I Samuel 23:16 And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
Yesterday I was driving from Oklahoma to my home on the Bill Rice Ranch. Oklahoma has a lot of toll roads, and we were driving up to a toll when we realized that we did not have exact change, which is demanded on that stretch. We had a dollar, but we did not have four quarters. There is no lane to pull over and think. We were in a quandary and a bit of mild panic. There we were in the middle of the road with no change, and we didn’t know what to do. So, I put the hazard lights on.
We were searching high and low in our truck for four quarters when all of a sudden a car pulled up just beside us. It was a stranger who said, “Are you in trouble? Do you need help?” I said, “Well, we just don’t have the quarters we need to go through the toll booth.” She said, “Let me look.” Both of us are in the road with our hazards on, and she is digging through her purse. Finally, she found four quarters and a dollar coin which she gave to us. Then, she drove off. Last night we prayed for her and I kept thinking, “Man, I wish there was some way we could return the favor.” She was just an angel from God.
Do you ever do something for someone and realize there is no way they can ever repay you? Or have you ever had anyone do something for you and you will never have the opportunity to repay them? That‘s a teachable moment in your life and my life. From whom do you hope? Or from whom do you expect to gain? Your actions every day indicate from whom you expect to gain.
In I Samuel 23 it says, “Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.” Keilah was a town in Judah. So, David asked God for guidance and God said, “Go up and fight the Philistines.” David delivered God’s people in Keilah from the enemy, the Philistines. Strangely enough, David enquired of God again, and God said that the men of Keilah would deliver David into the hand of Saul. Talk about ungrateful; not returning a favor, and returning evil for good. David had saved Keilah, and Keilah was intending to turn David over to Saul.
Later, verse 16 says, “And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.” Here is another case of someone who did something kind and right who might never be repaid by the person to whom he was doing kindness. That was Jonathan to David. Jonathan was supposed to be the next king, but God had said that David would be. Saul had tried to kill David, and King Saul had even made an attempt on Jonathan’s life because he was a friend of David. Yet, Jonathan wasn’t testing the wind; he strengthened David’s hand in the Lord. He did this even when, from what he could see, he might not stand to gain anything back from David. That was an act of faith. It was an act of faith realizing that God would repay and take care of him if he did right by David.
David wasn’t investing in Keilah in order to get a payback, and Jonathan wasn’t testing the wind, seeing whether it was safe or not to be a friend to David. Both these men in their turn were doing what was right at the time and trusting that God would make it right in the end.
I don’t know what opportunities you will have today. Maybe it will be to give someone a few coins on the turnpike in Oklahoma and save their bacon. I do know that your actions indicate from whom you expect to gain. God is the One Who provides for us and takes care of us today as we do right and help others.