Wilderness Friends: The Politics of a Godly Friendship Text: 1 Samuel 23:15-18
Introduction: The Crisis of Counterfeit Friendship
We live in an age that has degraded the concept of friendship to the point of meaninglessness. A friend is someone who clicks a button on your social media profile, someone who shares your political outrage, or someone with whom you have a transactional arrangement of mutual benefit. Our friendships are often little more than alliances of convenience, fragile things that shatter the moment a real cost is introduced. They are wide but shallow, a mile wide and an inch deep. And because of this, modern man is one of the loneliest creatures to ever walk the earth. He is constantly "connected" and yet utterly isolated, adrift in a sea of acquaintances without a single anchor.
Into this world of flimsy and counterfeit relationships, the Word of God speaks of a different kind of bond. It speaks of a friendship that is not based on shared hobbies but on a shared covenant. It is a friendship that is not afraid of cost but is defined by it. It is a friendship that is not sustained by sentiment but by the hard, objective realities of God's promises. This is what we see in the wilderness of Ziph. We see a friendship forged in the crucible of persecution, a friendship that stands as a stark rebuke to our modern sensibilities.
The story of David and Jonathan is not a sentimental tale for a Sunday School flannelgraph. It is a story of high treason and higher loyalty. It is a story about what happens when God's anointed king is on the run from the apostate civil magistrate. It is a story about where a man's ultimate allegiance must lie. And in this brief encounter, we are given a master class in the nature of true, Christian friendship. It is a friendship that strengthens, that speaks truth, that submits to God's decree, and that is sealed by covenant. This is the kind of friendship that the church desperately needs to recover if we are to withstand the pressures of our own collapsing order.
The Text
Then David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. Now David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
So Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God.
And he said to him, “Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you; and Saul my father knows that also.”
So the two of them cut a covenant before Yahweh; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.
(1 Samuel 23:15-18 LSB)
The Pressures of Providence (v. 15)
We begin with the grim reality of David's situation.
"Then David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. Now David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh." (1 Samuel 23:15 LSB)
David is in the wilderness. This is not a spiritual retreat. This is a place of desolation, of danger, of being hunted. And who is hunting him? Saul, the sitting king of Israel, the Lord's anointed, who had become the Lord's apostate. This is the state, the established power, seeking to stamp out the life of the man God had chosen. We must not miss the political force of this. This is a picture of the righteous man being persecuted by a tyrannical government that has abandoned its God-given post.
David is God's man, and for that very reason, he is a fugitive. His life is forfeit in the eyes of the state. He is isolated, he is in danger, and he is under the kind of relentless pressure that breeds fear and despair. This is the crucible that God uses to forge kings. God does not train his rulers in the effeminate comfort of palaces, but in the harsh realities of the wilderness. He teaches them reliance not on chariots or armies, but on the bare promises of His Word. David is learning that the safest place in the world is the center of God's will, even if that center is a barren wilderness with a mad king hunting you.
The Ministry of Strengthening (v. 16)
Into this desperate situation comes a most unlikely friend.
"So Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David at Horesh and strengthened his hand in God." (1 Samuel 23:16 LSB)
Jonathan, the son of the persecutor and the heir apparent to the throne, commits an act of high treason against his father's regime in order to be loyal to his God. He arose and went. This was not a casual drop-in. This was a deliberate, costly, and dangerous journey. He had to seek out a fugitive hiding in the wilderness. He was risking his position, his inheritance, and his very life.
And what did he do when he got there? He "strengthened his hand in God." This is one of the most important descriptions of Christian friendship in all of Scripture. This was not a mere pep talk. He did not say, "Hang in there, David, you'll get through this." He did not offer shallow psychological affirmations. He strengthened David's hand in God. He did this by bringing David back to the bedrock of God's character and God's promises. He was a conduit of theological reality. When our hands are weak, when our grip is failing, when our knuckles are white with fear, we do not need a motivational speaker. We need a friend who will take our hand and place it firmly back on the unshakeable rock of God's sovereign Word.
