Psalms: Saying Yes in the DarknessSample

It was a devastating season. One of our kids decided he wanted nothing to do with us and left us for six months. Then we had a death in the family. Mere days later, we received an urgent call saying my husband’s dad was in the hospital. It was a hard and devastating season. But something rich and true emerged in the midst of it: when darkness surrounds, friends step in.

I’ve said it forever and feel it even more emphatically after going through some seriously hard things these past few years. We have Jesus, yes of course . . . but sometimes the people around us act as His hands and feet.

In 1 Samuel 18, we read that Jonathan and David’s friendship included something unique: a covenant. When digging into this word in the original language it was written in (Hebrew), we find this word covenant/bĕriyth, is the same one used for pledges between God and humans. A bĕriyth is a treaty, alliance, pledge, or agreement. God made this type of bĕriyth with Abraham (Genesis 15:18), as well as with Moses (Exodus 24:7-8, 34:27; Deuteronomy 5:2). 

If we dive deeper into the story of David and Jonathan, we learn that under their bĕriyth, Jonathan would be second in command in David’s future reign (1 Samuel 23:16-18) and David was to protect Jonathan’s family (1 Samuel 20:14-16). He handed David his robe, tunic, sword, bow, and belt to symbolize this.

This was a hugely significant gift. By doing this, Jonathan said to David that he recognized the shepherd-turned-soldier as the future king over Israel. The kingship was supposed to be Jonathan’s title. His future. But jealousy did not rear its ugly head in the prince like it did the king.

Jonathan walked so closely with God that he knew his father’s mistakes cut off the family line to the throne—yet we see no anger. No sadness or attempts to persuade God from the decision He’d already made.

Jonathan was a good man who didn’t make his father’s mistakes or share his envious heart. Yet God’s plan for Jonathan’s life wouldn’t include a crown—but rather friendship with and support for the man who would wear it.

We must cultivate a heart where we can truly rally around a friend who has everything we thought should be ours—a marriage, a pregnancy, the job of our dreams We need to get to the point of trusting Christ enough to embrace the idea that He knows what He’s doing. Our plans and dreams may be good, but His plan is perfect. Sometimes they don’t make sense to us, but that doesn’t mean it’s not right.

God does not make mistakes. He’s not about to start with your life.