 So we're gonna go through the 20th chapter here in 1 Samuel this morning. Let's begin reading at verse one. I'll read verses one through three and we'll get into our study. 1 Samuel, chapter 20, beginning at verse one, reading to verse three. Then David fled from Naiath in Ramah and went and said to Jonathan, what have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father that he seeks my life? So Jonathan said to him by no means, you shall not die, indeed my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so. David took an oath again and said, your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes and he has said do not let Jonathan know this lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives there is but a step between me and death. David has become King Saul's enemy. As we've been studying through 1 Samuel we see that. We have seen that take place. David has become King Saul's enemy and he simply can't understand how this has happened because we know that David is someone who loves King Saul. He was loyal to him completely. In 1 Samuel we saw this, chapter 16, verse 21, it said there that David loved Saul greatly and became his armor-bearer. Now as I shared with you, when someone was an armor-bearer for somebody else that was a position that was held by the most loyal people. David was absolutely loyal to King Saul. He genuinely cared for this man. But Saul hated David and he hated him without cause. When you look at the life of David and the writings of David, he wrote 77 Psalms. When you read the things that he wrote in the Psalms you can see that it was not an infrequent thing for David that somebody might have it in for him. Somebody might hate him without cause. There are various Psalms that he writes that he actually speaks concerning that and one of the Psalms is Psalm 55. When you look at Psalm 55 verses one through three this is what David wrote. He said, give ear to my prayer, oh God, and do not hide yourself from my supplication. Attend to me and hear me. I am restless in my complaint and moan noisily because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, for they bring down trouble upon me and in wrath they hate me. He went on to say in verses 12 through 14, it's not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion, and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng. It wasn't an enemy, it wasn't a foe, it wasn't somebody who hated me that, at least that I thought hated me, it was somebody I considered a friend. It's you, it's somebody that I actually fellowship with. We went to church together if you will. It's you who has turned you back on me, you are the one who has done this to me. David was understanding of this kind of thing because David went through this quite often. And right now he's wondering why Saul was so upset at him. Why is it that your father wants to kill me? Now we need to remember that David is the anointed king of Israel and that God has taken his spirit away from Saul. And so Saul's envy has turned murderous and he's well aware of the fact that the people now prefer David over him. Now David didn't understand why Saul hated him this much because David had only done him good and had faithfully done so for some time. As a matter of fact, when Jonathan was speaking to Saul, his father on one occasion, he made sure to make it clear. David has done you nothing but good. We saw that in chapter 19, verse four, how it points out that David had not sinned against Saul, that his works for him were very good and that he even had killed Goliath. But what had happened as a result of all of this, especially the death of Goliath, is this had made everybody love David even more than they cared for Saul. Now to me it's interesting. It's interesting that David has no understanding why Saul would be so filled with hate towards him. I think in some ways it reveals his youthfulness and his inexperience in life. Because if you look at what is going on, you could understand to some degree why Saul could be jealous or envious of this young man. People have been comparing him with Saul. They've been singing songs about him. An evil spirit is tormenting Saul. Why can't David see this? Why can't he see that these things are gonna conspire against him and cause Saul to be very angry at him? Yet he has no clue why Saul is so angry. So he asks the question there, what have I done? What is my iniquity? What is my sin before your father? That he seeks my life. What have I done? Well Jonathan answers in verse two, by no means you shall not die. Indeed my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me, why should my father hide this thing from me? It's not so. Now he may not be aware of Saul's recent attempts on David's life because Saul in chapter 19 verse six had made a promise, he said there as the Lord lives, he shall not be killed. And so Jonathan at this point may not be aware of the fact that Saul has been attempting to kill David and so naturally he says no, this isn't gonna happen, this is not taking place. Well David responds in verse three, took an oath again and said your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes and he has said do not let Jonathan know this unless he be grieved. But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death. Now Jonathan, don't be so naive. Your father hates me, he keeps trying to kill me. But there's something else he says that I wanna spend a moment looking at found here in verse three. He said there is but a step between me and death. What is true for David is true for us. There's only a step between us and death. And that's something that we ought to know, that's something that we ought to be aware of, that's something that ought to cause us to become more sober minded in the way that we live. There's only a step between you and death. When you're young you don't think that, when you're very young you're most