This is the central duty of a Christian friend. We are to be dealers in divine truth. We are called to go to our brothers and sisters who are in the wilderness, find them, and strengthen their hand in God. This means reminding them of the gospel, of God's faithfulness, of His specific promises, even and especially when their circumstances are screaming the opposite.
The Grammar of Assurance (v. 17)
Jonathan's words are a direct application of this principle. He speaks with absolute, prophetic clarity.
"And he said to him, 'Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you; and Saul my father knows that also.'" (1 Samuel 23:17 LSB)
First, he confronts the primary weapon of the enemy: fear. "Do not be afraid." This is not a suggestion; it is a command, grounded in a greater reality. And what is that reality? The sovereign decree of God. Jonathan lays out the facts as God had established them. One, Saul's hand will not find you. This is a statement of faith in God's absolute protection. Two, you will be king over Israel. This is a reaffirmation of God's specific promise to David. Three, I will be second to you. This is a staggering statement of humility and submission to God's will. Jonathan, the prince, willingly abdicates his own claim to the throne because God had chosen another. He aligns his personal ambition with God's revealed plan. This is the death of pride.
And then the final, devastating blow: "and Saul my father knows that also." This is crucial. Saul's rebellion is not out of ignorance. He knows David is God's man. He is fighting against God with his eyes wide open. This reveals the nature of sin. Sin is not an intellectual problem; it is a moral rebellion. Saul has all the evidence he needs, but his heart is bent on his own enthronement, not God's. He would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven, and so he persecutes the true king.
The Seal of Covenant (v. 18)
Their meeting concludes with a formal, solemn act.
"So the two of them cut a covenant before Yahweh; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house." (1 Samuel 23:18 LSB)
They "cut a covenant before Yahweh." This is not a handshake. This is a binding oath, with God Himself as the witness, the guarantor, and the enforcer. Their friendship is placed under the authority and protection of God. This is what gives it its strength and permanence. It is not based on how they feel about each other on any given day. It is based on the promise they made to each other before the living God. All true Christian fellowship is covenantal at its root. We are bound together not by our own affinities, but by the blood of the New Covenant.
And then they part. David stays in the wilderness, his place of testing. Jonathan returns to his house, back into the lion's den. Each man had a different and difficult calling. They did not know when or if they would see each other again. But they went their separate ways, secure in the promises of God and the bond of their covenant. They could face their respective trials because their hope was not in their circumstances, but in the God who governs all circumstances.
Our Greater Jonathan
This entire episode is a glorious picture of a far greater reality. For we are David. Every last one of us who is in Christ is in the wilderness of this fallen world. We are aliens and sojourners. The prince of this world, like Saul, is a murderer from the beginning, and he seeks our life. He hunts us with temptations, with accusations, with persecutions, and with fear. Our hands grow weak, our faith falters, and we are tempted to despair.
But into our wilderness came our greater Jonathan. The Son of the Heavenly King, Jesus Christ, did not cling to His rightful position. He arose and came to us at Horesh. He left the glory of His Father's house to find us in our desolation. And He came to strengthen our hand in God.
How did He do it? He spoke to us. He said, "Do not be afraid." He reminded us of the promise. He told us that the hand of our enemy would not ultimately prevail against us. He assured us that we are destined not for defeat, but for a crown, that we will reign with Him in His kingdom. And in an act of ultimate humility, this Prince did not just offer to be second to us; He offered to die for us. He became the curse for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him.
And He cut a covenant with us before Yahweh. It is a New Covenant, sealed not with the blood of animals, but with His own precious blood. This is the ground of our assurance. Our friendship with God is not based on our performance, but on His covenant promise, sealed in the blood of His Son.
Therefore, our calling is clear. Having been ministered to by our great Jonathan, we are now to be Jonathans to one another. We must arise and go to our brothers and sisters in their wilderness. We must find them when they are hunted and afraid. And we must not offer them the cheap platitudes of the world. We must strengthen their hand in God, reminding them of the bloody cross, the empty tomb, and the coming crown. We must bind ourselves to one another in a covenant loyalty that reflects the loyalty Christ has shown to us.