The Grammar of Loyalty: A Covenant in the Field Text: 1 Samuel 20:1-11
Introduction: Two Kingdoms in Collision
We are in the middle of a great transition in the history of redemption. The kingdom of Saul, which was man's idea of a kingdom from the beginning, is crumbling. It is rotting from the head down. Saul is a man given over to paranoia, jealousy, and a murderous rage, all of it fueled by a demonic spirit sent from the Lord. He is the quintessential tyrant, a man who has rejected the Word of the Lord and is now governed by his own dark passions. And into this decaying political landscape, God has introduced His chosen king, David. The contrast could not be more stark. Saul is tall and handsome, but his heart is a black hole. David is a ruddy youth, but he is a man after God's own heart.
This is not merely a political drama; it is a spiritual war. It is the collision of two kingdoms: the kingdom of man, which is built on fear, power, and self-preservation, and the kingdom of God, which is built on faith, righteousness, and covenant loyalty. In our passage today, we see this conflict played out not on a battlefield, but in the context of a friendship. The relationship between David and Jonathan is one of the most remarkable friendships in all of Scripture, and it serves as a luminous picture of godly loyalty in a world of treachery. Their bond is not a sentimental bromance, as our effeminate age would like to frame it. It is a robust, masculine, covenantal loyalty, forged in the fires of political turmoil and grounded in their shared fear of Yahweh.
We must understand that friendship in the Bible is a weighty thing. It is not a casual association based on shared hobbies. It is a matter of oaths, of loyalty, of covenant. And what we see here is that true loyalty, godly loyalty, sometimes requires us to make very difficult choices. Jonathan is the son of the king, the heir apparent. His loyalty, by all worldly standards, should be to his father and to his own future on the throne. But Jonathan understands a higher loyalty. He is bound by a covenant of Yahweh to David, the man he knows God has chosen. This passage is a master class in navigating our loyalties when the authorities over us have gone rogue. It teaches us the grammar of a loyalty that is anchored not in bloodlines or political expediency, but in the unchanging reality of God's covenant promises.
The Text
Then 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 your father, that he is seeking my life?” And he said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without revealing it in my ear. So why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” Yet David swore again, saying, “Your father knows well that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.’ But truly as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death.” Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever your soul says, I will do for you.” So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city because it is the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’ If he says, ‘It is good,’ your servant will have peace; but if he is very angry, know that he has decided on evil. Therefore show lovingkindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you. But if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?” And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I should indeed come to know that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you about it?” Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” And Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out to the field.
(1 Samuel 20:1-11 LSB)
The Tyrant's Shadow and a Son's Blind Spot (vv. 1-3)
The scene opens with David in a state of desperation. He has just escaped another of Saul's attempts on his life, and he comes to Jonathan with a series of frantic questions.
"What have I done? What is my iniquity? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?" (1 Samuel 20:1)
David is not admitting guilt here; he is asserting his innocence. He is appealing to the bar of justice. What is the charge? What is the crime? The answer, of course, is that there is no crime. David's only "sin" in Saul's eyes is his success, his popularity, and God's anointing upon him. This is the nature of tyranny. Tyranny does not operate on the basis of law and evidence; it operates on the basis of paranoia and power. Saul's rage is irrational. It has no legal or moral foundation. It is the lashing out of a man who knows his time is up, a man fighting against God.
Jonathan's response is one of disbelief. "Far from it, you shall not die... why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!" (v. 2). Jonathan is a good son. He loves and respects his father, and he cannot yet bring himself to believe the depths of his father's depravity. This is a common blind spot. It is difficult for a loyal son to see his father as a monster. Jonathan operates under the assumption that his father is still rational, that he still confides in his son. But David, who is the target of the irrational hatred, sees things more clearly.
David has to press the point with an oath: "But truly as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step between me and death" (v. 3). David understands that Saul's madness has now escalated to the point of deception. Saul is hiding his intentions even from his own son, precisely because he knows Jonathan's loyalty to David. Tyrants isolate their victims and deceive their own inner circle. David's life is hanging by a thread, and he needs his covenant friend to wake up to the severity of the danger.
A Test for a Tyrant (vv. 4-7)
Jonathan, to his great credit, does not argue. His loyalty to David is such that he immediately pivots from disbelief to action. "Whatever your soul says, I will do for you" (v. 4). This is the voice of true friendship. It is a blank check of loyalty. It is the heart of a covenant keeper.
David then proposes a test. It is a simple, shrewd plan to expose Saul's true intentions. David will absent himself from the king's table at the new moon festival, a significant religious and state occasion. His absence will be noted. Jonathan is to provide a plausible excuse: David has gone to Bethlehem for a family sacrifice. Saul's reaction to this excuse will reveal his heart.
