When Things Don’t Go Your Way—Let Your Character Speak
1 Samuel 18:1-4 Romans 12:1-2
9/12/2022
Have you ever had something coming to you that was rightfully yours and should have been given to you, but somehow you didn’t receive it. It could have been a promotion on a job that went to someone else. It could have been something a parent told you could have after their death, but another family member got it.
It could have been a race or a game that you should have won, but someone cheated and you lost. It could have been a spouse that you intended to spend a lifetime with, but someone else entered the picture and ended your dream. We don’t have to live long to realize, things don’t always go our way, even when we are in line to receive them.
The philosophy of the world tells us to get back at the other person by any means necessary or to pay them back for what they have done to you. Hate them with a passion. But we have this verse from Romans 12:1-2 telling us , “1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
How do we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice when things don’t go our way. Not only is it hard, it’s virtually impossible. Though we can’t do it on our own, if we allow Jesus to live in and through us we can watch it happen. God desires to develop a character within us that will speak in these situations far louder than our words ever could.
The key to not conforming to the pattern of this world is being transformed by the renewing of our minds. We do not have to think in the way the world wants us to think. Our minds have to be renewed by the word of God and a willingness to allow the mind of Christ to live inside of us.
Meet a young man who grew up in a royal family. He was humble, respectful, admired and developing into a very skillful soldier. As an adult he was an able warrior ready to fight by his father’s side. He had a strong faith in God and believed that God could deliver an army by the hands of either a few people or many.
He secretly attacked the Philistine army which led to great victory for God’s people. He and his armor bearer attacked 20 enemy soldiers and won, which set off another major victory for Israel. He was a true leader who had the respect and the admiration of the army.
Everyone knew that this guy was going to one day become a great king. He was a leader with a lot of charisma. He looked for the best in other people. The king himself looked forward to the day his son would become king.
His father’s name was King Saul, and his name was Jonathan. What really made Jonathan stand out, was that he wanted the best for the people of God, even at his own expense. He risked his life for the sake of others. Jonathan is forerunner of what God was going to do in Jesus Christ. Jonathan was more committed to seeing the will of God done, than he was in preserving his own status and even his own life. As Jesus would say, “I have not come to do my will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me”, Jonathan realized that life was not all about him.
There was a giant warrior by the name of Goliath from the Philistine army. No one among King Saul’s army was willing to go out and fight him. There was a young man by the name of David who went and fought Goliath in the name of the Lord and won the battle.
David cut off Goliath’s head. Then Abner, the leader of the army, took David to King Saul. King Saul asked David a few questions about his background among other things. The King was pleased with David’s victory. Jonathan was there by the King’s side listening to all the praise and admiration that the King was giving to David who was close in age to Jonathan.
Jonathan could have become jealous that his father was heaping all this praise on David for his faith in fighting Goliath. He could have thought, “If only I had of gone out and tried to fight him, then my father would be praising me.” But that was not Jonathan’s character.
God was at work in Jonathan as he listened to David and the king talk to each other. Jonathan could see that both he and David shared a strong faith in the same God. Jonathan knew that God’s people were much better off now than they were before David came on the scene. That was enough of a reason to rejoice.
The Scriptures tell us that Jonathan became one in spirit with David and that he loved David as himself. Jonathan is our prototype of what Jesus meant when he told us to love your neighbor as yourself. David did not come from a royal background. Yet Jonathan lets David know, “I consider you to be my equal.”
Jonathon took off his royal robe he was wearing and gave it to David. Jonathan gave David his tunic, his sword, his, bow and his belt. He made a covenant of friendship with David. He was equipping David with everything he needed to be successful in what God was calling him to be.
Jonathan is doing for David, the same thing that Jesus does for us. We don’t however have to kill a Goliath or do anything great to be noticed by God. Jesus already knows us and wants to share his love with us. He wants to enter into a covenant relationship with us. He takes us from being an enemy of God, to adopting us into the royal family of God. He dresses us with his righteousness and provides us with best of tools to accomplish His mission for us.
When King Saul, heard the women singing the song, “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands,” he became angry and envious. He was convinced that David would be trying to plot to take away his kingship and overthrow his rule. Nobody had the right to deny him what was rightfully his, and he made up his mind to kill David. Saul’s character came to the limelight. He was not the same person in secret as he was in public. It was a lack of character that had cost him his kingdom.
When Jonathan heard the same song being sung by the women, he became thankful and grateful to God. Jonathan’s thinking how blessed he will be to have David by his side over his army when he becomes king. With God, he and David could defeat all their enemies. Once again his character showed through. It wasn’t about what was best for Jonathan, but rather what was best for the people of God.
Jonathan found himself in the middle of a dispute between his father and David. He loved them both. King Saul told Jonathan, and all the attendants to kill David. Jonathan warned David to go into hiding until he had a chance to speak to his father.
