And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
Saul is hunting David, and the town David had just rescued has handed him over. Then Saul's own son finds him at Horesh — "the wood" in older translations — and strengthens the hand of the man who will take his throne.
The visit lands just as David's footing gives way. One writer sets the scene, then points to Titus coming to Paul in Macedonia:
Saul might have had no throne at all if David had not faced Goliath. Now Saul was hunting him with relentless energy. And the men of Keilah, whom David had just rescued from the Philistines, were betraying him. Who could be trusted? To whom could David turn? The ground seemed to quake beneath his feet. Just then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. Spiritual fellowship and brotherly sympathy is as refreshing as the dew of heaven. The coming of Titus to Paul in Macedonia was as divinely timed as the coming of Jonathan to David in the wood (2 Cor. 7:5-6).
Jonathan does not offer David a way back to the palace. This visit points him the other way:
David is now in the circumstances that suit faith and God. This chapter shows how much he gains once he is beyond the influence of the go-betweens who keep a soul from depending fully on God. They can still reach him, but they no longer sway him. David never had so much direct dealing with God about himself and his path. He gets his answers straight from the Lord about Keilah, the Philistines, and Saul. Even Jonathan must come out to David on this ground. He no longer weakens David's heart with useless tries to bring him back and tie him to the house and kingdom of Saul. He comes to strengthen his hands in the path of separation to God.
The encouragement comes before the danger, not after it:
How blessed is this meeting of faith with faith, and how great the confirmation we can bring each other! It is told first because David needed its strength for the encounter soon to come. It is part of the refining too. Without this encouragement in God we could not endure the separation and the strife. A tender hand is laid on this poor human material, to hold it steadily in the place of necessary testing.
Jonathan's next words (v. 17) show both what God gave him and where he was divided:
God grants him the lovely privilege of encouraging David in his pathway. Jonathan, it says, "strengthened his hand in God" (v. 16). And what is more, he brings David the prophetic word: "Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel" — but he adds, "and I shall be next to you." When it comes to himself, he loses the prophetic view. That fits the confused state of his soul.
Another writer wishes Jonathan had stopped one clause earlier:
There the strength of Jonathan's devotion showed itself. There too he betrayed its weakness. David first, but "I NEXT." Why did he not put a full stop once he had declared the kingdom was David's? Why did he not stay silent about himself? Why did he not leave the appointment of his place to his king? It was the introduction of the capital "I" — his thought for himself — that was the undoing of Jonathan.
The meeting ends with David staying in the wood and Jonathan going home:
First the city, now the house, and Jonathan left David to suffer even though he had made a covenant with him. What is it that holds us back from sharing the rejection of Christ? The city, the scene of man's activities? The house, our own circle of interest?
Others notice which direction he did not take:
Jonathan does not return to the army of Saul to take part even in the outward pursuit of David, but goes to his own house. There he will stay, refusing even to appear to share in the persecuting activities of his father.
Any believer can carry this same ministry to another:
Reader, are you in any difficulty? Is there pressure on you? Are you dreading some serious trouble ahead? It may be you have come to the far end. The apostle Paul came there in Asia: "so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself." If so, dear friend, take a word of encouragement. It is our deep desire to strengthen your hands in God. We long to encourage your heart to trust Him for all that lies before you. "Do not fear"; only believe. He never fails a trusting heart.
- Timed — Jonathan came when the ground shook under David: betrayed by Keilah, hunted by Saul.
- Directed — he strengthened David's hand in God. He did not pull David back to Saul's house. He confirmed him in the path of separation.
- Confirming — faith meets faith, and the strength comes before the testing, not after.
- Divided — the same mouth that said "You shall be king" added "and I shall be next." That thought for self was his undoing.
- Repeatable — the errand is still open: go to the discouraged and strengthen their hands in God.
And he said to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father will not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knows.
David is hiding in the wilderness of Ziph while Saul hunts him. There the king's own son finds him — not to take him home, but to send him on his way with a promise about the throne.
One phrase sums up Jonathan's errand: he strengthened David's hand in God. Earlier he had tried to tie David back to Saul's household. This time he does the opposite. He confirms David in the path that keeps him away from it.
David is now in circumstances suited to faith and to God. This chapter shows how much he gains now that he is beyond the influence — though not out of the reach — of the go-betweens that keep the soul from depending on God alone. David never had so much to do directly with God about himself and his path. He gets his answers straight from the Lord about Keilah, the Philistines, and Saul. Even Jonathan must come out to David on this footing. He no longer weakens David's heart by useless efforts to tie him back to the house and kingdom of Saul. Instead he strengthens his hands in the path of separation to God. Nothing in this promise breaks down, except the part that refers to the man who made it.
Jonathan's comfort does not rest on his own goodwill. It rests on what God has already settled, and on what Saul himself knows.
Jonathan reassures David that he need fear nothing. The hand of Saul will not find him. God has given him the kingdom, and he will reign over Israel. Jonathan tells David that his father knows this well — a sorrowful fact which proves his awful apostasy.
Then comes the clause about himself. In it Jonathan claims a position that was not his to give.
There Jonathan's devotion showed its strength; there too it showed its weakness. David first, but "I NEXT." Oh, why did he not put a full stop after he had declared that the kingdom was David's, and said nothing about himself! Why did he not leave the appointment of his place to his king? Surely the king alone had the right to say who should be next to him. It was the introduction of the capital "I" — his thought for himself — that was the undoing of Jonathan.