certainly not thinking that because there's really no way of gauging life when you're very young you haven't experienced much of it. If you're five years old somebody who's seven is old. If you're 10 years old somebody who's 15 is very old. If you're 18 years old somebody who's 30 is pretty much in a walker. I remember when I was 17 it takes a while for me to stretch back that far but I can and I do. I remember when I was 17 at my high school there was a secretary there who was very, very cute but she was just really old. She had to be at least 22 and I was 17 and I thought she's good looking but she's just too old. And that's before there was such a thing as Cougars. They had to put them to sleep but the Cougars. You know so a 22 year old woman was just that. She was a 22 year old woman. I was a 17 year old boy and a boy and a woman that just doesn't work. One of my friends mother had a crush on me when I was 19. That was weird man. I can still remember walking with her one day and she took me by the hand. Wanted to hold my hand. Oh cooties I mean there's no way that you can touch me like that. Oh it just freaked me out. So somebody that old and she had to be at least 38. I was 19 and I thought man are you kidding me? You're older than my mom. I can't even be close to you. What are you doing? See so the age difference. Today it's a lot different of course. Many people don't have a problem with that. But I still do. But I'll tell you this. When you're young you don't have an understanding of what it is to be old. You can't. But as you grow older you begin to gain an appreciation for aging because you gain experience. Again I was about 17. I was in the back seat. We were driving. My friends were seated in front and we were smoking pot to be honest with you. We were getting loaded and I used to get philosophical when I was high and I thought I was very deep. And so as we were there I remember looking at my friends. It was raining. It was one of those melancholic kind of days and I said to them, you know guys we're not getting older. We're just dying. We're just dying right now. And they turned around and said what are you talking about? Man be quiet. You're a bummer. I said that may be so. But we're dying. We're not living. We're dying. From the moment we were born to this moment we have steadily been dying. We're decaying. We're dying. I mean it's a real happy kind of guy. You'd love to hang around with me for a while. But I thought about that. I did think about that. I thought you are only a step from death. That's one of the things that the Lord used in my life to wake me up to get saved. There were times that I had such close calls. And how many have you had? Close calls where you're driving in the car and for some reason you just hit the brakes and someone shoots through that signal. Or I've been sitting at red lights before and instead of going when it turns green I have sat there when a car shoots right through the light. Would have hit me right on my driver's side and I could have been killed. Because the car just blows through the light. You've done that. I've done that how many times? When you're a kid you're riding your bike. And as you're riding your bike you usually just ride straight through that intersection but this time you slow down and there goes the car. Or you usually walk, when you're walking someplace you know how many times did you almost get hit by a car? How many times did you almost have an accident where you could have died? That happened so many times. Both in what some would say coincidental things and other things that would have been as really as the response of a poor choice I made where I almost overdosed. I poisoned myself with alcohol and drugs and things. And I could have died but God was merciful to me and we have to come to that understanding there's only a step. There's only a step between you and death. We need to understand that. David understood that. In the book of Job chapter 14 verses one and two man who was born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like a shadow and does not continue. James 4 verse 14, you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Now in a winter morning you take a shower. You open up the shower door and all the steam comes out and fogs up the mirror but it only remains there for a short time. And that's what he's saying. That's what James is saying. You don't know what tomorrow holds. You don't even know the moment that's, you're not even promised the next moment of your life and David is speaking about that. That's why the Psalmist in Psalm 90 verse 12 said it this way, he said, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Lord God help us to understand that our days are limited. That we should number them, we should be aware of them each and every one of them. And we ought to live them in such a way that there's no regret. We ought to live our life in such a way that there's a sobriety to it. There's an awareness in it that we realize that each one of us will ultimately give an account of ourselves to you God and therefore may we live in such a way that when we stand before you we can enter into your kingdom through the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's how we ought to be thinking. And David was aware of the fact that there was only a step between him and death. And as he says this, verse four, Jonathan said to David, whatever you yourself desire I'll do for you. Jonathan is a true friend to David. He wants to be there for him. So he says, what is it that you need, David? If you take notes, this is a great scripture. Proverbs 18, 24, great scripture. A man who has friends must himself be friendly. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. If you want to have friends, be friendly. That makes sense to me. It makes sense to me. If I want to have friends, I ought to be the kind of person that people want to be around. You know, sometimes people will come to churches like this and say nobody's friendly and then you look at them and they look like they had an IV of lemon juice. I mean, come on. If you want to have friends, be friendly. Smile, say hello, how are you? Go out of your way. And you'll make plenty of friends. But if we're always thinking they've got to come up to me, they have to approach me, you're probably not going to have too many people who are going to do that. So a man who has friends has to be friendly. But there is one who sticks closer than a brother. There are some friends that you can have that are closer than family members. Especially when you get saved and sometimes your family may turn their backs on you, not really want to be around you anymore. But you have a brother and the Lord, a sister and the Lord who loves you to pieces and they'll be there for you because they're going to be sticking close to you, closer than even a brother will be with you. And Jonathan was like that with David. Jonathan was his best friend. He was a guy who loved him with all of his heart and so Jonathan is saying, listen, I'll be there for you. So in verse five, David said to Jonathan, indeed tomorrow is the new moon and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening. If your father misses me at all, then say David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all his family. And if he says thus it is well, your servant will be safe. But if he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him. He says, listen, let's give your father a test. Just tell him I can't be at the table that I had to go home for a few days and let's see how he responds. You see, Jonathan, I know your father has it in for me and I know your father once put me to death and therefore when he reacts in the way that I say that he will, then you're gonna know for sure that he has it in for me. Now, if he says no big deal, no problem, then I'm wrong. So what can hurt by giving him a test? What can hurt by telling him that? And let's see what happens. And so that's what he's gonna do. He's gonna put his plan into action. You see, according to Numbers chapter 10 verse 10, this new moon, this new moon is really a festival, it's really a meal rather, that occurs at the beginning of the month. And what they would do is it's a religious meal, a sacrificial meal that they were to celebrate at the first of every month and David was supposed to be there. That's an important meal. His absence would be noticed. So he just wants to reveal the true feelings of Saul towards him and he does this through this test. Well in verse eight, therefore you shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant with the Lord with you, nevertheless there's an iniquity in me, kill me yourself for why should you bring me to your father? And so he's saying, listen, your father wants to kill me. And because your father wants to kill me, ultimately somebody's gonna have to put me to death. Jonathan, I'm asking you to be the one who does that. I'm asking you to be the one who executes me. Now why David would you say that to your best friend? Why would you tell Jonathan, I want you to be the one to kill me? Well, because Jonathan loves David and if he is David's executioner, he will kill him swiftly and as painlessly as possible. That's really what he's asking for. An enemy would try and dry out his death and make it as painful as possible. So David is saying, I want you to know that I'm 100% serious. Your father wants to kill me and he may appoint an executioner. Jonathan, I'm asking you to be my executioner. Well, this is something that just is beyond Jonathan, notice verse nine. Jonathan said, far be it from you. For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you? God forbid that this should be forced upon you and that I should be forced to execute you. Well, verse 10, David said to Jonathan, who will tell me? Or what if your father answers you roughly? Jonathan said to David, come, let us go into the field. So both of them went out into the field. Then Jonathan said to David, the Lord God of Israel is witness. When I have sounded out my father sometime tomorrow or the third day and indeed there is good toward David and I do not send to you and tell you, may the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it to you and send you away that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. Now in verse 13, when he says the Lord be with you as he has been with my father, but he is recognizing David at this point is, he is recognizing him as the true king. And you shall not only show me kindness of the Lord while I still live that I may not die, but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever. No, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David saying, let the Lord require it at the hand of David's enemies. So he said, I'm gonna go test my father. I'll determine whether he intends to kill you or not. And I promise you, I'll let you know immediately. And so he says, what I'm gonna ask you, seeing that I recognize you as being the anointed king of Israel is this, show kindness to my family. As a matter of fact, in verse 16, he makes a note and he says, may God punish the one who breaks this covenant. I simply want you to show kindness to my family, show kindness to my children after I die. And incidentally, in the life of David, he does show kindness to Jonathan's children. I'll notice it says here in verse 17, Jonathan again caused David to vow because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. I was talking to Marie, my wife the other day, just on Friday about this verse. And I said, isn't it sad that we live in a time that when a man loves another man, it's not looked at in the way that it ought to be looked at. I said to Marie, I said the thing about Jonathan's love for David is it was a pure love, the kind