Sound Doctrine

Jeff Johnson: The stats are clear. 100% of human beings are going to die. With the thought on that, here's Pastor Jeff. I'm going to live forever. I'm going to live a long time. Tomorrow's not my time. That's how we think. We trust the Lord. We're in His hands.

Yet all of us have this appointment. The Bible says it is appointed unto man to die. There is an appointment with everyone: death. And then comes the judgment. We all have it, we can't escape it. And it's 100% foolproof as we look back generation after generation. Everybody dies. So that's the truth, but it's an appointed time.

Guest (Male): Imagine having someone hunting you down trying to kill you. Not only that, they have a great deal of power and backing, too. Well, that's the place we find David today on Sound Doctrine. God knew David needed an encouraging word, so He sent Jonathan to remind David that God was faithful and was going to keep His promise. That's a good friend to have, wouldn't you say? Pastor Jeff Johnson says we need friends like that. Let's join Pastor Jeff now in 1 Samuel 20 for a great lesson on the power of encouragement.

Jeff Johnson: Last week we talked about Michal, remember, sticking that image in David's bed. I thought of a prayer, and how prayer sometimes comes in as a petition first. You're just asking the Lord for a certain something. And then sometimes it evolves into not just for petition; it now involves making a deal with the Lord. Lord, if you get this for me, then I will.

And then if we don't get an answer, sometimes it evolves from petition and making a deal, but it gets into the threatening. Lord, if you don't get this, then... It's amazing how prayer evolves. But there was this boy that wanted this bike, and he first put his petition out. It was a neat bike; he wanted it really bad. He said, "Lord, get me that bike." Time went on, he didn't get the bike. He said, "Lord, if you get me that bike, if you get me that bike, I'll take kids to Sunday school on it. I'll get a paper route. I'll start tithing. Give me that bike!" He didn't get it.

So then he took the statue of Mother Mary, and he stuck it under his bed. He said to God, "Lord, if you don't get me that bike, you're never seeing your mother again." It kind of reminded me of that story in 1 Samuel 19. 1 Samuel chapter 20 now, as we look back a little bit, we see now David's been delivered by four friends. One of those four friends of David's was the Holy Spirit. And so we see through that that David was delivered through divine protection.

His eyes were on the Lord. The Lord was with him. He was excited. We read out of Psalm 59 last week that in the midst of his trial, David was able to sing unto the Lord. It's great. Like Paul and Silas when they went down in that prison and they were all beat up, they said, "Let's praise the Lord." What an attitude! Great. But circumstances are still the same in chapter 20. They're even worse now. There is no relief in sight. David's faith begins to wane and he was beginning now to fall into despair.

Jonathan, his close friend, makes his one last effort to help him. And so chapter 20 now gives us an insight into David's best friend Jonathan. It also lets us see Jonathan's character. It's incredible. And so I kind of titled this message this morning, "To be as Jonathan, to be like Jonathan." Let's look at it. Verse one of chapter 20: "And David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, 'What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my life?'"

If you remember, Saul went after David to Naioth. And remember how he began to prophesy? But we see here now David didn't trust him. Prophesying or not, he doesn't trust Saul. And he knows that Saul has done this before. And so he's pulling away. He runs from where Saul is there at Naioth and he runs to his friend Jonathan. Notice as David was very open to talk with Jonathan, his best friend.

I want you to see how best friends talk. They talk about things that really bother them, things that are real, things that you don't talk to anybody about but just your best friend. This is where husbands and wives should be, best friends talking about everything that's bugging them, what they're going through and communicating everything. So David comes to Jonathan in his confusion. He says, "Jonathan, what's happening? What's going on?" And he acts like nothing has changed to Jonathan as far as what's going on.

He says, "Hey, Saul's going to kill me. Why is he going to kill me? What iniquity have I done?" It's always good to check yourself out when you're going through a heavy trial. Did I bring this on myself? Is this my fault that I'm going through this or not? And that's always good to know. And so David's just saying, "Is it because of iniquity? I don't see any sin that I've done. Why is this happening?" talking to Jonathan. Remember what Peter said?

