Mike Bickle explores the profound covenant between Jonathan and David in 1 Samuel 20, emphasizing how their friendship is tested under extreme pressures of loyalty, ambition, and fear. Despite Jonathan being the crown prince and David being the anointed future king, their bond remains steadfast as they navigate the complexities of their circumstances. The sermon highlights the reality that relationships can change under pressure, yet true loyalty and love can prevail. Bickle illustrates that both men, faced with the potential for loss and gain, choose to honor their covenant and trust in God's plan for their lives. Ultimately, their commitment to each other and to God's will serves as a powerful example of enduring friendship amidst trials.

Well, 1 Samuel chapter 20 is one of the most intense, it's emotional, there's a lot of drama in this chapter and it's about the relationship of David and Jonathan. Now Jonathan, you know, is the crown prince. He's the heir, he's the natural heir to the throne of Israel and his best friend David was anointed by the prophet to be the next king of Israel, but Jonathan was in line for that. And so their relationship is under tremendous testing. Now that's what this chapter's about, that relationships are tested under, in this case, the most extreme positives. There's tremendous wealth, millions and millions of dollars. That are in the balance and one will get more than the other. Tremendous amount of fame, prestige, honor, promotion. But on the other side, equally intense, their relationship was tested with reproach, tremendous stigma, real risk of losing everything and both of them were faced with both dimensions. And so this is one of the most extreme snapshots. And most relationships are far less intense, testing in the positive and testing in the negative, but the principles are nonetheless the same. Now the premise is, is that pressure changes people. The pressure of great money, fame, opportunity, the pressure of criticism, stigma, reproach, just the fear of loss, even before the loss takes place. And people change under that pressure. And many people, they make surprising decisions that are negative under the pressure of gaining money or the fear of losing it or losing their prestige. A lot of kingdom friendships are tested under the pressure of increase. One gets it more than the other or one might get the other's portion and the relationship is ruined. Or the pressure of bearing reproach, stigma. And not only do people change, relationships change. But some people under pressure, their hearts are really torn and they go through that interaction with God and they actually come through refined and they come more stable and steady in love, deeper in love to God and to truth. And so that's what's happening is that these two men are being tested about their, in relationship to their loyalty to the will of God, to God's leadership over their life. They're tested in their loyalty to their friendship with extreme pressures positive, extreme pressures negative. And they love each other but they do understand that men change under pressure. So there's all through this chapter, there's a note of uncertainty but a resolve to go forward and to trust one another and to be committed to the will of God and even to trust God to help the situation go right. It's quite dramatic. First I'll give you the context from our last session, last week 1 Samuel 19 because we're flowing right into 1 Samuel 20. So we have to remember the context of last week. Then I'll tell you the story, I'll kind of summarize the story. And then we'll just read some of the passage and most of the notes I won't look at because I'll just kind of cover it as I read through but the notes are there just so you can recall some of the principles. Well if you remember in the last session, chapter 19 right before it, we're here in chapter 20, King Saul, the jealous king, the demonized king who's being tormented with jealousy and fear of young David taking his position, his place. He is pursuing David and David has fled out of Gibeah which is where the governmental center is. They're all living in Gibeah. This is before Jerusalem as, you know the capital becomes, Jerusalem becomes the capital later on, so a few decades later under David's leadership. So Gibeah is now the governmental center and David has fled Gibeah because Saul's trying to kill him. He's tried seven different attempts to kill him, to kill young David who is his son-in-law and who is, quote, on staff serving in the king's court. Very successful leader with tremendous amount of skill and favor and grace of God. And the most unusual situation happened is that they fled to a town called Ramah, a city, I mean a small town, a city or a town and in that, that's where the prophet Samuel lived and David went there. He fled to Samuel, young David to the old prophet Samuel. Samuel, Samuel help me. What is God saying? You said under the anointing, under the direction of the Lord you were to anoint me but you this king that you know so well, he's trying to kill me. He's tried seven times. He goes help me make sense of this. Then word gets out that that's where David went to Ramah, not far away from Gibeah, the capital or the governmental center and so Saul sends a group of men to come arrest David to bring him back to Gibeah to execute him. So a group of men, they go there to Ramah and the spirit of God falls on them and these soldiers who