Chapter 6
I Samuel 14:43
“What have you done?”

“Got what I got the hard way     And I make it better, each and every day”*

     Recently I was watching Dateline, a news commentary program.  The story they were telling was of a sheriff in Texas trying to solve the murder of a local teenage girl.  Having no leads, the town became suspicious of the sheriff himself and concocted a theory of satan worship, concluding that this law official was the ring leader.  A swat team came to cuff him.  When the state level officials stepped in, they were told that because there was no proof or evidence at all, that this was the very thing that was so conclusive of his guilt!

Years later, the man was completely cleared of all charges, yet had to relocate because of the stigma associated with all the rumors.  When he’d return home to visit his family, there were whispers and eyes were averted from his friendly hello’s.
This reminds me of a pastor that once spoke to our church.  He had a pillow full of feathers that he released into the audience blown from a fan to prove a point.  Once something is said, it is almost impossible to completely retract it.  Once someone has smeared a person’s name in the mud, no matter what the facts are, there will always be a suspicion in someone’s mind as to whether or not there may be some truth involved.
I have a relative that is very dear to me.  Yet this man is radically racially prejudice.  It doesn’t matter how much you reason with him…his mind is fully made up — the facts don’t matter.  It’s really sad that we hold onto our beliefs so often and ignore truth.  Especially since Jesus, Himself, is Truth.
Evil was being spoke against David by the king, and Jonathan was doing all he could to smooth things over since he was David’s very best friend.  Still, regardless of the facts, Saul’s jealousy caused him to act like a man out of his mind.  David and Jonathan had made a pact together to watch each other’s back.  Jonathan is, however, Saul’s son, and he and his father are at this point in scripture poised for battle against the Philistine army.  There is much tension between Jonathan and Saul because of Saul’s insane jealousy of David, so it comes as no surprise that communication between the two is not close.  They are situated in slightly separate places.  Jonathan tells his armor barer to come with him over to the Philistines’ garrison and doesn’t mention this to his father.  Saul stays put with his six hundred men.  So unimportant is Jonathan to Saul that his slipping away is not even noticed.
Jonathan, like David, is a very courageous young man, putting his dependence for victory totally in the ability of his God (I. Sam. 14:6).  Just as David didn’t fear for the size of Goliath, Jonathan now doesn’t fear an entire garrison of Philistines.  Between these two, they kill twenty of the enemy.

Saul sees there is fighting among the Philistines’ camp and asks who is missing.  He is told it is Jonathan and his armor bearer alone.  As the Philistines begin to flee, other men of Israel take heart and join in the fight.  However, Saul had said there would be a curse on anyone who ate food that day.  Now that they begin to wear themselves out with the fighting and with the chasing, they are in need of refreshment.  And what will happen when you have decided not to eat?  Usually someone will call and invite you to lunch, or a co-worker will bring in a fancy treat, etc.
Right on schedule they walk into the woods and there is honey just lying on the ground for these famished men.  But the men of Saul are afraid of the curse and don’t touch it.  However, Jonathan, not knowing what his father has said, goes ahead and indulges himself.  This perks him right up (I. Sam. 14:27).  One of the soldiers tells him of his father’s orders to fast that day and Jonathan says that that is a poor call as now that he has eaten, he is refreshed and ready to go again.  He tells them that there could have been yet a great slaughter of the enemy if everyone was fed instead of famished.  The people are very weak.

But the troops keep fighting and cannot contain their immense hunger and finally kill the sheep and calves and eat them then and there even with the blood still on the ground, so great is their hunger.  This is a sin against God, but their food-starved, battle weary bodies can’t seem to go on without meat.  Saul is told about this and builds an alter to the Lord to sacrifice concerning the battle.  He decides that Jonathan should die for going against his orders.  After all, Jonathan set the example and spoke against the decree to not eat.  When lots are cast, Jonathan was selected as the guilty party.
His father asks him what he has done.  Jonathan replies that he only had a little honey and for this he would have to die.  Saul declares he will now kill his son himself.  This seems to be without any regret or remorse on the father’s part.  He is still bitter because of David and Jonathan’s friendship and more than ready to take the life of his son.
The asking, “What have you done?” seems like a very accusatory way to communicate.  There has been so very little communication between the two because of their differing views about David.  So often we don’t communicate well with those closest to us.  I know we’ve all seen moms in stores saying, “No, no, no, no, no” to toddlers.  But we also know that at work we can put on a big smile and be pleasant to people that we may never see again — delivery men, an occasional customer, an auditor.  It’s easy to be courteous to people that, so far as we know, could be serial killers, but at times, we may not show the same regard to those who we know best and love.
My former husband’s business had in its employ a man I’ll just call Aldren.  Aldren was a wonderful employee and we really enjoyed and appreciated him…but he did have a communication problem.  He knew how to communicate and communicate well…so well, there was no stopping him!