Peter said, "Don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is about to try you, as some strange thing has come upon you." It's come to prove you; it's come to test your faith. The reason that we go through certain things is because God is testing our faith to see how much we really love Him. And He's also, as He is doing with David, preparing him for the place He has prepared for him. And if you don't go through anything, then how are you going to be prepared?

So God's working on all of us, preparing us for the place He has for us. And it comes through hardships that we are chiseled and molded and made into that man or woman of God. David was no exception. There's a story of this little rock who was tumbling throughout the centuries. He complained a lot because as he would float down the streams and tossing and getting beat around, he's going, "Why? Why do I have to get beaten around? I see other rocks; they're just sitting there."

"They're not just going through all of this torrent and current and going into different areas and getting smashed against the side and just going through all of this." And he complained for centuries until one day a little boy reached down into the stream and picked him up and put him in his sling. And that little boy ended up slinging that rock right in between the eyes of Goliath. And then the rock said, "Wow, now I know why I went through all of that because here's my purpose."

Tozer said this: "Before God can use a man or woman greatly, He must hurt them deeply." That's heavy. And some of you have gone through some great hurts. And oh, how God wants to use us. There's a work that God is doing as we trust Him. Notice verse two: "And he said unto him, 'God forbid, Jonathan said, David, God forbid. Thou shalt not die. Behold, my father will do nothing neither great or small, but that he will show it to me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.'"

Jonathan didn't see it as David saw it. In fact, he said, "Hey, Dad's a new man. David, you don't understand Dad. He tells me everything." In fact, in chapter 19 verse six, Saul told Jonathan, "I won't touch the boy. I won't touch David. I'll never slay him." Remember that? And so Jonathan, it seems, didn't get the rest of chapter 19 because he's acting like nothing's going on. "But my dad tells me everything." And David's saying, "No, he's after me to kill me."

And Jonathan says, "No, you're not going to die. I mean, Dad would never do that. My dad would never do that." You know how kids are. "My dad's going to be all right. He's going to make it. He would not do that." Okay, verse three: "And David swore moreover and said, 'Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes and he said, 'Let not Jonathan know this lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.''"

"You see, your father knows, Jonathan, that we're friends and so he's keeping it from you. Listen, Jonathan, I am a dead man." I want you to underline that last part there in verse three. It's very important. He's really saying, "I'm close to death. I'm a heartbeat away." David is running for his life and in his conscience, in his thoughts, he is tormented with the fact that at any moment he could be taken out. He could be killed. I think all of us have this thought once in a while.

But really most of us think, "Well, it's not going to happen to me. It's not going to be me. It's going to be somebody else, but not me." You don't sit around and think that I'm going to die in the next minute. How would you be able to sleep at night? You'd toss and turn. "I'm going to die." It would be crazy. So we don't have this consciousness. We have a consciousness of somebody else's, not me. "I'm going to live forever. I'm going to live a long time. Tomorrow's not my time."

And that's how we think. We trust the Lord. We're in His hands. Yet all of us have this appointment. The Bible says it is appointed unto man to die. There is an appointment with everyone: death. And then comes the judgment. We all have it, we can't escape it. And it's 100% foolproof as we look back generation after generation. Everybody dies. So that's the truth, but it's an appointed time. Time is short, the Bible says. Redeem the time for the days are evil.

So to understand that, hey, time is short. To know that yes, the Lord could intervene in man's affairs at any moment. It really helps us to serve Him, doesn't it, as Christians? To know that any moment He could take us out of this place. That's why John said in 1 John 3:3 that whosoever has this hope in himself purifies himself even as He is pure. What is the hope? The hope in the coming of the Lord. That the Lord could come back tonight and it would be all over, the end of this age.

Christians are to live with this hope. Why? Because it's a purifying hope. It's an agent within the church today that keeps the church serving Him, reaching out for others, compelling them to come in because time is short. Living on the edge that Jesus could come back at any moment. Eternity with David in his consciousness was there. It's true of each of us when you look at it. We could be taken into eternity at any moment. There's not one of us that are promised tomorrow.