are going to arrest David, they're so immobilized by the spirit, it doesn't work. Word comes back and Saul goes well send another group. The spirit touches them, they're immobilized, they can't do it either. Then the third group the same thing happens and now the fourth thing happens. Saul goes I'll go myself. So Saul goes to Ramah and he goes into the town. The spirit of God hits him. He prophesies. It says all day and all night. I mean that's a long session. I mean we're talking near 24 hours and in that situation David escapes. I mean Saul is absolutely in this you know ecstatic kind of prophetic state. I mean who knows exactly how to describe it. So David takes opportunity and he flees. He comes rums back to Gibeon to talk to his best friend Jonathan. He goes Jonathan. He goes Jonathan your dad's up you know just down the way not far from here and the spirit has been touching him. He goes help me. What is going on? Help me make sense of this. So that's where the story picks up. Paragraph chapter 20 verse 1. Then David fled from Ramah. That's again the town not just a few miles down the road where Saul is being apprehended by the Holy Spirit. He's prophesying. So David takes opportunity and escapes. He runs back to Gibeon. Again it's just a few miles down the road and he says to Jonathan which is the crown prince. David's best friend. He says Jonathan what have I done? What is my sin? And the sin that he's talking about. He goes what is my treason? He's not talking about the sin of you know not having you know walking with the Lord in the fullness or some personal issue of his life. He's talking about in what way have I been guilty of treason against the king, against the crown. He goes why is your father trying to seek my life? Why does he want to? Because he's tried seven times. His eighth time he's going to succeed. Now you would think that after God's supernaturally, after God has delivered David seven times and the seventh one was this supernatural break in of the spirit. You would say David do the math. The Lord is helping you. Look at that supernatural thing that just happened a couple days ago. Why are you so convinced Saul's going to get outside of God's control and kill you? He goes this is so unnecessary. This is what Jonathan's undoubtedly is in their conversation. My dad's not going to kill you. The spirit of God has just touched him. I believe my dad's renewed in this encounter, in this experience. Verse two, Jonathan says he goes you're not going to die. It's not going to happen. He goes just look at the evidence. Is it the last the seven times you've escaped? The Lord has helped time after time after time. He says in verse two he goes my dad won't do anything. Whether it's great, really significant decision in the nation or whether it's a very small decision with very little political importance or consequences. I'm the prince. I'm the heir apparent. He talks to me. We got a good friendship. He'll tell me first. Why should my father hide this? If he's going to kill you he would tell me. And he says because remember earlier in chapter 19 he talked to Jonathan and Jonathan talked his father out of it. He reasoned with his father and his father came to a place of peace and said you're right Jonathan this is crazy what I'm doing. And Jonathan says I know my dad. He's not going to do it. And the Holy Spirit has just touched him and renewed him. And Ramah which was reminiscent of many years earlier, 25 years plus ago when the Lord first touched King Saul in that very city by the Holy Spirit. He goes you're fine honestly just relax. David verse three he thinks that Jonathan's being a bit naive. He goes I don't think you really understand the level of I mean where your father is in his heart and how far he has progressed in darkness. David took an oath. Verse three he said your father knows that I have found favor in your sight. He goes he's not going to tell you like he told you the last time in early chapter 19. He's not going to tell you the next time because he knows you're going to try to talk him out of it and he knows you're going to help me. But he says at the end of verse three just to get Jonathan's attention he goes I want to tell you as the Lord lives I mean he's invoking the Lord. He goes as truly as God is our witness I'm sure I'm positive he is going to try to kill me and your kind of naive approach to this is not helpful because you're missing it. He goes as the Lord lives he goes I'm invoking God's presence as a witness that what I'm telling you I'm not just disturbed by fear and but rather you're being very naive. Now the question that could have been asked is why didn't David stay in Ramah where the spirit was touching Saul where the prophet was? Why did he even leave? Why did he I mean what if Saul was renewed in that circumstance? But again David he runs back to Gibeah to the capital to talk to Jonathan before his dad could get back there. Now it's interesting paragraph B when Jonathan says in verse 2 David I'm telling you you're not going to die. Scripture makes it clear that both Jonathan and Saul they were sure that David was going to be king. It's later in chapter 23 we're in chapter 20 right now some months down the road Jonathan has another his last encounter with David this is Jonathan and David's second to their last encounter they have one more here in chapter 23 when Jonathan says it real clear he goes David you're going to be king. David's