I Samuel 18:1-16
I want you to close your eyes.
Now, think about your best friend.
Why is this person your best friend.
Do you trust them with your deepest hurts, fears and
hopes?
Can you call them at 2AM and know they will pick up?
Your best friend is someone you can count on no matter
what.
Now, think of someone you are jealous of or envy.
What did they have that you think you deserved?
Do you consider them a friend or enemy?
You can open your eyes now.
This morning we are going to continue our study of
David’s life.
We will be looking at I Samuel 18:1-16.
Here we will see examples of both friendship and
hostility.
I Samuel 18:1-5
Jonathan and David’s Friendship
The Bible tells us that Jonathan’s soul was knit to David’s.
That word knit literally means to bind, tie or join
together.
The Bible also says that Jonathan loved David as much as
he loved himself.
This is what Jesus told His disciples to do, love your
neighbor as yourself. It’s unconditional love, not based on
feelings or circumstances.
It is NOT a romantic or sexual love as some have
interpreted it.
The Hebrew word used here is ahav.
We see the same word in I Samuel 16:21 Saul greatly
loved David.
Ahav is never used in the OT for homosexual relationship.
The OT uses the word Yada, which means to know.
Yada can be used for both heterosexual and homosexual
relationships.
Genesis 4:1 we see yada used for a heterosexual
relationship between Adam and Eve “Now Adam knew
Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain,
saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.’”
The word knew is the Hebrew yada.
In Judges 19:22 we see it used for a homosexual act.
“As they were making their hearts merry, behold,
the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded
the house, beating on the door. And they said to
the old man, the master of the house, ‘Bring out the
man who came into your house, that we may know
him.’”
But in the text of 1 Samuel 18 the word is ahav.
The author is describing love not sex.
David and Jonathan were godly friends. There was no
sexual nature to their relationship. They were friends
that had a deep bond. Kent Hughes describes Christian
friendship this way:
“A Christian friendship exceeds anything that exists
between nonbelievers — for such a friendship is
founded on a supernatural mutuality of soul. The
Holy Spirit makes your souls chorus the same cries.
You assent to the same authority. You know the
same God. You are going the same way. You long
for the same things. You dream mutual dreams.
You yearn for the same experiences of holiness and
worship. Jonathan’s soul bound itself to David’s
soul. You know when this happens, and it is
wonderful.” R Kent Hughes
Isn’t it great to have friendships like this?
The Bible also tells us that Jonathan initiated a covenant
between himself and David.
Jonathan and David’s Covenant
A covenant is a binding relationship.
Warren Wiersbe – The Hebrew word translated
“covenant” has several meanings: (1) to eat with,
which suggests fellowship and agreement; (2) to
bind or fetter, which means commitment; and (3)
to allot, which suggests sharing. When God makes
a covenant, He enters into an agreement to commit
Himself to give what He promises. It is purely an
act of grace. (Be Obedient)
This covenant was based on friendship and commitment.
Remember the definition of knit, to bind or join together.
It’s interesting that Jonathan was the heir to Saul’s
throne but he cared more about his friendship than he
did his crown.
These two men should have been enemies, but they
became forever friends.
Jonathan gave David his robe, armor, sword, bow and
belt.
All of the gear of the price, he freely gave up to his new
friend.
We don’t know when Jonathan found out that David was
going to take over as the next king instead of him, but
isn’t it ironic that he gives away all of the gear so freely
to his friend?
It’s symbolic of David’s future role.
David’s Promotion
Back in verse 2 we read that after David killed Goliath,
Saul would not let David return to his father Jesse in
Bethlehem.
He sent David out and placed him in charge of the men of
war.
And the Bible tells us he was successful in everything
Saul told him to do.
He went from a shepherd to a musician to military
leader. And he will soon be king.
And all the people including Saul’s servants thought
David was doing a good job.
I Samuel 18:6-16
Saul’s Jealousy/Envy
Verse 6 takes us back to right after the battle with
Goliath.
It was the custom for the army to be welcomed home
after a victory with singing, dancing and joy.
Some women came out with instruments singing a
victory song to Saul and David.
Saul has struck down his thousands,
And David his ten thousands.
It wasn’t meant to be a dig against Saul, but Saul
certainly took it that way. And it made him very angry.
I want you to think about the words jealousy and envy.
You might think they are the same, but they are not.
Jealousy is the fear that you may lose something
valuable to you.
Envy is anger you feel becuase someone else got what
you wanted.
Jealousy is about fear
Envy is about anger.
Here in verse 8 Saul is very angry.
Because David is getting the acclaim that he wanted.
The Hebrew word for anger is charah. It emphasizes the
kindling and burning aspects of anger.
This is the word used of Eliab when David came to see
him at the battle ground.
This is not the righteous anger that David had when he
heard Goliath defaming God.
So, from that day on Saul kept his eye on David.
Do you think Saul was starting to realize David is the
neighbor that Samuel mentioned to him back in
I Samuel 15:28?
“And Samuel said to him, ‘The LORD has torn the
kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given
it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.’”
Those words must have stung.
Saul’s jealousy/envy turns into hostility against David.
Saul’s Hostility Against David
The harmful spirit that came upon Saul is a reminder of
God’s rejection of Saul as king because of his
disobedience.
If you remember from chapter 16 David would play the
harp when the harmful spirit came upon Saul.
David is doing his job and Saul tries to kill him with his
spear.
Not once, but twice.
I’m not sure I would be sticking around for a second
attempt on my life if my boss tried to kill me.
But David knew the Lord was with him.
Verse 12 is ironic to me because Saul just tried to kill
David and who is afraid? Saul is afraid of David becaue
he knows the LORD is with him and he knows the LORD
left him.
The fear is part of the jealousy we talked about earlier.
Saul can’t bear the thought of David taking over for him.
Saul’s next display of hostility is when he demoted David
from being over all the men of war to being over 1000.
But again, this didn’t work out the way he wanted.
Saul is trying to sabotage David, but it backfires.
David had success in everything he did.
And the people loved him.
But Saul stood in fearful awe of David.
The CSB says Saul dreaded David.
Envy has turned into dread.
Dread is fear that something might happen.
And it will.
David will sit on the throne that Saul once did.
And David will be so much better than Saul ever was.
APPLICATION
Our text today should make us;
Consider our Friendships.
What kind of friend are we?
Are we loyal?
Do we love unconditionally?
Do we love our friends like we love ourselves?