The Life Of David
Pt. 12 How To Choose Good Friends
1 Samuel 18:1-5; 19:1-7; 20:30-42

David and Jonathan do LIFE together
David first met Jonathan, the son of Saul, after defeating Goliath when he arrived carrying his head. Jonathan, who was also a warrior with similar bravery and love for God, has an immediate bond of soul-camaraderie with him. Where you find your friends reflects your values, so find people heading in the same direction with the same values as you (Amos 3:3; 1 Cor. 15:33)! This connection of two fiercely independent, God-fearing men would form an unbreakable, lifelong bond. While men tend to be independent, everyone is meant to be interdependent and not do life alone. You don’t need a lot of friends, just a few faithful ones (Ruth 1:16, 17; Prov. 18:24; 17:17). David and Johnathan committed to do life together even when circumstances became difficult. They looked out for one another and rather than seeing what they could get, they looked for ways to give to each other. Friendships need life-deposits. The key to getting good friends is to practice being a good friend!

Jonathan risks his LIFE for David
Johnathan and David spoke wisdom into each other’s lives and cared about each other’s welfare more than their own. Godly men are continually dependent on God and those He has put in their lives as mentors and brothers for encouragement and accountability. True friends trust and love each other more than themselves and want success and blessing in each other’s lives (Prov. 17:9; 27:6, 17; Eccl. 4:9-12; 1 Thess. 5:11; Heb. 10:24, 25). As David has now married his daughter and become best friends with his son, King Saul becomes violent, trying to kill David multiple times. Jonathan, who is to become king when Saul dies, recognizes God’s choice of David as the next king and risks his own life in trying to stop his father. Knowing that his son supports David over his own kingship, Saul tries to kill Jonathan in a rage of anger. The deepest friendships are those who give their lives to protect it (1 Sam. 20:12-17; John 15:12-14). When Jonathan realizes his father will never stop until David is dead, they meet to say goodbye. Like sending a brother to war possibly never to be seen again, they weep over each other knowing this is probably the end (1 Sam. 20:40-42; Gen. 33:4; 45:15; 50:1; Acts 20:36-38; Rom. 16:16). The goodbyes of godly friendships are temporarily hard but remain eternally valuable!