On a typical day, he would come by my desk to tell me every single word his wife had said the night before, what they had eaten for dinner, what they had watched on T.V.  I have always enjoyed having brief chit-chats with our employees over the years and try to be interested in their lives…but I do have my limits.

There are certain weeks that I have to submit tax information, not only to the State of Alabama, but for any and all cities and counties we may have done business in that month.  I realized that some of these chats had lasted close to two hours!  One day, I finally got up the nerve to say, “Aldren, I really need to complete these tax forms.”  He kept talking.  I said, “You know, if I really don’t concentrate, I may make a mistake.”  He kept talking.  I had an idea.  I said, “Excuse me–I’ll be in the ladies’ room.”  He followed me, not missing a beat down the hall to the ladies’ room.  I stepped into the ladies’ room and he continued to talk.  I shut the door an inch at a time and he continued to talk!
How annoying!  People who want and need your attention so much!  You can’t turn them off.  I had to do what I really don’t like to do–when the talking got over twenty minutes, I would say, “I’m not listening and I don’t care what you’re talking about.”  At first, he would pout, but be completely fine within thirty minutes.  I had to devise things like always keeping one letter from the mail on my desk so that if he ventured my way, I could run out and across the street to the mailbox.  He knew he had a problem.  But really liked talking too much to want to change.

How different is the brief interchanges between king and son.  And how hostile to the point of wishing his own son dead!

But the people rescue Jonathan saying that not even one hair of his head should fall as he has brought them a victory this day.  What a contrast that is to the reaction of his own father, Saul.  Notice how very unusual this situation is — normally a parent, even an unsaved parent, would be willing to give his own life for the life of his child.  Yet it’s the father that has to be convinced not to kill his offspring.
My former husband and I used to watch the popular TV program called “24”.  In this show, the counter terrorist unit of the government were forever being tested to the limit to stop deadly viruses, and all kinds of plots against the president, etc.  The evil people behind this were seemingly one step ahead of the sleep-deprived agents and their favorite way of being sure to have the advantage was to always have access to the agent’s family members.  The main character, Jack Bauer, had his wife killed off in the first set of series and his daughter was endangered in the next.  The next episode showed agents about to halt the danger when the man back at headquarters, Tony Armata, has his wife, Michelle, kidnapped.
The point is, when you see your own flesh and blood in danger, you will do just about anything you can to rescue them.  Not so with king Saul.  When it came to any friend of David’s, he was trigger-happy.  Saul had started off so very well in his role as king.  It was the seemingly innocuous sin of jealousy that was his undoing.  Compared to David’s sins of adultery and murder, this would seem to be small potatoes.  But the adultery and murder were immediately confessed of when Nathan confronted him.  Saul, on the other hand, allowed his sin to fester until it was rage.
What strikes me is that the famous Saul in the Old Testament started out so well and ended up going to a witch for help the night before his death.  The Saul in the New Testament started out murdering Christians and ended up writing much of the bible.  I often wonder why his parents would give him the name of a king who had much of his reign chasing after and trying to destroy the hero of the nation, David.  But the Lord rescued him from his given name and gave him a new name, Paul.
So here we are with father and son in a very unbalanced situation.  Jonathan has taken the leadership role in the battle and the king has ordered his men a decree that will hinder their effectiveness in battle.  The two are not communicating and the son speaks ill to the men concerning the king’s decree to do without food.  All this leads to a close encounter with death on Jonathan’s part.
Sometimes God allows us to be in situations with our children that seem not right.  But He really is in control of the whole thing.  I have a daughter that had become involved with rock and roll music and wanted to go to a concert after she had left home to go to college.  It was for New Year’s Eve and she had bought some camouflage material and some sequins to make an outfit.  I had children late in life and frankly I was aghast at the idea!  I felt she would look so very strange even at a rock concert.  I was tempted to tell her, “When you’re done with it, maybe you could loan it to Madonna or Cher for their next concert!”  But again, the Lord told me, “Enjoy your daughter while she’s home and help her make it–I really do have it all under My control.”
Usually I would flip out, but the message was accompanied by such peace that I knew it was Him.  We made the entire outfit in under an hour with no pattern (and it looked it).  I cut and sewed — she glued on sequins.  Her friend came and they left to stay at the friend’s sister’s college dorm room in Atlanta.  And I prayed.  I slept and knew that all would be well and that it really was out of my hands anyway.
When she got home the next day she said that they had driven around the city for two hours looking for the college–getting lost over and over on Atlanta’s famous highway system.  When they finally got there, they were so afraid to drive to the concert that they called a taxi.  The friendly driver told them they would have a free ride home, since it is a courtesy of the cabs on New Year’s Eve.  But once they got to the concert, everyone was standing outside.  There had been a cave in of all the bleachers.  So Elizabeth and her friend stood in the icy cold in her very brief outfit.  Miserable!  She finally was able to talk a guard into going in to call a cab (this was before cell phones) and when the driver came, he claimed he didn’t know anything about any free rides.  They had to scrap what little money they had for an even more expensive ride back to the campus.  She had wasted her money on buying the ticket on-line.  Thank you, Jesus!

