2 Samuel 1

I think, if there is ever a chapter that I avoid in scripture, it is 2 Samuel 1-2. I do hate seeing two dear souls depart from oneanother, in such a way. I love thinking of the way that God had knitted the hearts of Jonathan and David and what opposites that they were such suitable and loving fellows.

Warriors, the both, competitors and yet challengers to oneanother in the very best sense of the words. Neither had to play down to the other’s ego. Both had the baggage of hard providences and it didn’t darken their love. Who was the better marksman? Who was the better leader? Who was the better listener? Who was the better friend? They loved eachother with self sacrifice on both sides of the ledger and it was clear, in David’s grief that he felt the loss.

My mind wonders could Jonathan have lived after his father’s demise? It would have been an oddity, certainly for him to defer to David in the crown. But his heart was so bound with his father’s that I think that there was no way that he could have lived on after such a huge earthly loss. God had sent David into his life to unbound his heart from his father. But it was impossible, apart from the spirit’s intercession to unlock the damage that had been already done. Fathers can drive too hard, sometimes. “Provoke not…lest they become discouraged.”

Jonathan was empowered by David’s carefree life. His unhindered spirit and unprovoked soul and David was driven by the same thing that discouraged Jonathan. An amazing comradery they enjoyed, not a shred of jealousy. If I had no attention, says Jonathan, I would be like you. If I had been driven, says David, I would be like you. The Lord is my shepherd, He drives in a different way than father or brother. I had many unfettered hours loving God in the fields. No paternal overbearing angry hand to press me sore. God met me there. David taught Jonathan about a God who can heal, the broken hearted, battered soul. You must be the king, Jonathan knew.

Christ is the only one who can pick up the broken pieces of that kind of father/child misbond. In the NT, I can imagine Jonathan going on and being successful at life after father’s passing, but not in the Old Testament. Christ’s daily intercession is needed. He is the dearer than David.

“Jesus, He meets you where you are. He heals you secret scars…Jesus the friend of the wounded heart”