Faithful unto death
Saul had a son named Jonathan, and
he loved David as his own soul. He took off
his princely robes, even to his sword, and his bow,
and his girdle, and made David wear them; and David
acted wisely in all that the king gave him to do.
There was great joy and much feasting over the Death
of Goliath and the flight of the Philistines, and wherever
Saul went, the women came out of the cities to meet
him, singing and dancing, and the song with which
they answered one another was,
“Saul hath slain his thousands,
And David his tens of thousands.”
Saul did not like this, and an evil
spirit of jealousy came upon him, and he thought,
“What can he have more but the kingdom.”
The next day the evil spirit came
upon Saul in the house, and David played on his harp
to quiet him, but Saul hurled a spear at David, hoping
to fasten him to the wall with it. This he did
twice, but the Lord guided the spear away from David,
just as he guided the pebble to Goliath, and he was
unhurt. Saul was afraid of David. He was
afraid that God was preparing him to be king over
Israel, so he sent him into battle, hoping he would
be killed, but the life of David was in the Lord’s
hand, and no enemy could destroy it.
After a great battle, in which David
had been victorious, the evil spirit came again upon
Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his
hand, while David played on the harp. Again he
tried to kill David, but the spear struck the wall
and David slipped away.
It was clear that David could not
live near the king, and so he talked with Jonathan,
his friend, who said,
“God forbid, thou shalt not die,” but
David said,
“Truly there is but a step between me and death.”
Then they made a promise to each other
before the Lord that should last while they lived.
They promised to show “the kindness of the Lord”
to each other while life should last.
Jonathan told David that he might
go away for three days, and they went out into a field
together. They feared the anger of Saul when
he found that David was absent from the feast of the
new moon. So Jonathan told David to return after
three days and hide behind a great rock in the field.
Then Jonathan said he would come out and shoot three
arrows from his bow, as if he were shooting at a mark,
and he would send his arrow-bearer to pick them up.
If he should call to the lad, “The arrows are
on this side of thee,” David would know that
Saul was not angry, and would not hurt him, but if
he cried, “The arrows are beyond thee,”
David would know he was in danger and must go away.
On the second day of the feast, Saul
asked why David was not there, and Jonathan told him
he had asked permission to go away for three days.
Then Saul was very angry. He blamed his son for
loving David, for, as Saul’s son, Jonathan should
be king after his death, but he never would be if
David lived, and he commanded Jonathan to bring him
that he might put him to death. When Jonathan
asked what evil David had done that he should be put
to death, Saul cast his spear at his own son.
Then Jonathan knew there was no hope for David, and
left the table in sorrow.
The next day he went out to the rock
in the field with his armor-bearer and sent him on
before. When he shot an arrow, he cried:
“The arrow is beyond thee; make haste! stay
not!”
And David, in his hiding place heard
it, and knew that he must flee for his life.
Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows
to the lad to take to the town, and David came out
from his hiding place, and they kissed each other
and wept together. But at last Jonathan said:
“Go in peace: as we have
sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying,
The Lord be between me and thee, and between my children
and thy children forever.”
And David went away to hide from Saul,
and Jonathan went back to the king’s house.
For seven years Saul hunted for David
to take his life, and David, often hiding in caves
in the wilderness, could not see his friend Jonathan,
but they were faithful in their friendship, and when
at last Saul was slain in battle, and Jonathan also,
David came to mourn over his friend, saying:
“I am distressed for thee, my
brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been
unto me; thy love for me was wonderful, passing the
love of women.”