I Samuel 20:18-33

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 in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the Lord liveth.But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the Lord hath sent thee away.And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be between thee and me for ever.So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table.Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. (KJV)

In these verses Jonathan sets up the way he will communicate to David. He probably realized that Saul will not only be looking for David, but after Jonathan reveals that David had communicated with him he himself would be watched. So the message of the arrows was a way to communicate with David whether to come back you will be welcome, or be careful and depart for you are a wanted man. David had realized how deep Saul’s desire was to kill him. Samuel probably warned David about Saul’s past behaviors and advised him how to avoid his wrath. Jonathan was now entering the same relationship with his father as David had endure over the past few years.

These verses also reveal that Saul probably realized that David was the fulfillment of prophecy of I Samuel 15:28 “And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than you. ” (KJV) His desire to pass his kingdom down to his son could not happen as long as David was alive. And now Saul realized that his our son Jonathan would support David as king, and just the knowledge of this enraged Saul to the point he attempted to kill his our son. Saul was the king that Israel desire to be like other nations. The longer Saul reign the more he became like the kings of the other nations around Israel. Saul was given the opportunity to follow the way of the Lord; however, his answer to Samuel after Samuel told him his kingdom was to be taken away was to force Samuel to honor me now before the elders of Israel. Saul looked at the kingdom no longer as the Lord’s, but his.

Sin has a way of blinding our eye sight to God’s way. The words to the third stanza of the song “Come Thou Fount” should reminds us of the importance of walking in God’s way.

O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be.

Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

Here’s my heart O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

As we hid God’s word in our heart, we should remember that the believer’s walk is a daily walk, and not just a Sunday activity. If our world becomes all about ME, ME, ME, then the things of God will slow pass away as his presence will no longer be in our life.