2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, we saw how the covenant between David and Jonathan compared to that between the Lord and us-both provide God’s protection. God asks us to take the time to better understand the responsibilities and blessings of a covenant relationship. To that end, we are given a remarkably detailed account of David’s struggle with Saul. 1 SAM 19: 1-11 is the story of how Jonathan offered to help David to escape Saul’s plan to kill him. He told David to hide while he tried to find out his father’s plan (1-3). Jonathan interceded on David’s behalf and got Saul to agree not to kill David (4-6). He brought David to Saul, and David continued to serve Saul (7). Yesterday, I theorized that Saul may have suffered from schizophrenia, the mental disease that causes intermittent episodes of psychotic behavior. What happens next seems to support that. David fought successfully against the Philistines. An “evil spirit” possessed Saul, leading to him unsuccessfully attacking David with a spear for a second time (8-10). David’s wife, Michal, who was Saul’s daughter, told him to escape from Saul’s evilness (11).
Saul’s behavior continued along those lines for quite awhile. Because of Saul’s rebellion and behavior, God did something without precedent. He withdraw Saul’s authority to be king. I SAM 15: 22-23, “Samuel said, ‘Which does the Lord prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey Him than to sacrifice the best sheep to Him. Rebellion against Him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the Lord’s command, He has rejected you as king.” In 1 SAM 16: 12-13 reveals the Lord’s action to see that Israel had righteous human leadership to replace Saul. “So Jesse [David’s father] sent for him. He was a handsome, healthy young man, and his eyes sparkled. The Lord said to Samuel, ‘This is the one-anoint him!’ Samuel took the olive oil and anointed David in front of his brothers. Immediately the Spirit of the Lord took control of David and was with him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.” There is a huge lesson in all of this for us. We actually see an example of the truth of DN 4: 17 which expresses God’s sovereignty and power to choose which humans are given governmental authority and for how long. We see also that God has the power to punish sin and to reward righteousness. David was living a covenant relationship with God; Saul was breaking his covenant with the Lord. God’s power is eternal, which tells us that He has the same power over the human governments of today as He did in Saul and David’s time.
Let’s return to the covenant of protection and friendship that existed between David and Jonathan. Saul’s rebellion and refusal to accept God’s will in the matter of his authority to rule Israel put Jonathan in a predicament none of us would ever like to face. As we see in 1 SAM 20: 1-19, Jonathan was forced to decide whether he would be loyal to his own father or to his best friend. Saul stopped telling Jonathan his plans against David, so David had to convince Jonathan that his father’s threat to him was real and immediate (1-3). Jonathan then offered to help David by making an excuse about why David wasn’t eating at Saul’s table (4-9). Jonathan promised to let David know his father’s intentions and also promised loyalty to David. Jonathan would also see to David’s safety (10-13). The inherent lesson here is the same one that Paul speaks of in Romans when he tells us to obey the authorities God has put in place unless they order us to disobey God and do evil. Jonathan was a righteous man who lived a covenant relationship with God and had the courage to make this difficult choice, obeying God.
We’ve talked here about what humans must do to participate responsibly in a covenant relationship. PS 105: 8-15 reveals God’s end of things. “He will keep His covenant forever, His promises for a thousand generations. He will keep the agreement He made with Abraham and His promise to Isaac. The Lord made a covenant with Jacob, one that will last forever. ‘I will give you the land of Canaan,’ He said. ‘It will be your own possession. God’s people were few in number, strangers in the land of Canaan. They wandered from country to country, from one kingdom to another. But God let no one oppress them; to protect them He warned the kings: ‘Do not harm My chosen servants; do not touch my prophets.’” We should meditate today on what we think are own responsibilities in our Covenant of Grace relationship with the Lord. Also, watch how the Lord is keeping His covenant promises to us.
PRAYER: O Lord, the example of David’s difficult interactions with Saul and his sweet, protective friendship with Jonathan enable us to see Your wisdom, righteousness, and protection for those who live in a covenant relationship with You. Each party to a covenant has responsibilities. The human participants don’t always live up to theirs, and must pay a price for that. You are a righteous and just God. In RO 3: 26, You inspired Paul to reveal that You must punish habitual sin or Your righteousness wouldn’t be revealed. You also do this, so that others who hear of what happened will learn this lesson soon enough to prevent them from taking the same course of wrongdoing. While wrongdoers face punishment, those who are righteous are rewarded with Your loving guidance, presence, and protection, just as David was. David was not always perfect, and there were times when You had to punish him, but the trust You placed in David came because You understood his great potential for faithfulness. When we love and obey, we are truly blessed. We need to trust in Your wisdom, Dearest Father, and live up to our responsibilities in our covenant relationship with You. We acknowledge that we can always rely on You to keep Your promises to us. Today, we humbly offer You our adoration, worship, trust, obedience, loyalty, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, as we continue examining what it means to be a participant in a covenant relationship, we will see God’s power in the life of Saul of Tarsus and how God’s enemies must face judgment. Each day, in every way, we are loved by our Abba in heaven. While none of us has ever gazed directly at Him, He has allowed us to know Him through His Son’s incarnation, teachings, and magnificent obedience to Him in dying on the cross for us. To know God is to love Him and have some idea of how much He loves each of us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn