Day 103: What if He Answers You Roughly? (1 Samuel 20:10)

A Spurgeon Snapshot

Through the Bible: 1 Samuel 18-20, Psalm 11, Psalm 59

⁵ David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. ⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ ⁷ If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. ⁸ Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?” ⁹ And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?” ¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?”

1 Samuel 20:5-10

David had a great friend in Jonathan. Jonathan, who would have expected to succeed his father Saul as king of Israel, gave that up out of devotion to David. When opposition to David arose, Jonathan put his own life on the line in order to protect his friend and king.

In the passage today, this devotion is put to the test. David asks Jonathan to run interference between his father and David. David rightly suspects Saul wants to kill him, so he asks Jonathan to let him know Saul’s reaction when David skips out on the New Moon Festival (see 1 Samuel 20:5-10). When David asks Jonathan what he will do if his father has a negative reaction, Jonathan comes up with a plan through which he can communicate info to David.

In his reflection on this passage, Spurgeon saw a parallel between Jonathan and any one of us who face opposition because of our commitment to Christ. He wrote:

Now this question of David to Jonathan is one which we should put to all believers in Christ, especially to [those] who have ;ately entered into covenant with the great son of David and who, in the ardor of their hearts, feel they could live and die for him. They will meet with opposition from their dearest friends–perhaps their father, brother, husband, or uncle will answer them roughly; or perhaps their mother, wife, or sister will become a persecutor to them. What then? What will they do under such circumstances?

Spurgeon Study Bible, Note on 1 Samuel 20:10

If we are truly committed followers of Christ, opposition shouldn’t surprise us, even from our own family. Jesus Himself said it would be so. But we all need to consider our own answer to that question. What if we are answered harshly when we act out of our devotion to Jesus? Are we prepared to lay our own lives aside for the sake of Christ?

Spurgeon continued:

Did not the Lord Jesus Christ himself meet with slander, cruelty, and death; and did he not tell us that we must not look for favor when He found rejection? He said plainly, “I came not to send peace on earth but a sword.” And He declared that the immediate result of the preaching of the gospel would be to set the son against the father, and the father against the son, so that a man’s foes should be of his own household [Matthew 10:34-39]

Beloved, are you ready for opposition, regardless of where it comes from? “What if [fill in the blank] answers you harshly? What will your answer be?

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