1 Samuel 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for as much as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying… "All faithful friends went on a pilgrimage years ago, and none of them have ever come back"; so wrote one of the Puritan divines, whose heart was depressed at the time most likely. Perhaps the best definition of friendship is that given by Addison: it is "a strong and habitual inclination in two persons to promote the good and happiness of each other." I. TRUE FRIENDSHIP REQUIRES SOME ACKNOWLEDGED BASIS OF INDIVIDUAL WORTH. To be very popular is very different from being beloved. Froissart says of Gaston de Foix, "In everything he was so perfect that he cannot be praised too much; he loved what ought to be beloved, and hated what ought to be condemned; and he never had miscreant with him." II. TRUE FRIENDSHIP DEMANDS COURAGE AND SELF-SACRIFICE IN INSTANT ANSWER TO THE CALL. When Jonathan rose up from the table there was more than one javelin in the air coming towards him; there was the mad king's wrath shooting lances of fire also. III. TRUE FRIENDSHIP BECOMES MORE DISINTERESTED AS IT BECOMES MORE LOVING. IV. TRUE FRIENDSHIP SHOWS ITSELF BY DELICATE AND SOMETIMES MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS OF COMMUNICATION. Indeed, when two men become fast and sympathetic comrades, we sometimes fail to discover what they find in each other so companionable. V. TRUE FRIENDSHIP FINDS ITS HIGHEST MODEL IN THE LORD OF LIFE AND GLORY. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. |
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