Elsewhere the same writer traces the failure to its root.
He exalted David, but he did not abase self, and that was the crux of the matter: he had not lost sight of himself in his love for David.
Here, one writer says, love should have become a clean break with his father's court.
In the life of a man of faith there always comes a critical moment. He must break his ties with the old system according to the flesh, which is in fact in the hands of the enemy of God… Much as he loved David, Jonathan was walking in this old order of things, built around the king according to the flesh, and it was going to disappear. What was there to do but leave it, when it was raising hateful, direct opposition to the Lord's anointed? Sadly, Jonathan had a position to keep up, and while David goes back to the wood, Jonathan goes to his house!
Another writer names what that choice cost him.
He ought to have thrown in his lot with him completely, and followed David fully. Had he done so he would have been preserved, and he would have had the second place in the kingdom. As it was, he was killed without honour at Gilboa.
Commentators differ on how hard to press this criticism. One writer quotes a warmer verdict, weighing what the speech cost a king's son.
It is difficult to form an adequate idea of the courage, the spiritual faith, and the moral grandeur of this act. No man ever cleared himself more fully from a share in another's guilt than Jonathan did from his father's. And yet not one undutiful word escaped the lips of this brave man. And how human is his fond hope! He longed that in days to come, when David was king, he would stand next to his throne as his trusted adviser — just as in the days of sorrow he had been the true and steadfast friend of the outlaw.
- Strength. Real encouragement does not tie a tested believer back to the old safety. It strengthens his hand in God for the path God has given.
- Sight. Jonathan saw the truth. David would be king, and Saul knew it too. Devotion begins with seeing who reigns.
- Self. He said "you shall be king," then added "I shall be next." That place is the king's to give, not the servant's to claim.
- Step. Seeing and saying were not enough. Jonathan never took the one step that mattered: leaving his father's court. David stayed in the wood; Jonathan went home.
- Sequel. The part of his prophecy about David came true; only the part about himself failed. He died at Gilboa instead of reigning second.
And they two made a covenant before Jehovah; and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
David is hiding in the wilderness of Ziph while Saul hunts him daily, and the king's own son comes out to find him. The two men bind themselves to each other before God — then one stays in the wilderness and the other goes home.
(Where the ESV has "Horesh," older translations read "the wood," and the quotes below use that wording.)
Just before the covenant, Jonathan finds David in his hiding place and strengthens his hand in God. One writer sees in that moment what believers can do for each other, and why it came when it did.
How blessed is this meeting of faith with faith, and how great the confirmation we can bring each other! This is mentioned first also, since its strength was needed for the encounter soon to come. This is part of the process of refinement too. Without that encouragement in God we could not endure the separation and the strife.
Jonathan does not try to bring David back to Saul's house. He helps him in another way.
Even Jonathan must come out to David on this footing. He must no longer weaken David's heart with useless efforts to link him back to the house and kingdom of Saul. He must strengthen his hands in the path of separation to God.
This is not their first agreement. One writer links it back to a promise made earlier in the story.
When Jonathan had come to encourage David in the woods, we are told they made a covenant before the Lord. This was likely a confirmation of a previous covenant, which David speaks of in chapter 20:8. But David remained a fugitive, while Jonathan went to his house. There is no record that they ever had the joy of seeing one another again.
The covenant outlived the day it was made. One writer points to two moments when David kept it toward Jonathan's son.
David kept the covenant they had made. At the height of his glory and greatness he remembered it, and his kindness to Mephibosheth was proof of it (2 Sam. 9). Later, near the close of his reign, he acted on it again, and kept the Gibeonites from hanging Jonathan's son for Saul's slaughter of the Hivites.
The verse ends with the two friends heading in opposite directions. One writer points to Jonathan's own hope of being next to David as the thing that held him back.
It may be that "I next" had much to do with Jonathan's reluctance to tread a path of reproach and loss. He seemed unwilling to surrender all his dignity for the one he loved. David's band was certainly a mixed crowd. Jonathan was not quite prepared to be one of them. Shall we not pray to be kept from a respectable Christianity?
Another writer turns the question on the reader.
First the city, now the house — and Jonathan left David to suffer, even though he had made a covenant with him. What is it that holds us back from sharing the rejection of Christ? The city, the scene of man's activity? The house, our own circle of interest? All things have their right place. But if they come before a readiness to suffer with Christ, we will not be walking a path that earns reward in the coming kingdom.
Jonathan made this promise before the Lord and still went home. One writer draws a sober conclusion from that.
A man may have deep personal attachment, covenants made and repeated, and even the faith that can strengthen another's hand in God and tell him not to be afraid — and still turn away from the position and the path with God that are needed to carry out His intentions.
- Strength. Jonathan brought David no rescue plan. He brought encouragement in God — faith meeting faith, before the harder test came.
- Direction. Real help points a friend forward in the path God has set. It does not pull him back into what God called him out of.
- Covenant. They made the agreement before the Lord, renewing an earlier promise — and then never met again.
- Reach. David kept that covenant years later, in his kindness to Jonathan's son — a promise that outlived the man who made it.
- Parting. One stayed in the wilderness with God's choice; the other went home. The verse leaves the reader to decide which road he is on.