in his you know about 25, 26, 27 years old right in there he goes we know you're going to be king. You're going to have my position. I'm I'm the heir but it's the will of God that you have that role and I serve you. That's a remarkable testing of a relationship. People can be friends until they're both aiming at their same position and the one that is in line for it gets passed up and the new one the new guy gets it. Beloved that tests a lot of friendships whether in the marketplace whether in ministry and many kinds of situations he goes but we know you're going to be king. You have my calling. I mean my role God says it's yours that we didn't understand it in the early days when I was being trained to be king. He goes but I'll be next to you. I'll be second in command just like I am with my father. I'm content to take second place because it's the will of God. That's good for me. I'm as committed to God's leadership in my life as I am committed to you. I'm committed to both. He goes you know David I've talked to my father and he knows you're going to win. He knows you're going to end up king. That's a remarkable situation going on. Well there's David says paragraph C here which is in verse 3 he says I know there's only one step between me and death. I'm a minute away in essence. Now this is the first time we see David struggling with fear and we're going to see it all through chapter 21 the next session. The fear takes hold of him in the next session and he makes some very bad decisions under the influence of this fear but this is the first time we see it in him. Now when you read the different psalms that David wrote he's very honest about his fears. He doesn't hide them. He doesn't pretend they're not there. That's one of David's keys to victory. He's so straightforward about his failures, his weaknesses. He calls them straight. He doesn't rationalize them. He doesn't cover them up. He says this is my problem. God help me. He's very open to the Lord. But he thinks that Jonathan he goes you're just so naive about your father. He goes I know one of your great defining characteristics is your loyalty but you're a little naive as well in your loyalty pertaining to your father. Roman numeral two. So Jonathan says okay so you think I'm a little naive that you say in the presence of God I tell you I'm going to die soon if something doesn't change. He goes okay. Verse four Jonathan says I take you very seriously. What is it that you want me to do? Do you have a plan? David verse five he goes well matter of fact I do have a plan. I've been thinking about this when I was fleeing from your father again a few miles down the road at Ramah where the spirit was touching him. He goes here's the plan. He goes that's why I'm coming to you urgently before he gets back in town. He goes tomorrow is the new moon feast. It's a monthly feast that the royal house would observe and many in Israel would observe it. Some would observe it on a monthly basis when the new moon came. On a monthly basis and others would observe it on an annual basis. The poorer families they could only afford to have that celebration. It's described in the law of Moses. He says well tomorrow is the new moon. He goes let's use this, this holy day, this festival, this feast that the royal household always engages in every single month and let's test where your father really is. And if you'll do this with me he goes it will really settle my heart. But the problem is Jonathan my plan is going to require that you tell your dad a lie. Jonathan says okay tell me more. He goes but it's a lie with a good purpose. Because your dad is evil and I got to find out where his heart is. Theologians debate whether this was a good lie or a bad lie. Whatever that means. He goes here's what happens tomorrow at the feast. He goes we're always there. The whole royal household. He goes David is not just a top leader in the government. David's the son-in-law. He's married, I mean he's Jonathan's brother-in-law and Saul's, King Saul's son-in-law. He's part of the royal family. Which actually makes dangerous David, it's more threatening because now as part of the royal family he has even another argument for the succession to the throne. Now he's part of the royal family. That actually created more trouble for him. He goes here's what I want you to do. He goes let me skip the feast because it's always the same. King Saul sat here next to him is Jonathan then Abner the general and David. He goes we're always the four of us are together at the front table. Always. Every time in this feast. He goes then let me be absent. He goes your dad's going to say hey where's David because Saul's in pursuit to kill him. Saul's going to arrest him and kill him is probably what's in Saul's mind. And Jonathan says David he's been touched by the spirit. I mean you've escaped by the Lord's hand. Don't worry about it. He says in verse 6 if your father misses me which he would. I mean there's the four main guys at the front table. I mean he's going to miss it. And besides Saul is pursuing him to capture him. Saul's been trying to get his hands on him to arrest him to execute him. He goes then tell your father he goes this isn't it's a lie. But say as the crown prince say David begged me earnestly that he could go out of town and celebrate the feast with his family. You know kind of go home for Christmas sort of thing. Verse 7 David said here's how my plan works. If your dad