And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord.
Real friendship
“All faithful friends went on a pilgrimage years ago, and none of them have ever come back”; so wrote one of the Puritan divines, whose heart was depressed at the time most likely. Perhaps the best definition of friendship is that given by Addison: it is “a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of each other.”
I. True friendship requires some acknowledged basis of individual worth. To be very popular is very different from being beloved. Froissart says of Gaston de Foix, “In everything he was so perfect that he cannot be praised too much; he loved what ought to be beloved, and hated what ought to be condemned; and he never had miscreant with him.”
II. True friendship demands courage and self-sacrifice in instant answer to the call. When Jonathan rose up from the table there was more than one javelin in the air coming towards him; there was the mad king’s wrath shooting lances of fire also.
III. True friendship becomes more disinterested as it becomes more loving.
IV. True friendship shows itself by delicate and sometimes mysterious signals of communication. Indeed, when two men become fast and sympathetic comrades, we sometimes fail to discover what they find in each other so companionable.
V. True friendship finds its highest model in the Lord of life and glory. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Divine goodness in human friendship
I. In its freedom from all jealousy, Jonathan’s conduct was most exemplary. It was here that the son proved himself to be so much more noble than the father; for Jonathan saw himself surpassed by David, and yet was his faithful friend, and indeed found one reason for his love in that superiority which David had secured.
II. The friendship of Jonathan was eminently practical. It did not consist either of fair and flattering words which he uttered, or of a mere luxury of sentiment which be enjoyed. On the very first day of its life it proved its power, by prompting Jonathan to put his royal robes on David’s shoulder, to gird his sword on David’s thigh, and to place his bow in David’s hands; as much as to say, “I will give thee of my best. Thou art more of a king’s son than I am. These befit thee more than me.” There are friendships in the world which cost those who cherish them nothing, and like many other cheap things they are worth just what they cost.
III. Jonathan’s friendship for David was eminently unselfish. It was much that he could do for David; it was but little that David could do for him. Personally, he had no interest in David’s continued life and increasing power; but, speaking after the manner of men, his interest lay in the opposite direction. To Saul’s selfish heart this nobleness of love and self-forgetfulness seemed nothing but wilful wickedness and sheer madness. How could he comprehend it?
IV. Jonathan’s friendship had the crowning grace of constancy. It began in the midst of David’s new-born posterity, but it lasted through all his reverses.
1. There is one fact belonging to this history which has seldom had the attention it deserves. While Jonathan was always faithful to David, he was never false to his lather. Some men wail cultivate one virtue alone, and make it an Aaron’s rod--swallowing up all the other virtues; but this man did not suffer his virtues as a friend to devour his virtues as a son.
2. It needs no word to prove that the friendship we have been studying must have been a great help and blessing to David. How great, is known only to Him by whom the boon was bestowed.
3. As we contemplate the character of Jonathan, we are made increasingly thankful that the immortality of the good is revealed in God’s Word beyond the possibility of doubt or question. We are forbidden to think that the love of Jonathan’s heart, which wrought so beneficently on earth, labours no longer for the welfare of the others. Can it be possible that the God who created it in His own image doomed it to indolence? Would not that be to doom the possessor of it to misery? (C. Vines.)