of love that a friend can have for another friend. It was a pure love. You know, when Jonathan dies, when Jonathan died, David sang a song, a lamentation over the death of his dearest friend. And as he was singing and weeping, he says something like, the love I had for you was greater than the love of women. Well naturally some people have grabbed hold of that phrase and have said that's why we believe that there was a sexual component to the relationship that David had with Jonathan. Because David goes so far as to say the love I have for you is greater than the love for women. And so they have actually taken a beautiful love that a man can have for another man and have sexualized it, but that's what we do. We have a tendency of sexualizing that word love. If somebody says I love you very often, you're thinking they are having lust for you, they're desiring you sexually. And even in the church sometimes, and someone says I really love you, you look at them, you may even wonder, do you have ulterior motives? Why are you saying that to me? Because we have taken that beautiful word love and we've given it a sexual component. And as I was speaking to Marie about that, I said you know, there's a love that a friend has for another friend that is deeper than the love he has for another sex person. I said there are men in my life that I have love with such a deep love and it's a pure love because there's no sexual component whatsoever. I said as a husband with a wife, there's that love that you have that contains that physical reality of intimacy that can sully a relationship sometimes because the love especially in a dating relationship can be confused with lust and you can have problems as it relates to that. I said but when it comes to a man loving another man as his dearest and closest friend, it's different. There's a purity involved in it and that's the kind of love that David had for Jonathan and that's the kind of love Jonathan had for David. It was the kind of love that they loved one another with a purity that was so great, that was so wonderful, it was just a good, good thing that they had for one another. They loved each other with a deep, deep love. They were, you know, if they were texting each other they'd say best friends forever. I mean, they were very, very close. They loved each other in that way and that's what this is all about. I pray to God that every one of us in this room has somebody in their life like that that you have in your life, somebody that you can come up with immediately. If I said to you, who's your dearest friend? Who's the person in your life? And I'm not talking about your wife, I'm not talking about a girlfriend as a guy. I'm talking about, do you have a best friend? Do you have a man, if you're a man, do you have a man in your life that you can say this is my dearest friend and I love him with a depth and a purity? Can you do that? As a woman, do you have women or a woman in your life that you can look at and say I love this woman with a depth of love that is pure and real? You need it. That's what the body of Christ is like. You know what, the church is filled with lonely people. The body of Christ is supposed to be a family, something deep where you have people that you can speak to that you can call up and say, listen, pray for me, I've got this need right now. If you've got nobody like that, well, anyone who has friends must prove himself friendly. Ask the Lord to give you somebody. Ask the Lord to give you somebody who's an encouragement in your life, somebody who loves Jesus Christ, who can be there as a friend that you can have fellowship together with. I have a few people in my life that I can say are like that. Marie and I have a dear friend, dear friend's couple, Randy Walls and Jeanette Walls. And I have jokingly said, should Randy and I go home to be with the Lord before you girls go home? And that's my prayer that we will. I don't wanna bury my wife. So I say, you know, I can picture you two living in the same house together, getting along together. And I love to see them together, I do. I love to see them when they walk together. They get so lost in conversation with each other that Randy and I have to go and bring them back. I mean, except in stores, I won't go into the store, you know, cause I have the card. I just wave at her, well, I'm drinking my coffee. But we, Randy and I will hang around and we have friends like that. I pray that you do too because it has made my life so rich. And Jonathan and David had that kind of love. The kind of love that was a love that was deep in the soul. He loved him like he loved his own soul. And that's the love that he had for him. Well, in verse 18, Jonathan said to David, tomorrow's the new moon and you'll be missed because your seat will be empty. And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed and remained by the stone as hell. And then I will shoot the three arrows to the side as though I shot at a target. And there I will send a lad saying, go find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, look, the arrows are on this side of you, get them and come. Then as the Lord lives, there's safety for you and no harm. But if I say thus to the young man, look, the arrows are beyond you, go your way for the Lord has sent you away. And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever. So he gives to him a sign and basically he says, this is the way it's going to be. If I say come to the young man, I'm really speaking to you, everything's safe. If I say go, it's out there further, I'm sending you off, there's danger. And so he renews his covenant with him and he says to him, we'll see what happens. Well, verse 24, David hid in the field. And when the new moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast, now the king sat on his seat, as at other times on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose and Abner sat by Saul's side. Abner was Saul's cousin, he was the commander of the army. But David's place was empty. Nevertheless, Saul did not say anything that day before he thought, well, something has happened to him, he's unclean, surely he's unclean. He notices that he's gone, but he assumes that there must be some ritual uncleanness that keeps him from coming to the feast and therefore he expects to see him the next day. Well, verse 27, it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son, why has the son of Jesse not come to eat either yesterday or today? So Jonathan answered Saul. David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem and he said, please let me go for our family has a sacrifice in the city and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brother's. Therefore he has not come to the king's table. So David's plan is put into action. He wants to see what the result's going to be. Notice the results, verse 30. Saul's anger was aroused against Jonathan and he said to him, you son of a perverse rebellious woman, I don't have to translate that for you. Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on earth, you shall not be established nor your kingdom. Now therefore ascend and bring him to me for he shall surely die. Saul reveals his anger and hatred in a way that is unmistakable. He swears at him. And as he swears at him, he's making it very clear, you are ashamed of your mother and you're ashamed to me. Now I find it interesting, let me point this out and I'll say this briefly. Verse 30 quite obviously is a profanity. I mean you just read it and you know exactly what he's saying, it's obviously a profanity. I find it interesting that at a religious feast celebrating God's provision for the nation, which is what they do on a monthly basis there, Saul is swearing and revealing the evil of his heart. It's revealed there at a religious feast. In Luke 6.45, the Bible tells us out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks. What's inside comes out under pressure. Saul is revealing the contents of his heart and he uses profanity which reveals that. It reveals that his heart is evil. Now I realize that in our day profanity is common. I've had people approach me asking for prayer and they're swearing as they're asking for prayer. Seriously, and I tell Marie Honey, you shouldn't speak like that, not in church. Call me that at home. No, I mean I've had people who have brought profanity to me, who have spoken to me and they're asking for prayer, I know it's common for many people to use profanity and I hear it more and more and it's more common than ever. But then again, if you listen to the radio, the music very often is filled with profanity, many of the songs are, we know that. You watch television, it doesn't have to be cable TV, you can watch it on any of the major networks and there's profanity and you hear it, it's very common and we see that as a common way of speech today. People use profanity, but is that the way we ought to speak? Is that the way Christians should speak? Do Christians have the language of the world and the answer obviously is no. When Christians take the time to use proper language to demonstrating that they're using the mind, but when we begin to just speak things that we're hearing others say and we use these words so loosely, I think it's really revealing something about our walks with the Lord, we're really not in the word of God, we're not learning some of the things that God has taught us. In Ephesians in chapter four, for example, verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is useful for edification, that you might be bringing grace to the hearer. The way that we speak is to be using words that have meaning, that has content, that has an edification to it because the gospel is proclaimed with words and therefore words are very serious and we have to choose the right words to describe the right feelings. I know of a pastor who's referred to as the cussing pastor because when he gives his messages he punctuates his points with profanity and the people call him the cussing pastor. But in using his vocabulary in that way he's actually bringing down the power of the message, not elevating it. And what he's doing is he's causing people to believe that that kind of language is proper and it's not, Saul is revealing something of his heart when he calls his son the name that he calls him. God hasn't given permission to us to use that terminology, simply recording it for us to see how he speaks. This is a man who's provoked and tormented by evil spirits, a man who was filled with murderous envy and hatred and that's how he speaks. Is that how I'm supposed to speak? No. When I first got saved, one of my friends said, you know what, I know you're saved and I said, and how do you know that? He says, you don't cuss like you used to cuss. I used to invent cuss words. I did, I'd string words together on purpose. I had a coach when I was in high school who said David has the dirtiest mouth of any kid I've ever heard. And I used to swear in front of him constantly. I did it on purpose and I'd use the most filthy language in front of him, especially after I had heard that he said that about me. I used to use swear words. I didn't even think in terms of substituting proper words for them because that was just the way that I spoke. That's the way I communicated. When I got saved and I started reading the Bible and I read Luke 6.45 out of the abundance of his mouth speaks, I started realizing that if I put something within me that is good, then out of me, that which is good will proceed. And I started realizing that to communicate in a way that is respectful and honoring to people is to cease using the profanity that actually actually reduces me as a person and reduces my ability to communicate. Be careful with your language because God has given to us