          Have you ever been in a place where the person in authority over you is less godly, less intelligent, less honest than yourself?  It’s a hard place to be.  Maybe it’s a husband, a boss, a parent, or even law officials.  The New Testament is very clear that we are to submit to those the Lord places over us and to honor and pray for them.  Our mandate is clear to do this, though often not very easy.

But we are not left defenseless because the Lord Himself will be our defender if we don’t step in and take control ourselves.  Often He allows such situations to make us stronger in His spirit than we would be if things were easier in our lives.

Remember the story in Genesis of Joseph being in the household of Potipher and later in the prison.  Joseph had God’s hand on him, but suffered for years with unfair treatment due to his brothers’ betrayal.  Yet God allowed this for a purpose.  Joseph, though very young when the unfair circumstances started, grew in understanding of human nature and in reliance on God’s faithfulness.  When he was handed over the kingdom to rule as second in command, he was ready and fully prepared to handle this task due to the school of hard knocks that the Lord had hand-crafted just for this purpose.  The result was salvation from famine for nations, including his own family.  What a small payment in light of this were the years of bondage he suffered.
We all know examples of friends that have had cruel and insensitive parents growing up.  There are two ways to handle this abuse.  One is to strike back in rebellion; the other is to allow God to lead, returning good for evil.  This in no way means continuing in an abusive relationship–help is available for this.  But it does mean that genuine forgiveness and healing for ourselves and our abusers should be our goal and our objective.  When we allow unforgiveness to harbor in our hearts, we cannot see clearly God’s way to go.  He tells us he will not forgive anyone who does not forgive others.  Regardless of what it is that they have done to us.  Hard to do, but if we truly trust the Lord, we know He will be faithful to solve the situation in the way that is the very best for his children.  (Rm. 8:28)   Let’s pray now and ask the Lord to help us to be submitted to His Lordship in this very matter.
                                                                        Prayer
Dearest Lord, how thankful I am that you are a loving Father.  You not only would never leave me nor forsake me, but you were willing for your only sinless son to die instead of me!  Glorious King, to you I give my trust, my life, my worship.  Show me when I am accused to use it as an opportunity to love my enemies.  Use these situations to enlarge your Kingdom.  May I only be concerned when evil is spoken against You, not against myself.  May I be concerned with Your reputation, not my own.  And Lord, keep my lips from speaking against others things that would discredit or discourage them.  In Jesus’ lovely name I pray.  Amen.

youtube.com/watch?V=ZVx2i6jGzf8

*Songwriters:  Willia Dean Parker, Randle Catron, Booker T. Jr. Jones

Published by:  Lyrics:  Warner/Chappel Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group