It happens this fast. Brain aneurysm, heart attack. No one is promised tomorrow and you're into eternity. David had this consciousness. Listen, are you ready for it? Amos said, "Prepare to meet your God." Are you ready for eternity? I believe that this life is preparation for the next. That we are here to get saved. Are you saved? Are you ready to be taken out at any moment? Do you have your house in order spiritually? Is your heart right with God?

That's an important question for all of us to get the answer to. Don't leave here this morning without the answer to that important question. Receive Christ. Go out of here knowing that you're ready for eternity at any moment. Verse four now: "Then said Jonathan unto David, 'Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for you.'" And David said to Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon and I should not fail to sit at the king's meat."

"But let me go that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at evening. If your father misses me and says David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all of the family. If he says thus, it is well, thy servant shall have peace. But if he is very angry, then be sure that evil is determined by him. Therefore, thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant, for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee."

"Notwithstanding, if there be in me, Jonathan, iniquity, slay me thyself, for why shouldst thou bring me to thy father?" There is a proverb that in Proverbs 18 verse 24 it says, "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." We know that Jonathan and David's hearts were knit together. They were close friends. David said, "Jonathan, do this for me, would you? And here's what I'd like to do."

"Jonathan, would you put up with me for three days? Let's test your dad and see where his heart is. And let's make this little plan and see how he responds." And then all of a sudden David turns to Jonathan and he says, "If there's anything in me wrong, Jonathan, better for you to slay me than your dad." In other words, David in the midst of this stress and what he was going through between him and Saul, he even looked at Jonathan as maybe the enemy too.

It was cutting into his friendship with Jonathan. He said, "But if you are on his side and you are a part of this whole thing, then you slay me. Better than you slay me than your dad slays me." See, what I'm seeing here is that David's faith is waning, and he's drifting from his God. When you begin to drift from your God, you drift from your friendships. That's just how it happens.

Verse nine: "And Jonathan said, 'Far be it from thee. For if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it to thee?'" Then said David to Jonathan, "Who shall tell me or what if thy father answers thee roughly?" And Jonathan said unto David, "Come, let us go out into the field." And they went out both of them into the field.

And Jonathan said unto David, "O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about tomorrow any time on the third day and behold if there be good toward David and I then send not unto thee and show it to thee, the Lord do so and much more to Jonathan. But if it be please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it to thee and send thee away that thou mayest go in peace and that the Lord be with thee as He hath been with my father."

David, first of all, Jonathan says, "Okay, we'll do your plan. And you're wrong about me. No way, I would never do anything to you, David. I'm your friend." And they said, "Let's go to this field." And they went to the field for privacy so nobody else could hear them. And they began to talk about this little thing that they were doing. We see here first of all that Jonathan is realizing David would be the next king. I think he knew it in his heart. He saw it coming.

Jonathan is a great guy because number one, Jonathan is devoted to God first and above all. Even though he was his father's son and yes, he was second to the throne, that didn't matter anything to him. Everything was first devoted to God. "I want God's will for my life," Jonathan said. "I care about the people of God, I care about what's going on right here and I am devoted to God." Even though he was next to be king, he was willing to give it all up.

He was willing to be second fiddle. He didn't care. To be first fiddle, you got to be willing to be second fiddle and play with all your might. And then maybe someday you'll be first fiddle. Jonathan was a humble guy, devoted to God, humble before the Lord, just wanting God's will for his life. And he realized that the Lord was on David's side. Look at verse 14: "And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the Lord," he's saying to David, "that I die not."

"But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever. No, not when the Lord has cut off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth." Jonathan was not only a committed, devoted individual to God, he was a committed and devoted family man. He cared about his family and right here you see it. He tried to assure his family's safety and his family's future because he knew a change was coming.