says oh that's good you know I really value family life that's good. And he's at peace. He goes okay I'll believe Jonathan you're right. But if your father is angry it's because he plans to arrest me and execute me. And he was hoping that the monthly feast would be occasioned to trap me. With all the bodyguard and the soldiers around. He goes I could never escape that. I mean I'm right in the lion's den there. I mean I'm right in the king's camp with all the soldiers available to the king. He goes I'll never escape if I do that. Verse 8. Now verse 8 this is very interesting. Because David now is invoking the covenant that he made with Jonathan back in chapter 18. Again we're in chapter 20 now. Chapter 18 they made a covenant with one another. And David's saying Jonathan let me add some extra thoughts on this. But Jonathan you know men do change. And you really are loyal to your father. And you're bearing a lot of trouble because of loving me. And all you have to do is be silent. And I'll be executed. And you don't have to do nothing. Just do nothing. The stigma of relating to me is gone. You get the money and the power and the promotion. And actually you didn't have to do anything wrong. You were just quiet. Under pressure people change. Under pressure relationships change. Good relationships go bad. Or good relationships go yet deeper. And he says in verse 8. He goes deal kindly with me. Because you can go there. And not really do this plan of mine. And I'll never know. Then I'll go to the feast tomorrow and I'll get executed. He goes remember verse 8. You brought me into a solemn covenant with God. And this idea as I talked about in chapter 18 a couple sessions ago. It wasn't just a relational covenant where I'm committed, covenanting to be your friend. It certainly is that. It's far more than that. Although that's a glorious thing. Friendship in and of itself. But it's a political covenant. Because there's so much at stake. I mean when you're touching the throne of a nation. I mean all of history. You know just look through the history of the kings of England. You know and all through the history of nations. When somebody when there's a or the Roman Empire. When there's a shift in who is king. And a new one comes in power. A whole lot of purges happen. A lot of people die. A lot of people are sent to the tower. I mean they're executed through the purges. When there's a shift in leadership of a king or an emperor. And so he said verse 8. He goes I'm going to appeal that you invoke that commitment again to God. I trust you Jonathan. But men do change. I want you to say to God in my presence. I'll be true to my word. And I know between your integrity and that statement. And God intervening. Because God will intervene at that level. You make a covenant. God will intervene. I tell people covenants are serious things. That's why I tell people when they're messing it around with the covenant of their marriage. And they're taking it lightly. And there's ways that those covenant of marriage can be broken. And a believer can actually be free to move on. And innocent. But a lot of people that holy covenant. They play with it. And it's important to God. And I encourage people. I go God breaks in when it's a true covenant. Things happen. God protects covenants that are in his will. Then he goes on in verse 8. He says to Jonathan. He goes if there is sin in me. If there's treason in me. If you see it. Don't trick me and let me go to the feast tomorrow. Just kill me yourself. He goes honestly. Don't trick me and buy a little play of hands. And just be silent. Because again Jonathan could say I didn't do nothing. That was the point. I just did nothing. And all of us are tested in relationships. Where if we speak up. We bear reproach. But we're loyal to the friendship. We speak up. Not only do we bear reproach. We lose opportunity. Because we might want a better opportunity in some. Something related to what's going on in their life. If we're quiet. It goes well for us. It goes bad for the friend. David said that's not good enough for me. I need to know before God. This is real. Verse 9. Jonathan said far be it from you. That you would die. That I would under the pressure of this tremendous promotion. That it's not far away. It was just a few years out actually. Before this actually happened. About maybe still there were five, six years away from Saul dying. And the change of power in the throne. He goes if I know my father is going to hurt you. I promise you I won't be silent. And just let you walk into the trap. I won't do that to you. I promise you before God. So paragraph B. David's plan was designed to expose Saul's true intentions. He wanted to. Because Saul was acting a little. You know acting friendly. Again just came back from this Holy Spirit encounter of. I mean who knows all that was involved in that. So David wants to. He wants to push this. Because he's going to be trapped if he goes to that feast tomorrow. And he wants to make sure that Jonathan won't stumble a little bit along the way. But he'll actually execute the plan according to how they agreed. Top of page two. Verse ten. David says okay. Are you in? Jonathan says yeah I'm in. I'll be truthful. I'll find out everything. I will. I won't be quiet. I won't let this go bad for you. I'll be true. I know it's the will of God. Even though it's the position I was prepared for all these years. I'm willing to take a lesser position. Because I know it's the will of God. And I know you'll get more than I have. But we'll be true in our love and our friendship. So David said verse ten. Well when you go to the feast. How are you going to get the word back to me? Everyone is looking for David. David is the cultural icon. I mean think of the most popular person in this nation. I wouldn't guess who that is. But guess of some cultural icon, hero status person that everybody loves. I mean the guy everywhere he goes. He can't go anywhere without being noticed. And the crown prince. I mean go to England and Prince William. It's not like he walks to the store and everybody goes. Hi, you know that's, I mean there's cameras. I mean they can't, neither of them can move. This is all high drama but it's magnified by the intensity. It's all in public. The whole thing is in public. It makes it, the stakes far harder. And far more intense on, I mean on just the weariness of this. Of doing it in public. He goes, how are you going to get the word to me? Jonathan says in verse 11, he goes, I got an idea. He goes, you know that field down the way there, the one we've been to a few times? He goes, yeah. He goes, well just to be real precise because we can't, we can't miss on this. Let's go to the field right now. We can, there's a way we can get to it. Nobody can see us. It's a field out of sight. Because remember these are the two most popular young men in the nation. Everybody is watching them. Crown Prince and the cultural icon. There they are walking together like, wow that's kind of interesting. So they go to this out of the way field. And Jonathan, verse 12, says the Lord God is witness. He goes, you asked me to promise in the sight of God I'll be true? He goes, I promise you in the sight of God I'll be true. That's what he says there. I'll tell you everything. I won't hide anything. I won't be conveniently silent on anything that will cause loss to you. I call God as my witness. Paragraph C. Then Jonathan turns the conversation around and he goes, I've promised. I won't drop the ball on getting you the information. Even though it's at the risk of my life. I mean Saul finding out that his son betrays him. I mean this is serious. This is not small. This isn't just a kind of a little side relationship. The risk that Jonathan is taking is huge. There are so many people that would love to get rid of both of those young men to take their position for a price. I mean so many willing servants that would bump those two off or give the information that would nullify their promotion and cause trouble for them and or even lead to their death. So Jonathan, verse 14, he flips it around. He goes, now he goes, you want me to promise? Now I want you to promise. Now they trust each other, but they know life changes. People are people. I mean I've seen the most trusted relationships under pressure of who gets the money and the position or I can't bear the stigma no more and the reproach. I've seen a lot of people shift. Good people shift. And so Jonathan says, David, I trust you, but in the presence of God, you tell me that when you become king, that I won't die. And you think what? Because when a new king gets in power, all through history, there's a purge of any of the potential heirs to the throne. There's a purge. I mean, lots of people die. Used to take the Roman Empire when a new emperor got in. A lot of people were killed when the power shifted. I mean, again, the kings of right through Europe, all the nations. There's a tremendous upheaval. He goes, I want you to promise that you won't change. I mean, I know we love each other, but men change. The situations change. That I won't be killed in the purge. Now again, we're reading the story and the stakes are so intense, but we can bring it way down from a level 10 to a level one and we can apply this in our own relationships. Maybe it's not hundreds of millions of dollars at the stake. Maybe it's a thousand dollars. Maybe it's not a position around the royal court. Maybe it's, you know, I got a position on the org chart and I got on the worship team instead of you or something, you know, relatively small compared to this, but it's the same principles. He goes, make sure, verse 14, in the presence of God, you promise me I won't die. And promise me that you won't purge because maybe you'll let me live that none of your offspring will purge my offspring a generation or two down the road. Because that happened all the time too, that kind of thing. Or maybe David's son kills Jonathan's son 20, 30 years later. He goes, you're going to not only declare it, you're going to promote this value to your future children. He goes, okay. Verse 16, so Jonathan made a covenant. He says, let the Lord require to the hands of David's enemies. He goes, what Jonathan's saying, he goes, if one of my offspring, someone in my family line, gets a wrong spirit and they decide to stand against you, he goes, I'm actually invoking the judgment of God. May God bring it on any enemy of yours. Now the trouble is, just recently Saul, Jonathan's father, declared David is my enemy with his own mouth. So Jonathan's saying, may the Lord of anybody that I'm related to is your enemy. May the Lord remove him. I said, Jonathan, that's pretty intense. That's a pretty intense statement. Verse 17, Jonathan said, I want you to vow again, David. I mean, again, there's this reality of human uncertainty. The reality that people change, relationships