"If he says, ‘It is good,’ your servant will have peace; but if he is very angry, know that he has decided on evil." (1 Samuel 20:7)
This is not a lie. It is a stratagem, a ruse designed to draw out the truth. In a situation where a lawful authority has become a lawless tyrant, such measures are not only permissible but wise. David is not deceiving Saul for personal gain; he is testing him to preserve his own life from an unlawful threat. The plan is designed to make Saul's private murderous intent a public, undeniable fact. It will force the evil into the light. The new moon feast, a time meant for covenant renewal with God, will become the stage that reveals Saul's covenant-breaking heart.
The Covenant Appeal (v. 8)
Here we come to the theological heart of the matter. David grounds his request not in sentiment, but in a solemn, binding agreement.
"Therefore show lovingkindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you." (1 Samuel 20:8)
The term "lovingkindness" is the great Hebrew word hesed. This is not just kindness. Hesed is covenant loyalty. It is a love that is bound by an oath. It is a steadfast, unbreakable commitment. David is not just asking Jonathan to be a nice guy. He is calling on him to be a covenant-keeper. He is reminding him of the oath they swore before God.
And notice the phrasing: "a covenant of Yahweh." Their friendship was not a private affair between two men. It was a formal, religious act, with God as the witness and the enforcer. This is what elevates their bond above mere affection. They have bound themselves to one another under God. This is why our modern world, which has abandoned God, has such a flimsy and pathetic understanding of friendship. Our friendships are consumeristic and disposable because they are not anchored in anything outside of our own feelings. A covenant of Yahweh is different. It holds fast even when feelings falter, because it is an obligation to God Himself.
David then makes a startling offer: "But if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?" This demonstrates David's profound confidence in his own innocence and his absolute trust in Jonathan's integrity. He is saying, "If I am guilty of treason, then you, as my covenant friend, have the right and duty to execute justice. I submit to your judgment." This is the polar opposite of Saul's behavior. Saul acts as judge, jury, and executioner based on secret paranoia. David submits himself to the judgment of his covenant friend.
The Unwavering Vow (vv. 9-11)
Jonathan's response is immediate and absolute. The very thought that he would betray David is abhorrent to him.
"Far be it from you! For if I should indeed come to know that evil has been decided by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you about it?" (1 Samuel 20:9)
Jonathan's loyalty is now fully clarified. He sees that his primary duty is not to his father's sinful commands, but to the covenant of Yahweh and to the man God has chosen. This is a crucial principle for all Christians. Our ultimate allegiance is to King Jesus. When earthly authorities, whether they be fathers, bosses, or presidents, command what God forbids or forbid what God commands, our duty is clear. We must obey God rather than men. Jonathan is a model of righteous, hierarchical loyalty. His loyalty to God and God's covenant transcends and redefines his loyalty to his father.
The final verses set the stage for the confirmation of this covenant. David asks a practical question: how will the news be delivered? Jonathan's answer is to take him "out into the field." The court is a place of whispers, lies, and spying eyes. The field is a place of open honesty, where a covenant can be spoken and sealed directly between two men and their God. It is a movement from the corruption of Saul's house to the integrity of God's creation. There, in the open, under the eyes of heaven, they will solidify the terms of their loyalty.
Conclusion: Friendship Under God
This passage is far more than a touching story of friendship. It is a foundational lesson in the nature of loyalty, oaths, and the Christian's place in a fallen world. We live in a time of institutional decay, where authorities in the state, the church, and even the family have become Sauls, governed by fear, ideology, and rebellion against God.
In such a world, we must cultivate friendships like that of David and Jonathan. We need men who will bind themselves to one another in a "covenant of Yahweh." We need friends who will speak the truth, even when it is dangerous, and who will offer a blank check of loyalty to the cause of Christ and to their brothers in arms. Our associations cannot be based on the shifting sands of shared interests or personal chemistry. They must be forged in the steel of covenant promises, promises to have one another's backs, to speak truth, to offer protection, and to remain loyal when the Sauls of this world demand betrayal.
The friendship of David and Jonathan is a type, a foreshadowing, of the ultimate covenant friendship offered to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. He saw us when there was but a step between us and eternal death, and He did not hesitate. He entered into a covenant of Yahweh, a covenant of grace, on our behalf, and sealed it with His own blood. He calls us His friends, and He lays down His life for His friends. In response, we are to show hesed, covenant loyalty, to Him and to one another. Let us go out into the field, away from the corrupting influence of the world's courts, and pledge our unwavering allegiance to our King and to the brothers He has given us.