1 Samuel 20:7
If he says, 'Good,' then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.
Sermons
The Intercourse of FriendsB. Dale 1 Samuel 20:1-10
A Friendly Prince a Princely FriendH. E. Stone.1 Samuel 20:1-42
David and JonathanW. G. Blaikie, D. D.1 Samuel 20:1-42














1 Samuel 20:3. (GIBEAH.)
Our path in life lies along the brink of a river or the edge of a cliff; and we may by a step - a single step - at any moment meet our fate. The asseveration of David may be regarded as the expression of a strong conviction ("As Jehovah liveth," etc.) of -

I. THE SOLEMNITY OF DEATH. The event is a serious one. To leave familiar scenes and beloved friends, to "be missed" from our accustomed place is a saddening thought. But what gives solemnity to death as well as life is its moral aspect, its spiritual and Divine relations.

1. It terminates our earthly probation - severs our immediate connection with the privileges, means, and opportunities by which character is proved and the soul prepared for another state. When this step is taken, all these things belong to the past.

2. It ushers us into the Divine presence; no longer partially concealed by the veil of material things, but fully revealed in light, which reveals the moral attitude of every human spirit and judges it "in righteousness." "After death" (and following close upon it) "the judgment" (Hebrews 9:28). "We must all be manifest before the judgment seat of Christ," etc. (2 Corinthians 5:10).

3. It fixes our future destiny, in weal or woe. "What is a man profited," etc.

II. THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. The step must be taken, but when we know not. That we may be duly impressed by a truth which all admit, but few adequately realise, consider -

1. The frailty of the body, and the innumerable dangers to which it is exposed. "Between us and hell or heaven there is nothing but life, the most fragile thing in existence (Pascal).

2. The facts of daily observation. What occurs to others so often, so suddenly and unexpectedly, may occur to ourselves. We have no guarantee that it will not. "Man's uncertain life is like a raindrop on the bough, amid ten thousand of its sparkling kindred, and at any moment it may fall."

3. The declarations of the Divine word. "Man knoweth not his time," etc. (Ecclesiastes 9:12). "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?" etc. (James 4:14). Why should we be left in such uncertainty?

(1) To teach us the sovereignty of God and our dependence upon him.

(2) To accord with our present probationary position, which necessitates the proper adjustment of motives to our freedom and responsibility.

(3) To enable us properly to perform the ordinary duties of life, in connection with which we are appointed to serve God here and prepare for his service hereafter.

(4) To check presumption in devoting undue attention to the affairs of this life and neglecting those of the life to come.

(5) To lead us not to put the event out of our minds altogether, but rather to constant preparation for it and for the life that lies beyond. "The last day is kept secret that every day may be watched" (Augustine). "Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is" (Mark 13:33). "Be ye therefore ready also, etc. (Luke 12:40).

III. THE NECESSITY OF WATCHFUL PREPARATION. Seeing that at any instant the step may be taken, it plainly behoves us to be always ready.

1. By seeking and maintaining a right state of heart (John 3:2, 14).

2. By diligent, faithful, and persevering performance of duty.

3. By constant and prayerful committal of our souls into the hands of God. So, whenever the step is taken, it will be "only a step" out of the shadows and sorrows Of earth into the glory and joy of heaven. - D.

A yearly sacrifice for all the family.
The word in this verse rendered "sacrifice" is in the margin of our English Bible rendered with somewhat greater felicity "feast." There comes to view, therefore, in the narrative an unusually interesting fact; namely, that the family of Jesse continued to keep up their residence in Bethlehem, and carefully observed the household festivals through the year, as in earlier days they had been accustomed. The members of that scattered circle summoned each other regularly to a social reunion annually.

I. THE ADVANTAGES FOUND IN THE OBSERVANCE OF THIS YEARLY THANKSGIVING FESTIVAL.

1. Of course, first and chief of these is the consideration that for all God's love and care for us there is due at least full acknowledgment of the hand which has given them to us. "Count up your mercies." A day in each year is surely not too much to be given to this formal rehearsal before God of our plentiful gains and prosperities.