change. Pressure of tremendous increase and promotion of money or the pressure of stigma or the risk of great loss. That pressure changes a lot of people. And again, they make subtle choices to kind of get out of the way so they don't have to stand for the will of God and stand for the truth of the relationship. Paragraph F, I have a leadership lesson here. It's interesting. David is convinced he's going to die. And he says that again down the road a year or two. He goes, I know I'm going to die. And he meant it. He wasn't just kind of carrying on with it. He really meant it. Jonathan had more confidence at that time in David's calling than David did. You know, and many times in the context of a kingdom relationship, your friend will have more confidence and more insight on your calling than you will. I don't mean they direct you and tell you what to do. I'm not talking about directing you. I'm talking about having confidence that you shouldn't give up and give in. I have found that it's easier sometimes for me to believe for somebody else's calling than it is my own in different times and seasons when pressure's on. And of course, that's part of what friendship is there for. Because when you're discouraged, they have a clarity and a confidence or vice versa. The thing from Ecclesiastes chapter 4, when one falls, the other one picks them up. That famous passage. When one friend falls, the other one picks them up and vice versa in Ecclesiastes 4. Now, it's clear that the reason Jonathan, it says, they're right there in the text, that Jonathan made the vow because he loved David like he loved him with his own soul. So Jonathan's motivation was to have the safety in the political covenant. He wanted the money, the position, all the dynamics to be secure. He did want that for sure. But he says, I'm motivated by love. I really do care about you. It's not just a deal. It's more than a deal. I want to excel in love. And I know I'm going to be tested. And I know you're going to be tested, David. Paragraph J, the glory of this story is that both of them kept their covenant under pressure. They are a story of weak and broken men tried under the pressure of great opportunity and promotion, the pressure of great loss and stigma and bearing reproach. And they both were faithful. And they both grew in love. And they excelled in love. And therefore, they're a picture of this whole reality of kingdom friendships. It was years later after Jonathan died. Jonathan died in battle. Some of you know that. Maybe about five or six years after this covenant, after this episode here in 1 Samuel 20. He died in battle in chapter 31. And then some years later, David's now king. And he says, 2 Samuel chapter 9, he goes, hey, now that I'm in power and king and I have tremendous wealth and prestige and authority. He goes, is there anybody left in Jonathan's house that I can show my covenant loyalty to, I can show kindness to, because I made this promise to Jonathan? They go, well, yeah. It's his son, Mephibosheth. Say Mephibosheth. Maybe that's not a good name to, maybe some little guys named that, to name, never mind, your hamster. OK, verse 1, don't name your hamster Mephibosheth. Verse 7, so David, I mean, has all this power and wealth. And he calls him and he says, Mephibosheth. This is many years later. He says, come into the king's royal court here. And Mephibosheth is like terrified, because, oh, remember, David's from another family line. And there's so many purges that take place when one family line is in power and another one is, he's a little scared. And verse 7, David says, no, no, no, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. He goes, this is related to the covenant I made with your father that you don't even know about. You were just a little boy when it happened. He was about four or five years old when his son, when Jonathan died. He goes, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to restore to you all the land of your father, your grandfather Saul, because it would have gone to your father Jonathan, but they both died in battle. Now, do you know how much land Saul owned? I mean, undoubtedly, millions and millions of dollars. I mean, nobody knows for sure. He had vast herds, lands. I mean, a king. He goes, I'm going to give it all to you. David takes the initiative. Nobody even knew about this covenant. Nobody, I mean, I'm going to give you, let's, let me just give it for the analogy of it or make the example. He goes, I'm going to give you the hundred million dollars. Yes, my government could use it, but no, I'm giving it all to you because I gave my word. I don't care what it costs me. It's all yours. David took the initiative. Beloved, that's what you call excelling in love. That's true to a covenant. And he goes, not only that, verse 13, you're going to sit at the royal table. You're going to dine with me. You're going to dine in the court, I mean, the king's court. I mean, just the privilege of that, not only the good food, but the privilege and the status of that. Top of page three. So Jonathan now says, okay, David, here's the details. Here's how it's going to work. I'm going to do what you asked. I'm going to do your plan. I'm going to tell you how I'm going to execute it. Because David says the last question was, how are you going to get me this information? Because I mean, he's, they're both very, very public figures. Everybody, Saul is searching for David to arrest him. I mean, the police have got him on the most wanted list. Get David. The crown prince just can't walk over to his house and, you know, go, you know, to have a coffee at Starbucks type deal. It can't happen that way. He goes, how can, what secret way can we get together? Because everybody's watching every move Jonathan makes. Jonathan says, okay, verse 18, tomorrow is the feast. You will be missed. Undoubtedly. There's only four main chairs. Dad will know you're gone. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to be gone the whole three days of this festival. And I want you to go to the place where we hid in that field. And he goes, you know the place. It's by that particular stone, easel. You know where it's at? Because we've been there before. Yeah, yeah. That one day when we did that one deep, it's there. Yes, I got it. He goes, here's what I'm going to do now. I'm going to get up from the feast and say, because everybody's watching him and they're all looking for David. He goes, I'm going to go do a little target practice. You get target practice today? Yeah, yeah. I think I'm going to, you know, just go stretch a little bit and go do a little target practice. So I'm going to take a few arrows. I got to take enough so it's convincing. I'm going to go down to the field and I'm going to have my lad with me. But he goes, I can't even trust him. I'm going to shoot the arrows. He goes, if I shoot the arrows short and I'm going to yell to the lad, hey, little guy, the arrows are real close. He goes, you're in hiding. You're right behind that rock. He goes, you can hear everything I'm saying. I'm only shouting so you can hear me, David. Because there could be anybody watching us, anybody following us. He goes, it's got to be top secret how we do this, because our lives are in the balance. We're actually conspiring to lie to the king. It's a serious business. He goes, if I shoot short, I go, hey, little guy, the arrows are real short. He goes, you can just pop right out there and come and people, you know, they'll see you, us walking from the kind of the out of the way hidden little field and go, hey, where was David at the whole time? He goes, because you know, everything's fine. But he goes, but if I shoot real far away and I'm going to tell the little lad, the arrows are real far away. That means David, you better go real far away because you're in trouble. Don't even just take off. Don't let anybody even see you. Okay, let's go to Roman numeral five, bottom of page three, verse 24. I'm going to bring this to an end here. So David hid in the field. The festival happens. The king, Saul, sat down. Verse 25, he's got his seat against the wall. You know, he's got his guns against the wall. You know, nobody can sneak up on him. Nobody can assassinate the king in the safest place in the room at the feast. And then Jonathan arose and Abner, who's the general, the commander in chief of the army, but David's place was empty. Verse 26, Saul didn't say anything. He thought, well, maybe because they had all these rituals. You had to be ritually clean. You had to do all these things in order to be clean in a ritual sense of the law of Moses. Saul goes, well, maybe he's made a mistake and he, you know, he touched something unclean. He can't come today. He'll be here tomorrow. No problem. Verse 27, the next day, David's place is empty. Saul goes a little suspicious. He goes, now, I'm not following what's going on here. Where is the son of Jesse? Because Jesse's David's dad. He's not calling him David anymore. He had him for a while. The son of Jesse, that to him is derogatory. Where's that kid from that other place that's outside the royal family that he tricked his way into the royal family? That's kind of what he's saying. That's derogatory. Verse 28, now Jonathan's going to do what they agreed. He goes, oh, father. He goes, well, just the other day, David asked me earnestly. Oh, can I go to Bethlehem for Christmas? Can I go back home for the annual feasts? Because the poor families only did the feast once a year and it was the time. Top of page four. Paragraph eight, Saul was, he got it. He goes, I get what you're doing. He's not ritually unclean and just trying to be devout religious because today it doesn't apply. He, he could be here today. Verse 30, Saul was so angry and he said, you son of a perverse woman. Don't use that one. I mean, he insulted Jonathan and insulted his wife. I mean, call Jonathan rebellion. Don't pick on mom. Seriously. Don't throw mom under the bus just because you don't like what the kid's doing. He goes, don't I know you think I don't get what you just did again? This is the king. This isn't a little club. He is conspiring against the will of a king on a national issue. Related to who is the heir of the throne and Saul's dynasty. This is the most heavy duty situation. He goes, you think I don't get what you just did to your own shame. Now God calls what Jonathan did loyalty. Jonathan's father calls it shame in front of everybody. I mean, in front of all the guests in the royal court, you're a shameful son. And all he's been is loyal, talking about stigma, talking about reproach. Jonathan's unmoved. He says in verse 31, he appeals to Jonathan's pride in his future. He goes, you won't be king as long as that guy's alive. Your future. And Jonathan's going, you can't appeal to my future and my own prosperity. When I know the will of God is for him to be