words to use to bring people into the kingdom of God. Be careful the way you speak. Be careful with the word choices that you use. Don't be lazy and don't pick up the words from the world and think that they punctuate your sentence. I've discovered something. I've discovered that people who use a lot of profanity aren't shocking people anymore. As a matter of fact, you'll even make excuses in your mind for him. You'll say, well, that's just the way he talks. And so what he thinks is bringing power through the words that he's using actually is reducing him because you just say, well, his words really don't mean anything. Be very careful. In this particular case what we end up with is we end up with a man who's anger is aroused and he's wears at his own son and he says, you have shamed me, you shamed yourself and you shamed the mother who gave you life. Now Saul is concerned about a dynasty, a dynasty that Jonathan is rejecting. He knew that the kingdom would not pass to his son. He's enraged because Jonathan doesn't care. But Jonathan rejects the evil of his father and it caused his father to be crazy with anger. Well, in verse 32, Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, why should he be killed? What has he done? Saul cast a spear at him to kill him by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month for he was grieved for David because his father had treated him shamefully. I don't know why they keep giving Saul spears. I mean, this man throws them at you when he's mad. I wouldn't give him a spear. Give him a yo-yo, but don't give him a spear. But there he is, he's angry at his son, picks up that spear and throws it at his son. But I want you to see something here. Look at verse 34, he was grieved. But why is he grieved? Is he grieved because his father tried to kill him? He's grieved for David because his father had treated him shamefully because he had treated David shamefully. That's why he was upset about it. This man has nobility that very few people attain. He's not taking it personally. It's interesting to me. His father just tried to kill him and it doesn't say here, and he went out angry because his father tried to kill him. He went out angry and grieved because his father disrespected his best friend, David. What kind of man is Jonathan? He's not even upset at a father who tried to kill him. That's my dad. My dad's trying to kill me. Why are you trying to kill me? No, it's not like that. Today we'd be going to a therapist. We'd be saying, my daddy threw a spear at me. I can't understand why he never liked me. He never threw the ball at me. Now he's throwing spear at us. I can't believe it. But you know what? That's not what's taking place here. He's upset because his father is treating David shamefully. What a noble man this is that he's so upset on behalf of a friend. And so it was in the morning that Jonathan went out into the field at a time appointed with David and a little lad was with him. He said to his lad, now run, find the arrows which I shoot. As the lad ran he shot an arrow beyond him when the lad had come to the place where the arrow was which Jonathan had shot. Jonathan cried out after the lad and said, is not the arrow beyond you? Jonathan cried out after the lad, make haste, hurry, do not delay. So Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows and came back to his master. But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad and said to him, go carry them to the city. As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from the place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, bowed down three times. They kissed one another, they wept together, but David more so. Jonathan said to David, go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying may the Lord be between you and me and between your descendants and my descendants forever. So he arose and departed and Jonathan went into the city. He's displaying affection for him as he bows before him, humbly showing that he recognizes him as Prince. But as they begin to speak there, obviously the message has been clear, they're gonna have to leave. We see something here that I think is very touching and I wanna close with this. Notice how it says in verse 41, they kissed one another, they wept together, but David more so. Again, remove the sexual component to that. It's not like they're making out in a field, because that's how it's presented today. That's how it's presented today. That's not what is taking place. They love each other. My son Joseph kisses me, I'm his father. I kissed, I could kiss my dad on the cheek, my dad would kiss me on the cheek. That's affection. You know, some of us come from this uncomfortable background where we're thinking, you know, men shouldn't show affection like that. In some cultures it's very acceptable and something that is a symbol of deep affection. As a matter of fact, when a man kissed another man in the Jewish culture, it was a tremendous demonstration of affection. I mean, so much so that when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, remember with me what Jesus said to Judas. Judas, do you betray the son of man with a kiss? Because Judas had said the one whom I kissed, this is he, take him away safely. A kiss was a demonstration of loyalty and love. And Judas used that when he betrayed Christ and that's why Jesus would say, do you betray the son of man with a kiss? David and Jonathan are in a field. This is the last time they're gonna see each other. David has to go into hiding and it breaks his heart because this was his dearest friend. This is the man that he loved. He had grown to love him. He had tremendous affection and kinship with him. For a moment, I'd like you to ask yourself, do you have anybody in your life that if you knew this was the last time you'd see him? And I'm not talking about a husband or a wife or even a blood relative, I'm thinking