Jonathan goes to his father and reminds him of how the king had benefited greatly from David’s victories over the Philistines. He reminds him of how happy he was the day David defeated Goliath. He appeals to the king’s sense of fairness by saying, that David is innocent so why would you kill him for no reason.
Like Jonathan pleading to his father, Jesus intercedes on our behalf with His Father, when we are in danger. There was nothing David could do to be acceptable in King Saul’s eyes. There’s nothing we can do to make things right with God. Jesus reminds God the Father, not of the good things we have done, but rather that he has gone to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. Therefore because of justice have been satisfied with the death of Jesus, we are entitled to be restored to a right relationship with the Father. It is our faith in Christ, that allows us to approach the Father with confidence. His resurrection empowers us to live a new life.
Jonathan is successful on behalf of David as an intercessor. The king assures Jonathan, that no action will be taken against David. Jonathan brings David back into the palace. The unity is once again restored.
All is well until war breaks out again, and David wins another major battle, and the enemy took off running. This new fame of David was too much for Saul to handle, and he tried killing David with a spear, but David manages to escape. Saul goes in pursuit of David but fails to capture him.
Jonathan does find David and tries to bring him back again. But before David is willing to come, he wants to set up a test for King Saul to find out what’s in the king’s heart. The King was hoping Jonathan would bring David back so that he could kill him.
There’s a big feast and King Saul expects David at the table. The first night David does not show up. King Saul thinks, “maybe David is unclean. Surely he will be here tomorrow.” The next night David’s seat is still empty. King Saul asks Jonathan, “Why hasn’t David shown up for the feast these past two days.” Jonathan said, “I gave him permission to go to his own home and have a feast with his family, because his older brother had insisted on him being present.”
Saul became so angry that he lost his temper. He called Jonathan some not so nice names and told him that as long as David is alive on earth neither Jonathan nor his kingdom will ever be established. In other words, “Can’t you see that David, not you, will become the next king of Israel. You need to help me put him to death in order for you to become king.”
Well Saul probably has declared publicly, is what people have been whispering among themselves. Some no doubt have been saying, “What a great king David would make. Jonathan would be a good one too, but David would be better.” Saul can’t bear the thought that his family would not have a dynasty for generations to come.
Jonathan can be the next king, if he just listens to his father. All he has to do, is tell where David is hiding. But Jonathan is a person of character. Instead of attempting to defend his right to the throne, he challenges his father, stands by David’s cause, and insist on knowing why David should be put to death, and what are the charges against him.
King Saul answers him not with eloquent words, but in anger he hurls a spear at Jonathan with the intent to kill him. The king’s aim was off and he missed. Jonathan got up from the table in anger. He knew his father intended to kill David.
The next day, Jonathan went to the place David was hiding and they renewed their friendship in the name of the Lord, cried together and said goodbye. David was now a fugitive on the run. Jonathan went back to serve as his father’s side. His character allowed him to move beyond his father’s attempt on his life and to forgive him.
The next time David and Jonathan meet, David is in Horesh. David is hiding in fear of Saul’s army. The little group David has with him is no match for the army Saul has searching for him. David thought for sure that Saul would capture him this time. But the scripture says in 1 Samuel 23:15-17 (NIV2011) 15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. 16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.”
Jonathan’s character allows him to go and help David find strength in God. To everyone else, David may have seemed liked Jonathan’s rival. But to Jonathan, David was God’s will for Israel. Jonathan could accept the fact that it was not God’s will for him to become king. He was okay with that. He told David, I will faithfully serve at your side as your number two man even as I was my father’s number man, looking out for what was best for him.
Jonathan was a faithful warrior and son to his father King Saul to the very end. He was with King Saul on Mt Gilboa when they were fighting their final battle against the Philistines. There in that battle as a young man, Jonathan, his two brothers, and his father were all killed. Jonathan’s character had a powerful influence on David’s life. He never had a friend like Jonathan again. When David became king, he saw to it that Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth was taken care all of his life.
Jonathan knew he had to let go of some dreams for God’s will to be accomplished. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem the week of Palm Sunday, he cried over Jerusalem because he desperately wanted to embrace them as a mother hen embraces and covers her chicks, but the people were not willing to follow his call. Jesus showed his character by being willing to die for them even with their rejection of him. Jesus had to let go of some dreams.
Did you ever think that God has had to let go of some of the dreams he had for us, because of our refusal to accept his will and purposes in different situations in our lives. Sometimes we may go ahead and get we want, but we cut corners to do it and we miss what God has for us?
Tony Dungy a former National Football League Player and Coach shared that nothing would knock a player out of the possibility of being drafted quicker than their character. It did not matter how talented or skilled they were, if they had the initials DNDC by their name, they would not be drafted. The letters stood for Do Not Draft Character. Character is important.
The Good News of Jesus Christ, is that God will draft us for his team, because He knows that Jesus Christ gives the power to change any character. When we confess our sin and yield to the work of God in our lives we will discover a character that will transform us into being faithful, honest, and trustworthy. God can do it in any of us.