king. I'm committed to the will of God and I'm committed to be genuine in my friendship. It's the most intense test. Not only being rebuked. He's being, he's saying you're going to lose the throne. He says, I have already done that in the will of God in my heart. I'm not in this thing for the throne. I want to do the will of God and walk in genuine relationship. Saul said, bring me that guy. He's going to die. Bring me David now. I'm going to kill it. Jonathan says, I mean, everybody's listening. It's not, it's all public. It says in verse 32, why, why are you going to kill him? This is the conversation they had back in the early parts of chapter 19. When Jonathan prevailed on his father, that, that worked. That question worked, you know, a little bit earlier. Verse 33, Saul cast a spear, threw a spear to literally murder his first born son. He was so angry. He goes, oh, you want to, you want to stick up for David? I'm going to give you what I gave David then. Because he threw the spear at David three different times. I mean, he actually, this wasn't a joke. This wasn't a practice shot. He actually tried to murder his son. Verse 33, Jonathan knew David was right. Dad's trying to kill David. Jonathan knew it. He goes, wow, I was naive. I was naive. Roman numeral eight, I mean, seven. Let's bring this, read this, read the last part of here. Verse 35, Saul was in the morning the next day. I mean, Jonathan was so upset. He goes to bed. Now he's walking to the field, that secret out of the way place. But he's going to bring these, this little kid to do the target practice, because everybody's watching Jonathan now. Every move he makes, he's got to go to this, you know, out of the way place. Nobody could be there. David's been there for three days. That's going to play into the next episode when David is, goes to the city of Nob and he's hungry, needs some food. David's been there for three days going, Jonathan, your idea of me staying here three days, I didn't get to go home and pack anything. He went to the field the next morning. Imagine how sad Jonathan is. He's walking to that field, knowing he's going to give the signal to David, go far away. So the little lad, verse 36, he shoots the arrow far out there. Verse 38, go down to verse 38. Jonathan cries out because David's hiding behind the rock and David can hear him. He says it so David could hear him. So the lad doesn't get what's happening. He cries out, make haste. He's talking to the boy, but he's really talking to David. Run, go, don't delay, quick, get out of here. Dad tried to kill me and he's coming after you with all the soldiers. And he came after David with 3000 soldiers. 3000 for several years. So the lad, verse 39, he didn't know anything going on. Jonathan gives him the weapons. He goes, hey, go take them back to town. I'm just going to stretch out, be here for a little while. So the kid takes, so nobody's around in this kind of a secret out of the way field. And he goes over by the rock where David's hiding. Verse 41, as soon as the lad left and David rose up from the hiding place, fell on his face. He knew, he understood, this was it. They would never see each other again, potentially. They did for just a brief moment in chapter 23. And that's when Jonathan said, David, you're going to be king. I'm going to give you, I'm going to see you for a minute. I'm going to prophesy and bless you. You are the king of Israel. I want to say that on my last time I talked to you. It's amazing. No bitterness in Jonathan. And then Jonathan dies a little bit after that in battle. They fell to the ground. They kissed one another. They wept together. But David even more than Jonathan. And then Jonathan said to David, go in peace. For we've both sworn in the name of the Lord. We've given our commitments. We've given our commitments in the presence of God. We've both been true to each other under pressure. The stigma, the reproach, the fear of loss, the potential of gain. He goes, you, I know you will be true to me when you're king. Because I mean, Jonathan didn't know he had died. That you're going to let me sit next to you. He said, and may the Lord be between you and me. May the Lord protect our relationship. May the Lord intervene to strengthen who we are together and protect our lives. And may this continue through our descendants, through all the generations. And then David, so heavy hearted. He departs, lonely, leaving town. Not to return again. That was it. Goes out by himself. Jonathan goes back to Gibeah, to the main town. And both of them devastated. But they both have the awareness that they were true to one another. Because relationships not only change sometimes. But sometimes the depth continues, though the location changes. And God has seasons for relationship. Because earlier in the chapter, I mentioned it. Or I mean, I failed to mention it. Jonathan was talking to David earlier, three days earlier. He said, hey. He goes, if by chance it goes bad. He goes, I want you to know that God is overseeing this. Our love won't change. The depth won't change. The truth of how we stood for the will of God and for each other won't change. The location will change in the season. But the purpose will go on and on and on. And then he invokes, verse 42, this. The Lord be between us. And the Lord oversee our future together. Amen and amen. Well, let's stand. I'm going to pray that the Lord would give you the application. Every one of the