We are told now that "Jonathon became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself". Much has been written about Jonathon and David, and it has been suggested on multiple occasions that they were lovers. The language of oneness certainly recalls verses which speak of the joining together of husband and wife, but here the union is presented as spiritual rather than physical, and it seems unlikely that scripture would remember a homosexual relationship in such positive terms. It is more generally accepted that this is a beautiful expression of platonic love, and I think it loses none of its power for that. In fact, the second half of the verse throws us forward to Jesus' command that we love others as we love ourselves, and so it is also the perfect model for Christian love. Our culture is so fixated on sexual and romantic love that it is easy for us to think that's all there is, or at least all that matters, but then we deprive ourselves of such a richness of experience. As we continue their story, we will see that Jonathon and David are a wonderful example of how dynamic and meaningful friendship can be, and how much we miss out on when fail to love others as we love ourselves.
Meanwhile, Saul decides to keep David with him, and the young man is so successful that he is given a high rank in the army. This pleases the people and the officers alike, and when the army return home the women sing that "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands", so that it seems David is becoming more popular than the king. Saul becomes angry and jealous when he hears this, asking "What more can he get but the kingdom?". His question reminds us that David has in fact been anointed by God to replace Saul, and leads us to ask why he is not king already when Saul became king almost immediately. Perhaps things have gone awry, or perhaps this is mean to be a period of training and preparation for David. God's plans need to be worked out by us and sometimes that takes time, but sometimes it is in God's plan for us to be patient because he has something to teach us.
Saul is already in a bad mood, but now an evil spirit comes on him and he tries to kill David by throwing a spear at him while he is playing the harp. David escapes and Saul's anger turns to fear, as he realises that the Lord is with David and not with him. I don't believe God abandoned Saul any more than he abandoned Jesus on the cross, he just stopped working in his life in the way that he had been, and we all experience times like that. Anyway, Saul gives David the command of a thousand men to get him out of his sight, but David's troops enjoy great success and this only increases Saul's unease. He vows that he will not raise a hand against the young man but conspires to let the Philistines do for him instead, trying to marry him to his eldest daughter, presumably because he knows that the king's son-in-law will have a target on his head.
David turns down the marriage proposal as he claims to be too humble to become the king's son-in-law, and so Saul's eldest daughter is given to another. However, another of his daughters is in love with David and so Saul sees a chance to try again. David again claims that he cannot marry the king's daughter because he is too poor and little known. We have already been told that all of Israel and Judah love David, and so Saul sees past the false humility to the real reason behind his hesitation, his wealth. Saul declares that David need only pay him the foreskins of one hundred Philistines, perhaps hoping that he will die in the attempt and save the hassle and expense of a wedding, but David stamps all over that plan by presenting Saul with two hundred foreskins and claiming his bride. Oh well, at least he can fall back on the original plan of waiting for the Philistines to kill his pesky son-in-law.
The only problem is, David keeps killing the Philistines before they can kill him and becomes ever more popular in the process, which sort of defeats the object. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't think Saul's the brightest bulb in the box. He gets annoyed that David is famous so he sends him into battle, despite the fact that being awesome in battle is how he got famous in the first place; he is upset that his daughter loves him, even though he used the fact that she loved him in order to set up the marriage; he tries to get the Philistines to kill him, despite the fact that they have been remarkably unsuccessful so far; and he bemoans the fact that the Lord is with him, yet still insists on trying to do away with him. Sometimes when things aren't going our way we need to stop making things worse and either think things through or accept that we're just not going to win this one.
Unfortunately Saul does not learn this lesson, and when he tires of waiting for the Philistines, he tells Jonathon and his attendants to kill David. This also backfires, as of course Jonathon goes straight to David to warn him, then manages to talk his father down so that David can return to him as before. It is not long though before history repeats itself, as David once again leads the Israelites to victory, and Saul once more grows angry and tries to pin him to the wall with his spear. David escapes with the help of his wife and goes to Samuel. Saul hears that David is with the prophet and sends men to capture him, but they all begin to prophesy, until finally Saul himself goes in search of David, and he too prophesies. In this way, David is protected and able to flee once again.
He goes to Jonathon and asks what he has done that his father should be trying to kill him. Jonathon believes he has talked Saul round and so tells him he must be mistaken, but David suggests that this time Saul has kept his plans hidden so that he does not cause him any grief. Jonathon says he will do whatever David wants him to do, and so they hatch a plan whereby Jonathon will learn whether or not Saul wants to kill David, then signal to let him know whether he is safe or not. To seal the deal, Jonathon makes a covenant with the house of David, and David reaffirms his oath of love to Jonathon. We tend not to talk of covenants any more, and the only oaths of love we take now are marriage vows, but we make promises to our friends all the time, and there is a solemnity and a sacredness to them that we do not always recognise. Perhaps we should recognise it and take our relationships a little more seriously, because they are to be honoured as well as enjoyed.
Things go ahead as planned and not only does Saul reveal that he wants to kill David, but he also tries to kill Jonathon. Jonathon gets away and signals to David as promised, although he then goes and talks to him in the open, which makes the secret code rather redundant. David bows to Jonathon three times, presumably as a mark of respect and gratitude, and then they say their tearful farewells and go their separate ways. It's a sad ending, but Jonathon remembers that they have sworn friendship to one another and the Lord is a witness between them and their descendants, and so we know that whatever happens from here there will always be a thread between them. We have all known people who have left an impact long after they have gone, and we will all be known as those people to others. These are the threads that bind us all together.
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