Your Daily Devotional for February 26, 2006

February 26, 2006

 

Goodness: An Attribute of a Godly Friend

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

“And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee: and what I see, that I will tell thee. And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain.”

1 Samuel 19:1-6

 

King Saul began to feel threatened by the shepherd boy David. After Goliath was killed, all the people in the kingdom began to sing David’s praises. Before long, Saul became intensely jealous of David and sought for a way to murder him. In this passage, we see that Jonathan, the king’s son, intercedes for David’s life. Verse two says, “But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself.”

 

To act against the king by helping one of his enemies was an act of treason. Jonathan knew that David was not guilty of dishonoring the king. First Samuel 19:4-5 tells us that David had not sinned against the king, and that his motives were to bring honor to him.

 

Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Jonathan was not content to watch David be mistreated. He cared for him as a brother, even though he was risking his own life.

 

Often our friends are unjustly attacked or maligned. Do we sit idly by, or do we come to their aid? Do we worry more about the “damage” to us, or are we willing to risk ourselves for others?

 

A false friend is like a shadow. As long as there is sunshine, he sticks close by your side; but, the minute you step into the shade, he disappears. My question to you is “What kind of friend are you? Do you stick close by your friends’ sides when they are being unjustly treated? Do you encourage them to continue staying faithful to the Lord and His Word?

 

You will find that if you are a faithful friend in the midst of someone’s trials, he will be there for you when you are going through hard times. Let’s purpose today to be more than fair-weather friends. Let’s seek to encourage and strengthen those people that God has placed in our lives

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