Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David, told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields. I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.” The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the Lord brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!” So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.”
1 Samuel 19:1-6 (NLT)
Afterward, Jonathan wrote the letter below to king Saul:
Dear Father,
As I sit down to write this letter, the ink in my quill seems heavier than usual. Perhaps it’s the weight of our recent conversation, a dialogue that danced between life and death, like a leaf caught in an autumn breeze. You’ve decided to spare David, and for that, I find myself both relieved and contemplative.
You see, Father, life has a rhythm, a melody composed by the Divine. We are but notes in this grand composition, and it’s our duty to resonate in harmony with God’s intentions. My friendship with David, our kinship, is more than a meeting of souls but a confluence of divine melodies. We are bound by something greater than us, something that transcends the throne and the battlefield—God’s honor and His eternal commandments.
David, the harpist, the shepherd, the warrior—he’s more than a sum of these roles. He is like the most beautiful musical expression people have ever heard, a melody so perfectly attuned to the Divine Composer that it leaves no room for dissonance. His life is a symphony that enriches the very air of our kingdom and fills our palace with perfection. My relationship with David, and indeed with you, is like a fragile harmony. It’s a tune composed by the Divine Composer Himself, and each note, each pause, resonates with the commandments He has laid down. When I defended David, I was merely following the sheet music set before me by God. To do otherwise would be to introduce a discordant note, a jarring sound that would disrupt the entire piece.
Your decision to let David live echoes in my soul like a note that fits, a chord that rings true. It’s a step back onto the path that God has laid out for us—a path of righteousness, of divine obedience. I pray this marks not just a moment, but a turning point. A moment where we both, as father and son, as king and prince, decide to tune our lives to the eternal melody of God’s will.
So, let’s continue to seek the Composer’s score in all matters, listening intently to the music that’s both around us and within us. For in that music, in that divine composition, we find our true purpose, our true honor. Let’s live our lives in such a way that each note, each action, is a sweet sound in the ears of God. For in the end, it’s His applause that matters most.
With love and obedience,
Jonathan
Share with your friends “How do you choose a friend to commit to? What is the foundation for your decision?”
Proverbs 12:26 said, “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
1 Samuel 19:7 (NLT): “Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before.”
One of the things that I am always grateful for in my life that I Blessed by his grace is the friends and my loving community that I have in my life. My best friend that is my ride or die is Virginia. I’ve been through so much with this girl. She has seen me at my worst and today I recovered women in Gods kingdom. There’s many time when I was a teenager growing up if I didn’t have her friendship I could have even end up at darker places. I’m so Blessed to call her my ride or die. I know she will always have my back and be there. I’m grateful for Jenney and bumble who opened their home to me when I was getting well. Jho may not know this but she is like a Godmother to me and crystal. I know that she will always have my back as well. My mom doesn’t look out for me spiritually but God has place many loving women in my life to show my how to live and how to be a mom. I’m also grateful I have an amazing relationship with Dean & Crystal who for sure I can always love and talk to. Most importantly I’m so grateful that I have an amazing relationship with my loving God, I can cry out for help and praise him for what he has blessed me with.
I pray oh God please let me have faith in you to find peace in my day. I pray for my mom, Joey, Joshua, Roger to be to find comfort in your Grace. Amen
The two men who are my closest friends don’t go to RP but both love Jesus and me..both have been my accountability partners for years. We’ve raised our kids together and continue to sharpen one another.
Almost like choosing a wife, you choose your closest friends prayerfully after spending much time with them and observing them in various settings. Consider the following questions:
“How do they care for their siblings/parents? How are their relationships with their current friends? Do they have a deep love for Jesus? Are they trustworthy? Do they love you and how have they demonstrated their love for you?
After those questions are settled, we must also be vigilant for any red flags..have you caught them lying (to you, others), or gossiping? Do they frequently badmouth others/the church? Are they prone to substance abuse/other addictive behaviors?
We only have the bandwidth to nurture and maintain 1-2 very close relationships so we need to do the due diligence very carefully and prayerfully
As I reflected upon today’s question, I looked back over the course of my life and realized how the way in which I choose a friend to commit to and the foundation of that decision has so drastically changed. There was a time when that decision was, I regret to say, based solely upon what I could get from someone. In the midst of my addiction, it was of course based solely around my ability to acquire drugs, or at least the means to attain them. Oftentimes I deceived myself into thinking that this was not the case, that there was something deeper, but that was a lie. Even in my early years as a believer, my choice of friends had mostly self-serving motives? Today, it is different. I have a wide variety of friends, and there are many different layers and levels of friendship, but I would say that the ones I am most committed to are those that share the same core values as I do- those that have a real desire to know God and love Him with all their heart. These are the people that I seem to feel the deepest connection with, and who I feel I can be most vulnerable with as well. When God begins to change our perspective from temporal things into those things that are eternal, it changes everything, and this includes our foundation for real friendship.
