This morning we will look at a love story; nope, not about a man and woman but about 2 men. I don’t want you to answer, but what is going on in your mind right now? I got your attention didn’t I?
Our sinful world sees the relationship of David and Jonathan as a romantic one. The problem with the world of course, and sadly even with supposedly Christian churches today, bits and pieces of Scripture are interpreted out of context. Our passage today, 1 Samuel 18:1-5, is one of those which can easily be misinterpreted out of context. Were David and Jonathan lovers? In a way they were but we must look at the relationship through God’s eyes and through God’s infallible word the entire Bible!
And so, before reading our text, let us note a few things; let’s have a Preface to 1 Samuel 18:1-5.
1. David was a godly man and was a testimony to the whole world, especially to Saul and family.
1 Sam. 16:13 - from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David
1 Sam. 16:23 -.would take up his lyre and play ….. and the evil spirit would leave Saul
1 Sam. 17:15 – obedient, caring, and courageous for the Lord
1 Sam. 17:37 & 45 – depended on God’s protection for life
1 Sam. 17:46-47 – desired for the whole world to know God!
2. There are at least 4 types of “love” in God’s Word! Unfortunately there is only one English word for love; but loving pizza, loving the Packers, and loving your spouse are not the same type of loves, or at least, shouldn’t be . There is emotional/romantic type of love; there is brotherly love; there is motherly love; there is lustful fleshy love; and there is godly agape love; each type of love is different! The Hebrew word for love in our passage today is only used in another passage; we read in 1 Samuel 16:21 in the NIV…….
The same Hebrew word for love in 1 Samuel 18 is used here in 1 Samuel 16:21 and we can already see that love in our passage is not an erotic type of love.
And let us always note that Scriptures can interpret Scriptures (all is written by God!). And so,
3. God forbids homosexuality! God did not create man then another man! Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-28 are a few verses calling homosexuality as sin against God.
And so with these truths in mind, let us read our passage for today and note the biblical principles for us from 1 Samuel 18:1-5…
Let us summarize the story by looking at the 3 main characters. Our focus for today will be on David and Jonathan. But because he plays a key role in David’s and Jonathan’s lives, let us note a few things about Saul.
Saul has been king of Israel for a while now but as we noted in previous chapters, Saul was getting old and more and more wicked, refusing God. Saul did recently witness the power of God through David by defeating Goliath.
1. What did Saul do?
Earlier, Saul allowed David to go back and forth to Bethlehem, but now…
a. King Saul kept David. Therefore, David really did not have a choice but to obey and stay with Saul’s family. And why did Saul keep David?? Saul was selfish!
b. in v5, Saul made David a high ranking army officer. We note that this made all the people happy.
How did Saul impact David's life?
In summary, we can note this: Saul made decisions for David’s life and David was obedient!
You know sometimes God places authority figures in our lives who we may not like and we can easily miss God's wonderful plan for us when we grumble and complain instead of just obeying; unless they ask you to sin of course then we should obey God instead of people.
2. David?
a. we already noted David’s obedience to his authorities!
b. and again from v5, David was always successful.
What does this say about David? How can David obey his leaders without sinning and be able to do things successfully??
David had supernatural powers! David yielded to God’s leading and power!!
How should we deal with authority figures we don't like? - follow David's example!
And finally, what can we say about 3. Jonathan?
a. v1b: became one in spirit with David? What type of spirit did David have??
And so, what did became one in spirit with David meant?? Jonathan was a godly man!
b. v1c: Jonathan loved David as himself? We already noted earlier that this was not a romantic or a lustful type of love! Was it motherly love? – I don’t think so, as we will note the other things that Jonathan did. And so, it likely boils down to a brotherly type love or a godly type of love. We already noted that both David and Jonathan were godly men, therefore, it was more than brotherly love that they shared; Jonathan loved David in the Name of God!
c. and we see the active results of the godly love Jonathan had for David:
v3: Jonathan made a covenant = a binding agreement! God does not tell us specifically but what do you think they agreed on??
Likely David and Jonathan made a covenant to continue to pursue godliness!
d. v4: Jonathan, a Prince who had authority over David, gave everything to David. Godly agape type love thinks of the betterment of the other and gives unconditionally!
And so, what biblical principles from this passage can we apply to our lives today?
1. Let us be like David who yielded to God’s leading and power! Pray always, Lord Jesus, lead me and empower me to do the right things!
2. Let us be like Jonathan who looked for a godly person to love in the Name of the Lord!
The opposite of this of course must be avoided: Do not partner with someone who is not a committed Christian!
3. Commit with someone to pursue godliness together!
Of course this is ideal with your spouse; but let me suggest, like David with Jonathan, also find a person of your gender and faith partner with them!
How do we do this? Of course, first and foremost, pray and ask God to bring a person in your life; then,
a. Be at church together on a regular basis!
b. Study the Bible together!
