perfect submission. No confession of David's rights as king of Israel could be fuller. He pleads not only for himself, but also for continued kindness to his house forever.
Read in its moment, the request sounds impossible. The man being asked for mercy is running for his life, and the family asking for mercy is the royal house currently hunting him.
To outward eyes it hardly looked possible. David had now become a fugitive, yet he was going to sit on a throne — and the house of Saul would owe its escape from death to his mercy! Jonathan expected to see David begin his reign, but he did not expect to outlive him.
Commentators do not treat Jonathan as flawless here. One writer weighs what he misses against what he still gets right:
Jonathan has still not understood that God has rejected Saul, even though all his confidence is in David... He forgets himself again here, declaring that the kingdom belongs to his friend. And when is it that Jonathan chooses to commend himself to David's protection? At the moment when David is fleeing, his life exposed at every instant! Is it not the same for us? Have we not found our protector, our refuge, and all our hope in a rejected Christ?
Jonathan does not ask for ordinary goodwill. He names it the kindness of the Lord — a kindness that later reached a man who had no claim on it at all:
When David said, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (2 Sam. 9:1, 3), he was illustrating the kindness that God shows to those who are, by nature, at enmity with Him. The covenant that David had made with Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:14-15) was the reason for his words and action: but guilty sinners had no claim on the kindness of God.
Years later David looked for anyone left of Saul's house, and found Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. What secured his place was nothing in himself; it was the promise Jonathan had asked for here:
He remembers his covenant with Jonathan. He had bound himself by promises he would never take back (1 Sam. 20:14-17). He could not and would not break them. Mephibosheth had nothing to fear, for his judge tells him, "I will show you kindness."
The word "forever" carries the weight of Jonathan's plea. One writer follows it into Mephibosheth's place at the table, and then into ours:
No one can take Mephibosheth's portion away from him: he will "eat at my table always" (vv. 7, 10); "he ate always at the king's table" (v. 13). "Do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever" (1 Sam. 20:15)... We have these same privileges. The whole line of favors that were Mephibosheth's is our portion now and in the future.
Jonathan speaks of a day when every enemy of David is cut off. One writer sees his words reaching past his own family, and finds the promise behind them sealed with an oath:
Jonathan entreats, but his entreaty is in accord with the counsels of God, and therefore his prayer has a prophetic aspect. We see in this the covenanted blessings of the saved remnant in the age to come... The promise is given, repeated, and confirmed with an oath — two immutable things.
- Plea — Jonathan asks mercy for his descendants. In asking, he concedes David's right to the throne.
- Timing — He commits his house to a man who is at that moment running for his life; faith rests on a king not yet crowned.
- Kindness — The kindness he asks for is the kind God shows to people who are His enemies by nature and have no claim on it.
- Kept — David kept the covenant and seated Jonathan's son at his own table.
- Forever — The kindness has no end date: a permanent seat at the king's table, and that same portion is ours now and in the future.