Dear Bumble, your sermon yesterday was very good, I’ve learned a lot about friendship and what it Biblically entails. More and more it is hard to have and form genuine Godly friendships but one thing I look for as probably the same as folks here and that’s common interest. Being relatable and doing things/life together and through that we genuinely form a bond and build each other up is recipe for success for me. Sometimes I look and ponder if I have any best friend but I have a lot of close friends who aren’t afraid to correct me and rebuke me and but more importantly build in up in Christ so that my service for Him is wholly and He always comes first and that I must put in my best effort every single time. I like the the verse that goes “as iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another” and that keeps ringing true for me over and over and I live my life in accordance to that.
Pray that God would continue to challenge me in my guy relationships and that He would be in the center of it all.
My idea of a true friend is one who have gone through the same trials as me with a similar background. Someone who knows all the good and bad. Cheer each others successes while sharing each others burdens without reservations.
A friend does not just tell you what you want to hear but is able to tell you what you need to hear. A friend always has your best interest at heart and because you know that fact, you can trust them implicitly.
To gain such a friend, you have to be willing to give such a friendship without reservation. If you are lucky, you meet someone who will instantly give as much as you reciprocate – friendship at first sight?
But sometimes, you may need to give such a friendship first and hope that in giving you gain the trust of your friend who will reciprocate in time.
If such a true friendship can be developed, I think it should be nurtured with absolute love and trust. If you are defensive in your friendship and trust is not absolute, I don’t think you can have true friendship.
I think such a friendship is a rare treasure. In my life, I had developed relationships which I thought was like that. But either because my own or the others sinful nature, we could not support such a friendship.
Is it too late then for me? Maybe not…this time a friend came first to give me all the things a friend should. I slowly come to trust the intention and that friendship can now be foster.
In many ways, that’s how the Lord befriended us. He seeks us out. He gives us the kind of friendships He wants us to reciprocate.
Trust that the Lord only has our best interest in mind. There is no need to look for ulterior motives in Him. He only asks that I give Him the only thing He desires back from me – an unfailing love and friendship.
It’s easy to have a lot of friends, but only a few that we can call close friends. Someone whom I can share all my stories of happiness or sadness, my achievements or my failures. Someone who listens to me without judgment but offers advice and encouragement. Someone who will never reveal my weaknesses or shame me to others or laugh at my difficulties in life. Even though I live far away from my close friends, I always can share everything with my them when I come back.
Jonathan is a really good friend to David, where he is loyal and devoted. Jonathan was willing to speak up to his father to protect David’s life and also to remind Saul of the truth. I’ve made friends based on shared values, faith, and common experiences. When I think about my friends (non-believers and believers), I appreciate the ways that they have shown up for me, supported me, and encouraged me. Additionally, it is mutually reciprocated as it takes two to tango. I try to consider how I can glorify Christ in my friendships and that sets the foundation for my decision. Will my friend see Christ in me and will I be challenged to know God more?
The way I choose a friend to commit to is when they are committed to me as well. Long-term relationships and friendships are a two-way street. The foundation of my decision is in the values that align with God. What they as Christians stand by and there way of living there life. Going through life can be difficult at times and never perfect but as long as we as brothers strive towards godliness and help each other along the way then it can help fight the sin we face each day. To stand up for one another and to call each other out of love even if it potentially damages the friendship. Lord thank you for today’s reading and I pray to continue to surrender to You. To live a life that glorifies You and guide me in my friendships and relationships.
-John
I choose a friend based on their personality and character. For me to commit to someone I look to see if they are trustworthy, loyal, someone who I can be comfortable with and someone who I can do life with. Through the years, my circle of close friends has always been small, mainly because it was so rare to find people with these qualities. I thank and praise God for His discernment as I could have easily made friends with the wrong people, bringing myself down a different path. Now, the foundation of my decision would be Jesus Christ and their faith in Him. I will still be friends with non-believers, but for me to commit to someone, I want to do so with people who love and serve God.