One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Tuesday, May 17th
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Click Here to Listen to 1 Samuel 20-21
Jonathan Helps David
Today we see again the very close and personal relationship between Jonathan and David. Jonathan has already helped David escape the wrath of his father Saul. David knows that Saul is not going to let go of the vengeance he feels towards him, so he asks Jonathan to keep him apprised of the situation. Jonathan wrongly assumes that if his dad has a plan to take out David he will let him know about it, but David knows this is not the case.
So David asks Jonathan to conduct a test. He would not attend the king's dinner table for two nights in a row. Jonathan was to make up an excuse for him that he had to go visit his family in Bethlehem. If Saul was okay with it, he would know that Saul was not out to kill him. But if Saul became enraged, he knew Saul would continue to try and kill him.
Then, Jonathan comes up with the plan by which he could communicate his father's reaction. He would shoot his arrows out into the woods and when his servant went to retrieve them if he said, "Go a little further", he would know that Saul was out to kill him. Jonathan then communicated his desire that the Lord would be with David when he became King. And he asked him to have mercy on he and his family when he did.
"So Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, saying, “May the Lord destroy all your enemies!” And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself." 1 Samuel 20:16-17
Sure enough as you might have suggested when Jonathan told Saul about David's excuse for not being at dinner, he was enraged and set out to kill him. Furthermore he concluded that Jonathan was covering for his friend David and wanted him to be king over him. He even verbally abused him calling him, "the son of a whore".
But in the end after Jonathan delivered the message to his best friend David, they knew it would be time for them to part ways, as David would need to leave before he got killed. They embraced with tears and affirmed the covenant love they had for each other.
Jonathan and David are a great example of a true friendship. They had each other's back and were willing to do whatever it took to protect each other. If you have a friendship like this, you are blessed. If you don't have a friend like this ask the Lord to provide a friend like Jonathan or David. A true brother or sister in Christ is of inestimable value.
David Runs from Saul
As David left, the first placed he stopped was Nob to see Abimelech the priest. David lied that Saul had sent him on a mission there. Some comment that the lie was necessary to protect himself, but others point to later in 1 Samuel 22 when David showed despondency and that he regretted this lie.
When David came there, he was tired and hungry and asked Abimelech for the showbread, or the bread of the presence. Normally this would have not been allowed but an exception seems to be made here, as it was only to be eaten by the priests.
In giving David the bread, Ahimelech broke with priestly custom but not with God’s Word. He rightly understood that human need was more important that Levitical observance. When Jesus’ disciples were criticized for breaking religious custom by eating against traditions, Jesus used what Ahimelech did to explain the matter (Matthew 12:1-8). Jesus approved of what Ahimelech did, and Jesus honored him by standing on Ahimelech’s same ground. - Guzik
Then, we meet a character whom we will meet again. Doeg, the Edomite. He is called a chief, which could also mean he was violent and obstinate. David then asked for a weapon, but the only weapon was the huge spear that he had used to kill Goliath ironically enough.
David's lies didn't protect him, and he had to flee to Achish king of Gath. But he was instantly recognized as the one who had killed 10,000's.
"The Philistines of Gath recognized David as the king of the land of Israel. These ungodly men understood David’s destiny better than King Saul."
David became fearful that the Philistine king would remember that he was the one who killed Goliath and the other Philistines. So he pretended to be insane, a madman, in front of the kill and the king shewed him out of his house.
Again commentators differ over whether this was an act of David not trusting the Lord, or was he walking in the Spirit? Though his plan worked, later in Psalm 55, he seems to indicate that God
sed all of this to humble him.
Having a disease like blindness was bad enough in Jesus' day, but to make matters worse, the people assumed one's sin was the cause of it. Or, someone from their family had sinned and this was payback. But Jesus has another explanation. The man's disease gave Jesus a chance to show God's power at work. Jesus healed the man in an unusual way forming some mud with his hands and applying it to the man's eyes.
He then gave him the command to wash in the pool of Siloam, and sure enough the man's sight is restored. And this is where it gets interesting. When the people saw the man, they used to see begging now with his sight restored, they asked him about it. Eventually he let them know it was Jesus who restored his sight. And rather than being joyful for the man who was healed, the people were more focused on the fact that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath.
The people then brought the man to the Pharisees, who asked him yet more questions. They tried to accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath and wondered how a sinner could heal a man. The more the men tried to villify Jesus, the more the man stuck to his story. He was blind and now he could see and the man who healed him was Jesus. That's it. End of story!
Since they could not deny the basic story and the man's attributing to Jesus, they tried to get the man to recant his story. When they asked him for his opinion about Jesus, he declared Jesus was a prophet. The leaders once again try to use the logic that if Jesus were a sinnner, how could he have done these things. I love what the man says at this point,
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”“Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
The real question in this story is who is really blind? Though the Pharisees can see with their eyes the miracle before them, they refused to SEE it is Jesus who did the miracle. They would rather be blind and deny who Jesus was, than to see He was the Messiah who opened the eyes of their heart to see God. Also you might say the Law kept them blind. They were so preoccupied with the "letter of the Law" in regard to the Sabbath that they could not see the Spirit of the Law at work healing this man of his blindness.
Click Here to Read Psalm 113-114
Click Here to Read Proverbs 15:15-17
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