1 Samuel 23:16

New International Version (NIV)

And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.

For Meditation

I thought he was my friend. We met once a week to pray in his office. We discussed issues before praying, and I kept nothing off the table. Then trouble arose in the church. We were all surprised, but the church pulled together to confront it.

So, what allied my friend with the rebels? How could my friend leak one of our meetings to one troublemaker who came to aggress me? What did my friend and his wife expect to gain from working for the Christian community against me? His efforts led to massive desertion of the missionary community from the church. Is that what good friends do to each other? Maybe I was naïve or undiscerning, but taking the entire youth and our Praise and Worship team to start a fellowship in his house—a fellowship that didn’t last—taught me a lesson on ulterior motives and deception. But that’s what I got from my friend at the lowest point of my ministry—the time I needed him most.

Solomon was right. “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov. 18:24). My friend proved unreliable when the testing came, but thank God I did not come to ruin. God upheld our position on the issues, and the church stands strong in Christ today, after nineteen years.

Thank God David’s friend did not prove to be an unreliable friend. Jonathan was a staunch friend. There were two friends Solomon may have had in mind when he wrote this—Jonathan and Ahithophel. 

Ahithophel was David’s trusted friend who deserted the king at the height of Absalom’s rebellion against him. In contrast, Jonathan, David’s best friend, stuck closer to him throughout David’s fugitive years in the wilderness. At one point, when King Saul got very close to capturing David at Horesh, Jonathan went to find David “and helped him to find strength in God” (1 Samuel 23:16). That’s a friend indeed!

A genuine friend brings you closer to God in every situation. They stick around through thick and thin, affirm you when you’re right, but rebuke you when you are wrong. Jonathan is a quintessential example of a loyal friend, for he loved David as himself (18:1; 20:16-17).

Do you have a friend like Jonathan? Are you a friend like him? Can your friend know you will help him find strength in Jesus when necessary?

I thank God that we have Jesus as the best friend we could ever have—a friend who bears all our sins and griefs, a friend who loves beyond measure (Ephesians 3:17-19). 

Find a friend in Him and taste the pure love of God.

Shalom