https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Psalm+83%3B+1+Samuel+20
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 3 August 2025:
Listen to this message from Dr. R. C. Sproul on the friendship and loyalty between David and Jonathan: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/life-of-david/davids-great-friendship
Psalm 83:1 — O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
The psalmist begins with an urgent plea for divine intervention. Silence from God is not indifference, but the appearance of it can feel crushing. Faithful hearts cry out when evil advances unchecked, longing for God to act, not only for deliverance but to reveal His glory.
Psalm 83:2-5 — For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!” For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant….
This is not merely opposition against Israel — it is defiance against God Himself. To attack God’s people is to attack God, just as Christ declared: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). The enemy’s strategy is deliberate and unified. The same is true today: spiritual darkness is coordinated and focused on erasing the name of Christ and suppressing truth.
Psalm 83:9-11 — Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon….
The psalmist recalls God’s past victories through human weakness, like Gideon over Midian (Judges 7) or Deborah over Sisera (Judges 4). This strengthens faith: God has shown His power before and He will again. Our prayers should be rooted in the memory of His faithfulness.
Psalm 83:13-18 — O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind…. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O Lord… that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.
This psalm is not merely a cry for vengeance, it’s a cry for repentance. The goal is not destruction, but transformation: “that they may seek your name.” Even in judgment, God desires mercy (Ezekiel 33:11). Christ perfectly fulfills this heart — He prays for His enemies even while suffering on the cross (Luke 23:34).
1 Samuel 20:1-2 — Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me….”
David is bewildered and broken, unable to understand why he is being hunted. Persecution often has nothing to do with guilt, it comes because of faithfulness. Jonathan’s initial denial shows how hard it can be for the righteous to accept the evil of those closest to them.
1 Samuel 20:4 — Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
This covenant loyalty reflects the heart of Christ, who said to the Father, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), and to His people, “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do” (John 14:13). In godly friendship, there is no hesitation to serve self-sacrificially.
1 Samuel 20:8 — Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you.
The bond between David and Jonathan was not based on utility, but sacred covenant. It is a foreshadowing of the new covenant sealed by Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20), which binds us together as one family in Him, requiring steadfast loyalty and mercy.
1 Samuel 20:17 — And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Jonathan’s love was deeper than convenience, it was covenantal and sacrificial. This mirrors the second greatest commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). True love is not emotion-driven or self-centered but vow-bound, steadfast even when inconvenient or painful. True love is not about someone else’s commitment or promise to you; it is about your commitment and promise to them, regardless of what they choose to do or not do. Love desires the others’ very best regardless.
God loves you, not because of anything you can do, or actually do, for Him (which is really nothing), not because of how you make Him feel, not because of the attention and adoration you give Him (which is not even close to what it should be), and not because of the promises you make to Him (which you break all the time), but because He has chosen to love you just as you are. He chose to love you while you were persecuting Him in your sin, not afterwards. It was because He chose to love you first and pursued you, that you were able to repent at all and start to love Him. He remains faithful to you despite your continual infidelity, constantly paying the penalty for your sin. His desire in loving you is that you would learn to love Him, draw near to Him, become one with Him, and become just like Him, learning to love just like He does, so that you too will be able to truly love your persecutors from the bottom of your heart with the desire that they too would come to know Him and become one with Him and with you in Him. Christlike love is a choice of going to the cross (metaphorically speaking) for someone else, not even because they want you to, but because you choose to, and because you are willing to love them at your expense without anything back from them – grace. This is loving as He loves us.
- Luke 9:23 — And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
- Romans 5:8 — But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Ephesians 2:4-5 — But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
- Romans 8:1 — There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- John 13:34 — A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
- Matthew 5:43-48 — “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
- Luke 6:27-36 — “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
- John 13:14-15 — If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet [including the feet of Judas His betrayer], you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15)
1 Samuel 20:22 — …for the Lord has sent you away.
Jonathan discerns that David’s path is not just a result of Saul’s rage, it is divinely appointed. Even suffering and exile can be assignments from the Lord (1 Peter 4:19). Spiritual maturity accepts this and looks for God’s purpose in every trial.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 — …give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Samuel 20:23 — And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.
This friendship transcends circumstance because it is rooted in the Lord. Human bonds grounded in Christ endure beyond betrayal, hardship, or separation. They are eternal.
1 Samuel 20:30-31 — Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan… “For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established.”
Saul’s rage reveals his idolatry: he prefers his kingdom over God’s. Jonathan, however, willingly lays down his own right to the throne in favor of God’s anointed. His humility and submission mirror John the Baptist’s: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
1 Samuel 20:34 — And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger… for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him.
Jonathan’s grief is not just personal, it is moral. He is righteously angry that David, God’s chosen one, is being unjustly treated. True love for others includes a sense of holy indignation when they are dishonored. Christ, too, was angered by hardness of heart (Mark 3:5).
1 Samuel 20:41-42 — And they kissed one another and wept with one another…. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord….”
Their parting is painful but peaceful, rooted in God’s covenant. Even separation can be endured when hearts are united in God. This moment foreshadows Christ’s own separation from His disciples — with sorrow but also with peace (John 14:27).
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 3 August 2025: Lay down your crown for a brother. Jonathan gave up his right to rule so that God’s will might be done through David. He loved not only in word but in action, even when it cost him his future, his family’s favor, and his comfort. This is Christlike character: loving others as yourself, discerning God’s hand even in hardship, and surrendering self-glory for God’s glory. Today, choose one area where your ambitions or dreams may be competing with God’s purpose, and lay it down. Strengthen a brother or sister instead of exalting yourself.
Pray: “Father, teach me to love with covenantal loyalty, like Jonathan loved David and like Christ loves the Church. Help me to see Your hand in every circumstance, even when the road is painful. Deliver me from selfish ambition, and form in me a heart that exalts You and lifts others up. Teach me to weep with those who weep, and to walk in Your peace when the path is uncertain. I lay down my desires before You, Lord — use me as You will. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 