“Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?”
– 1 Samuel 20:30
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever been in a quandary? Have you ever had to fabricate a story to find out the truth? Have you ever had to go to a good friend for his or her help? Have your lives ever been in dire danger? After years of listening to His specially chosen guys and gals grousing about the people groups of guys and gals who lived in land areas that surrounded the land area that He gave them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . of having kings, God finally okayed them to also have a king. God had Samuel find and anoint a guy by the name of Saul – a tall, handsome Benjamin tribal clan guy, to be the first positioned king to rule over the Israelite people groups guys and gals. When it became evident by some irrational things that Saul did that Saul was in over his head as the Israelite people group’s king job, God had Samuel find and anoint a young guy by the name of David – a young Judah tribal clan guy – whose dad’s name was Jesse, to succeed Saul as the next positioned king to rule over the Israelite people groups guys and gals. Jesse had eight boys. David was Jesse’s youngest boy. When Jesse sent David with grain and bread for his three oldest boys who were fighting at the battlefront between the Israelite and Philistine people group armies to eat, David got caught up in the warring between the Israelite and Philistine armies when he challenged Goliath – a raucous, intimidating Philistine people group giant, to a do or die combat. David became an immediate hero among the Israelite people group guys and gals when he killed Goliath using his sling to hurl a stone that hit Goliath in the center of his forehead. Saul drew David into his life when he found out that David could play the harp. 1 Samuel 20 has David in an unamendable predicament. David has become a favorite among the Israelite people group guys and gals. When Saul realized that David’s fame among the Israelite people group guys and gals was a whole lot greater than his own popularity, a jealous spirit was able to take on oppressing Saul with the thought of needing to murder David. After having escaped once from being killed by Saul, David knew that the next time that he was within Saul’s proximity that Saul would try even harder to somehow find a way kill him.
When David realized that he was no longer safe being around Saul, David – with the next calendar event being the New Moon festival dinner in which he would be expected to attend and where he would be in the same room as Saul, instead of making plans to go to the scheduled dinner to celebrate the arrival of another new moon phase, got in touch with his good buddy – Jonathan, to get his input on what he should do. Jonathan was one of Saul’s kids. Jonathan wanted to stand up for his dad. Jonathan did not think that his dad would kill David without first talking with him about doing it. David was not as sure. David made up a story for Jonathan to tell his dad why he had not shown up for the dinner. Saul gave David a pass the first night when he saw that David was not sitting across the table from him – thinking that David probably had a good excuse why he had not shown up for the dinner. When David was not there for the second night of celebrating the arrival of a new moon, Saul asked his Jonathan what he knew about David not making it for the dinners. Jonathan told his dad the story that David had concocted – which was that he had been told by his bros that he needed to go to his hometown to observe a sacrifice. When David told Jonathan the fib that he wanted Jonathan to tell his dad if his dad asked him if he knew where he was, David also laid out a plan on how Jonathan could communicate his dad’s response to hearing what his kid had told him about where David had gone. David told Jonathan to shoot three arrows close to where David would be hiding near the Ezel stone. David told Jonathan to take a little kid with him. David told Jonathan to have the little kid look for the three arrows that he shot by instructing the little kid – if his dad turned violent, to go past where the three arrows had fallen that he had shot but if his dad had not seemed bothered that David had not shown up for the dinner to tell the little kid to go and pick up the three arrows that he had shot and to have the little kid bring the three arrows back to where he shot the three arrows. When Jonathan finished telling his dad David’s made up, untrue story, verse 30 says, “Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?” Saul then flung his spear at Jonathan in an attempt to kill his own kid. When a guy, gal or kid detaches himself or herself from God – like Saul did, look out for flying spears.
When your grandpaa worked as a loan collector for Liberty Loan and then when he first began working for Beneficial Finance, your grandpaa fabricated stories to tell to a guy or gal in hopes of discovering where a friend or relative had moved to who was no longer making his, her or their monthly loan remittances. Even though David asked Jonathan to tell a lie to his dad and your grandpaa made up stories to find ‘skips’, your grandpaa now believes that it is better to never tell a fib. Your grandpaa thinks that the moment when a guy, gal or kid compromises his or her veracity, that he or she will find himself or herself on a very slippery slope of doing even more dubious things.
1 Samuel 20 (985)