of a friend. Is there anybody in your life that if you knew this was the last day that you're gonna see them and you're together saying goodbye, is there anybody in your life that would break your heart to say goodbye to them? That's what's going on here. I had a friend in our church who was very dear to me, very dear to me, and he was with us for many years. He helped in ministry in many ways, and he and his wife and his children were very dear to my family. They were the kind of family in the church that came when the church was very young, and he was used by the Lord in many ways to help us in so many good things, and he'd become very dear like a brother in many ways to me. And one day he came to me and he said to me, we're moving, we have to move. And I remember looking at him, and I said, oh, really, are you sure? I even tried to dissuade him from doing so. Are you sure? Yeah, we're gonna move. And I can remember saying, well, okay, and we said goodbye to him, and many people who loved him very much, we all said goodbye. I didn't see him. I didn't see him for a couple of years, and then one day I was up north at a pastor's conference, and he was serving in the church that he was attending up north, and Gail Irwin was conducting a communion service, and he said, is there anybody here that is dear to you that you think you ought to tell? Well, as you're having communion, why don't you go and share communion with them? And so we took our communion cup and bread, and I walked right up to my friend that I hadn't seen, and there he was. I knew he was there, but I hadn't really spoken to him much, and I walked up to him, and when I looked at him, I began to weep. I sobbed. I hadn't shown that emotion. I hadn't even realized the depth of it that I had, but when I said to him, you were so special to me as a friend. I just lost it. I still remember just taking him and putting my arms around him and sobbing on his shoulder, and I said, I miss you. You're so dear. You were such a good friend. Is there anybody in your life that you have like that? If you have somebody like that in your life, you've got something special, because that's what happened with Jonathan, and that's what happened with David. He kissed him, he held him, and he wept, because I love you so much. You're so close. I'm gonna miss you terribly. I'm gonna miss you terribly. You see, it's not a death. Death is different. You bury them. You mourn for them. You miss them. He's alive, and I can't be with my friend, and that hurts, and that's what David started over. And yet at the same time they say, well, what we don't have, may our children have, may the covenant that we have together extend to our families, that our families can be close and have a friendship and a love that you and I had. That's what the body of Christ is supposed to be, by the way. We're supposed to love each other like that. Anything less than that is less than what God wants. May God help us to love each other so that we weep when our dear friends leave, because that's what love really does. It mourns the loss of something that was so valuable. May God help us to love each other like that. Father, I ask that you would work in us, and that you would work in such a way that you would be honored by the relationships that we have with one another. May our friendships be in you, and may they be so valuable to us, Lord, that we actually weep when they're broken. Lord, maybe we learn to have relationships in Christ, and may they grow. May we edify one another with our speech. May we be good examples to one another, Lord. May we love one another. And I lift up this congregation that we would not be a group of strangers, Lord, that we would find places to serve and to fellowship, that we might be your family here. And I pray that you'd work in us, Lord. And may we remember that there's only a step between death and ourselves. So may we live with sobriety and an awareness of how fast time does fly. Our eyes are closed, our heads are bound. Perhaps I have some in this room right now who need to get right with the Lord. I wanna pray for you. If you know the Spirit is speaking to you, you need to get right with him. I wanna pray for you right now. Would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at? Father, you see these hands that are going up, and I ask that you would reach down now and touch. Touch these whose hands are raised to you. Lord, you know exactly what it is that they're in need of from you right now. You know where their hearts are, Lord, where their lives are. And I'm asking that you would reach down now and cleanse wherever there is sin, wash them, purify them, and fill them with your spirit. And if they're lonely or hurting right now, Father, that you would fill that hurt, that you would fill that loneliness. I pray that you would work within them now, Lord. And I ask that you would do a work that brings glory to you and peace to them. And may they, from this day forward, may they love and serve you, Lord, in a way that they never have before. And we thank you for this. Bless you, Lord. You can put your hands down. And Jesus, I ask that you continue to move in all of us so that you're honored in all of us. In your name we pray, amen. Let's all stand. We'll close with a word of prayer and a song. Father, we lift our lives to you. We're about to leave into a mission field. I pray that you would be with us as we serve you. May we remember who we are in you. Tonight as we gather tomorrow, Lord, through the VBS, through the Song of Solomon Wednesday, whenever it is we gather Tuesday morning, I pray that you would meet us in a special way that we would continue to grow in you, Lord, and be used by you for your glory. We lift these things to you now and ask that you continue to show yourself strong on our behalf as we serve you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless you.