2. In the second place, there is manifest advantage in these annual festivals growing out of the cultivation of our domestic affections and the perpetuation of our home tastes and feelings. It mingles religion with our best sympathies. He cannot be called a manly man who did not feel himself a weaker man from the month when his praying mother died and was buried, or who does not feel himself a braver, better man, if now perhaps the beloved old voice still lives to be his counsel and his inspiration.

3. Again: there is a manifest advantage in these thanksgiving festivals found in the perpetuation of ancestral memories to which they are calculated most strongly to minister. It is instinctive in the heart of every true man and woman to desire to live beyond the limits of an immediate generation. We toil hard for many a season to keep our name unsullied and preserve our fair fame unstained for the sake of our offspring.

4. And this leads me on to mention a fourth advantage derived from this annual feast; namely, the opportunity it offers for kindling and quickening a true patriotism in the hearts of the people.

II. With this exhibition of manifest advantages I CAN HARDLY NEED TO ARGUE FURTHER FOR SUCH OBSERVANCE OF THE DAY. If we go with David at all on his errand, it must be in imagination only. And I think it will be profitable now to ask and answer where he did go.

1. To his own city.

2. In the second place, I suppose David went straight as was possible to his own home in Bethlehem.

3. Then, finally, I imagine David would want to go to various houses of his brethren. I take this from the fact that this day's invitation was given by his brother.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

I. REMEMBER TO EXALT GOD IN YOUR FAMILY FESTIVITIES.

II. THOROUGHLY SURVEY THE HISTORY OF THE YEAR SINCE YOUR LAST FAMILY FESTIVITIES.

1. It was a yearly sacrifice. Year short space in time, but may be long in events. What changes may crowd into its weeks. Christmas does not always find the family in the old home.

2. On some homes shadows lie thick, others bathed in sunshine. Here Jacob has lost his Joseph, or Rachel mourns her children; here sportive childhood cries, "Oh, call my brother back to me, I cannot play alone."

3. And then, they who come to the festivities come from such various scenes. Here at Bethlehem was David from the court; and Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah from the camp.

4. Nor will any true heart give a secondary place to changes on character the year has produced.

III. CONSIDER THE PERSONAL OBLIGATIONS EACH OWES TO THE FAMILY.

IV. IN YOUR FESTIVITIES THINK OF OTHERS.

(G. B. Johnson.)

People
Abner, David, Jesse, Jonathan, Saul
Places
Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Naioth, Ramah
Topics
Angry, Clear, Decided, Determined, Displeasing, Evil, Harm, Loses, Mind, Peace, Purpose, Safe, Says, Servant, Sure, Temper, Thus, Wroth
Outline
1. David consults with Jonathan for his safety
11. Jonathan and David renew their covenant by oath
18. Jonathan's token to David
23. Saul, missing David, seeks to kill Jonathan
35. Jonathan affectionately takes his leave of David

Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Samuel 20:1-42

     5086   David, rise of

1 Samuel 20:4-7

     5965   temperament

Library
Jonathan, the Pattern of Friendship
'And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 2. And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. 3. And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Word for the Persecuted
Remember that this supposition is a very likely one. There are a few Christians so favourably circumstanced that all their friends accompany them in the pilgrimage to heaven. What advances they ought to make in the sacred journey! What excellent Christians they ought to be! They are like plants in a conservatory--they ought to grow and bring forth the loveliest Bowers of divine grace. But there are not very many who are altogether in that case. The large proportion of Christians find themselves opposed
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 20: 1874

How to Make Use of Christ for Steadfastness, in a Time when Truth is Oppressed and Borne Down.
When enemies are prevailing, and the way of truth is evil spoken of, many faint, and many turn aside, and do not plead for truth, nor stand up for the interest of Christ, in their hour and power of darkness: many are overcome with base fear, and either side with the workers of iniquity, or are not valiant for the truth, but being faint-hearted, turn back. Now the thoughts of this may put some who desire to stand fast, and to own him and his cause in a day of trial, to enquire how they shall make
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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