I Samuel 20:23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.
Remember the “teacher’s pet” in 3rd grade? There is nothing wrong with a teacher loving her students, and it is perhaps natural for a teacher to like one student more than another because of that student’s effort. But, maybe a teacher’s pet who was well behaved around the teacher lived like the devil when the teacher was not around. I think all of us have a special kind of contempt for someone who is a chameleon, someone who puts their moistened finger to the air and says, “Which way is the wind blowing? When I am with this group I’ll be like them. I’ll be whatever it takes for me to be safe and in the majority.”
I Samuel 20 is the story of someone who is the exact opposite of this, Jonathan. He was heir to the throne, but God had said, “David the shepherd will be the next king.” If I were Jonathan, that would have been very hard for me, but Jonathan accepted God’s will and befriended God’s man, David.
Jonathan said to David, “And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between me and thee for ever.” They had made a covenant. When David became king, he was to remember Jonathan’s family graciously. David did do that. Jonathan was getting in on God’s program early. It wasn’t safe because his dad, the king, was jealous and had tried to kill David, but it was faith. Faith is getting in on God’s program early. Exercising faith is not based on what is seen, what is safe, or being part of the majority.
Now living by faith demands three things that Jonathan illustrates to us. First, it demands humility. Jonathan had to realize that he was not the star of his own show. In verse 31, Saul very angrily had said to his son Jonathan, “For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom.” Well, it took humility to realize that he was in line to be king but that God wished something else. He accepted that. That was faith and humility, getting in on God’s program early.
Second, living by faith like Jonathan demands surrender. It means realizing that I’m not on the throne of my own life. Jonathan realized that he would not ascend to the throne if he accepted God’s choice of David, and it meant accepting that he was not even on the throne of his own life. Surrender is not giving up on life; it is allowing God to lead in life. Surrender is what faith demands.
Lastly, faith demands courage. I Samuel 20:33 says, “And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew it was determined of his father to slay David.” It demanded courage for Jonathan to give up his safety and place in the majority and to go with something he could see at the moment. He had to trust that God would fulfill God’s plan.
Recently, here on the Bill Rice Ranch I was driving through the campground when one of my neighbors was walking her dog on a leash. About five steps behind the girl and her dog was her cat. The cat was following right behind this girl. Now, the dog had to have a leash, but the cat just had to have a hope. Maybe it was hoping for protection, affection, food, or all of the above, but nothing compelled that cat to follow. That cat followed because of what the cat assumed the person could and would do regarding it.
Today, when you follow God, you are going to have to come to a point when you are just going to have to decide to follow God or not. You may not have a leash compelling you to follow God. Faith is getting in on God’s program early. When you act on faith in God, you will be glad that you did.