And he wanted to be on the right side, the safe side. He said, "I want to be on the side of the Lord. So David, when God has come before you and wiped out all of your enemies, remember me, remember my family." There's a lot of question today that people have about buying insurance. Is this a godly thing to do, buy life insurance? Isn't this a lack of faith? Won't the Lord take care of and supply the need? I mean, is this wisdom?

I heard of one of the fire victims who had his house for 30 years or something up in there and they just didn't pay their insurance. They let it lapse and it's history, everything. They have nothing. I see Jonathan here caring for his family to the point that he wanted them to be cared for after he was gone. He was preparing for their future. And so Jonathan was getting his house in order, not only spiritually but physically and financially, making sure that David would take care of it.

Verse 16: "So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, 'Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David's enemies.' And Jonathan caused David to swear again because he loved him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul." There's a great friendship here. Jonathan is just really showing the noble friendship that they had. But as with marriage, so with these two guys. Jonathan is just trying to see his love reaffirmed with his best friend David.

He said, "Say it again. I want you to say it again, your commitment to me and to my family." It's like a wife saying to the husband, "Honey, do you love me?" And the husband saying, "I told you that when we got married. Why are you always asking me do you love me?" But wait a minute, girls, you like to hear that once in a while, reaffirming your love. And church, don't we like to say, "Lord, do you love me?" And we're saying that to Him.

And yet if we're in the word, if we're in the love letter that He's given to us, we hear it over and over and over again: "I love you. I love you. I'm for you. Who can be against you? I love you." And He's just giving it to us, reaffirming that love relationship. So Jonathan trying to do it here with David. Now verse 18: "Then Jonathan said to David, 'Tomorrow is the new moon and thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty.'"

"And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was at hand and shalt remain by the stone Ezel." Now Ezel is a landmark. It means, this word in the Hebrew means "that showeth the way." So it was kind of a landmark. "And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof as though I shot at a mark." In other words, Jonathan's laying it down now and showing the plan.

He's saying the new moon, when that comes—and the new moon is always feast days, there was two of them—it was time to party. And they were going to have a party together to celebrate. And David, he said, "You're going to be missed because you're not going to be there for either one of the feast days. Now, I'll tell Saul that you went away to your family reunion. It just happened to be on the same day we were having our feast. I'll tell him that and I'll make sure that he knows that."

This is kind of their plan. They devise this little plan. Well, they'll just tell him you were away when he really wasn't. He was hiding out, he was waiting for a message from Jonathan. But then he says, "Then I'll see how he reacts and then I'll go to you and I'll give you a sign and the sign is going to come from these arrows," whether it's safe or whether it's not safe. The rock that David is to hide by is very interesting.

It's kind of David's stone of destiny. What's going to happen in his life? And I thought, that's what the Lord is to us. He's our stone of destiny. Whether you're on the rock or you're not on the rock. Are you hiding by the rock or are you off somewhere else? Our stone of destiny. Jesus is that for us. So he was to wait by this stone. He was to see how the arrows would fly. That's kind of a tough place to be, especially for David, because really it's out of his hands—the answer to this situation.

Don't you hate it when things are out of your hands and you're going, "I just have to trust God"? Whatever arrow it is, whatever it is. You're waiting for God to give you the answer, right? Yes or no, and we really hate waiting.

Guest (Male): Unfortunately, none of us are particularly patient when it comes to asking God for something, but we should realize that God's timetable for our lives is not necessarily lined up with ours. This is Sound Doctrine with Pastor Jeff Johnson. You just heard a study in 1 Samuel 20. If you enjoyed today's message from Pastor Jeff Johnson from the book of 1 Samuel, I'd like to remind you that you can hear it again on several different venues.

First, you can go online to sounddoctrineradio.org where you can hear today's study as well as make a donation to this radio outreach. That's at sounddoctrineradio.org. You can also listen at oneplace.com and through the Sound Doctrine Radio app. I should also mention Sound Doctrine can be heard wherever you enjoy podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Be sure to join us again next time we meet for another encouraging and challenging study with Pastor Jeff in the book of 1 Samuel. That's here on Sound Doctrine, presented by Calvary Chapel Downey.