In the last article, we saw Jonathan put into a trying situation. His father, the one whom he sought to influence for good, had just told him and his servants to kill David. What would Jonathan do? He loved David. Yet, at the same time, he loved his father. In this article, we will see his faith put into action and watch him seek both the good of his father and his friend.
A conflict
As Jonathan heard his father’s words, he was put into a frustrating position. The conflict which raged within him is aptly shown by the way that 1 Sam 19 describes him — in verse 1 it already described him as Saul’s “son,” and then again, it said the same thing in next verse, but also emphasized his love for David:
“But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself” (1Sam 19:2).
Scripture called Jonathan “Saul’s son,” and referred to Saul as his “father” — yet in the same sentence, said that Jonathan “delighted much in David.” What a choice this would have been for Jonathan! If he chose to stand with his best friend, he would be standing against his father. If he stood with his father, he would be standing against God’s future king and his best friend — the one whom he sought to encourage!
With this awkward situation, Jonathan’s least disruptive option probably would have been to simply ignore the issue — many of us would have likely followed that course of action. Jonathan could have just avoided David entirely for the next few days or weeks, so that Saul wouldn’t suspect their friendship and wouldn’t suspect Jonathan’s protection of his friend. Jonathan knew that David was the promised king, so he knew that God’s providence would watch over David — no matter what Saul tried to do, he wouldn’t be able to kill him. Thus, the easiest course of action would have been for Jonathan to remove himself entirely from the situation — but that wouldn’t have been the most faithful thing for him to do.
Instead, Jonathan knew that he had to act. He couldn’t just sit back with the information that he had been given. His faith and his love for David compelled him to do something. But at the same time, his love for his father also demanded that he do whatever he could to try to help Saul out of his violent determination. Thus, in a beautiful application of God’s principles, Jonathan decided what he was to do; he immediately went to David and warned him of the danger, then revealed his plan to try to change his father’s heart.
Results
It was a brilliant plan — yet it was one that required a solid faith in living by principles, rather than living by results. It required a faith that believed that God could work the impossible. If he had ignored the whole situation, his life would have been safe; but according to this plan, his life was in God’s hands. How would Saul, a man who had previously wanted to kill his son, respond to Jonathan defending David — the man whom he feared? If Jonathan had been a man who was results-focused (as we so often are!), he would have quickly dismissed this plan and simply ignored the entire situation. But he wasn’t — Jonathan was a man who lived upon principle, not results. Jonathan was a man who did what he needed to do, leaving the results to the One in Heaven.
It was just like the situation when he stood up against the Philistine garrison — when Jonathan and his armor bearer discovered themselves to the Philistines, they didn’t know whether or not God would be for them. They knew what they needed to do, but they didn’t know the outcome. So it was in this incident as well. Jonathan knew what he needed to do, and he did it, even if the likely results were unfavorable.
May this serve as an example to us — how often do we brush aside God’s principles because we believe that the result will be unfavorable? How many times have you or I closed our mouths and refrained from preaching to someone because we believe that they won’t listen to the Truth? How many times have we not tried to reach out to someone who has left the meeting because we are afraid that we are going to push them further away? How many times have we not prayed for something because we don’t think that it will change the result? So often we make our decisions based off the results — but, as it would seem, the results aren’t what are important! When we preach, the important thing is that we are preaching, not whether or not someone comes to the Truth — as the apostle said, he planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase (1 Cor 3:6-7). God is the One who calls, and God is the One who touches hearts. God is the One who can do what we see to be an impossibility. Our job is to bring the message. We can’t allow ourselves to be paralyzed because we are afraid that we won’t use exact right word or because our preaching method might not be exactly right. Perhaps this isn’t an issue that you have — but for me, over and over I find myself focusing on results, and because of that, I end up being entirely inactive!
Instead of looking at our results, it would appear as though God is concerned with the fact that we preach and we do our best to base our preaching off His Word! When we seek out the lost, the important thing is that we are seeking and trying to help them come back to their first love. When we pray, the important thing is that we are praying, not what the end result will be — that’s up to God. God is the One who will effect a result, not us. The same is true in all kinds of situations. Throughout Scripture, God is seeking to change the way that we think. Instead of living for results, we need to recognize that those are His realm, and instead live by the principles of the Truth.
Considering the effect
Nevertheless, in considering the way that our decisions need to be based on principle, we don’t want to diminish our attempts to achieve favorable results. When we preach, if we simply cast off all care of how the preaching would be received, that wouldn’t be helpful — though he recognized that God gave the increase, the apostle Paul didn’t simply disregard results. As he wrote in Corinthians, he sought to be “all things to all men” (1Cor 9:22); thus, his method of preaching the gospel to Jews was different than his method of preaching the gospel to Gentiles. In fact, this can be seen in the preaching of all of the disciples. When Peter spoke to Jews on the day of Pentecost, he quoted a number of verses from the Old Testament (large pieces of Joel 2, Psa 16, and one verse from Psa 110). He did the same type of thing in Acts 3, as well as quoting the Old Testament in Acts 4. All of those speeches were presented to a Jewish audience; to a group for whom the Old Testament held a huge amount of weight. Nevertheless, when Peter sought to preach to Cornelius and his house — a group of Gentiles — his method was quite different. As he spoke to them, he never once quoted the Old Testament; instead, he preached the same message — the death and resurrection of Christ — but didn’t quote any verses because the Old Testament wasn’t important to Gentiles! Paul did the same thing in Acts 17 when he spoke to the Greeks on Mars Hills; he didn’t quote any of the Old Testament, and in fact quoted one of the Greek poets (Acts 17:28)! Thus, in service to God, considering the method that will likely achieve the greatest results is important, but principle should come first and the possibility of unfavorable results shouldn’t cause us to ignore one of God’s principles.
In other words, when trying to make a decision, all of the principles should first be considered. In Jonathan’s case, he did so. He recognized that in love for his father and in love for David, he needed to take action. He needed to seek to try to change his father’s mind and he needed to warn David about Saul’s evil intentions — even though the end result of this decision could have been his own death. Regardless of the results, Jonathan steadfastly made his choice and shared his plan with David. The next morning, David was to be on his guard and hide himself in a secret place out in the field — Jonathan would then approach David’s hiding place with Saul, so that David could hear their conversation:
“And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee” (1 Sam 19:3).
David would hide out in the field, and Jonathan would plead with Saul only a short distance from David’s hiding place. In this way, David could hear everything that Saul said about him — thus, if Saul was even more extreme than he had been the day before with Jonathan, then David could make plans to escape. Afterwards, since David could only hear the conversation, and not see it, Jonathan would share with him what he saw in his father’s expression and body language.
Conclusion
Truly, in looking at Jonathan’s story, we see some of the critical pieces of decision-making. Though he had the opportunity to take the “easy way” and leave his father to his own devices, Jonathan’s love for both his friend and his father compelled him to act differently. Jonathan was a man of principle. Though the result of his decision might not be favorable, he was willing to accept that result as long as his principles were not compromised.
And yet, in a touching picture of God’s mercy to one of His servants, the results were hardly what Jonathan would have expected…
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One