The Prince: Jonathan (19 page)

“You are alone with one of David’s servants. Are you not afraid?”

Jonathan looked into the Hittite’s eyes. “I travel under the protection of our mutual friend. David did not send you to assassinate me.”

“He didn’t tell me to bring you back either.”

“That might be. But I don’t believe the Lord God, who led me to rout a Philistine army at Micmash, would let me fall to one lone Hittite!” He rested one hand on the hilt of his sword. “Your manner tells me David needs encouragement.”

Uriah laughed coldly. “You might say that.”

“Then let’s go!”

They skirted Bethlehem on the way south. Better to avoid people wherever possible so that no one would report to the king. They rode through the mountains down into the wilderness. David and his men were in Ziph.

An alarm was shouted long before they reached the camp. Men came out, armed and ready to fight, and then stood about glaring up at Jonathan as he rode into their midst. He recognized some of his kin—disgruntled, disillusioned, and defiant men who had defected from the villages of Benjamin.

“Uriah has taken Saul’s son hostage!”

Men cheered, brandishing weapons. Their faces were hard, wary.

“He is no hostage!” Uriah shouted, drawing his sword. “He is David’s guest. Back away!”

Joab, David’s nephew and older than he by some years, stood before the rest. He flipped a Philistine knife up and down in his hand. “Greetings, Jonathan, son of King Saul.” He did not address him as “my lord, the prince.”

His tone set Jonathan on edge. Swinging his leg over the horse, Jonathan slid to the ground. He would not turn his back on Joab. “I come under the protection of my friend, David.”

“Did he ask to speak with you?”

“Jonathan!”

Jonathan stepped past Joab and smiled in greeting.

Face strained, David strode toward him. “Get back! Stand away from him!” Men moved at David’s command. He glowered at Joab. “The prince is my guest! See that the men are more suitably occupied.”

“Yes, my lord.” Joab bowed. His dark eyes glanced at Jonathan before he turned and shouted for the others to go about their business.

David turned on Uriah. “I told you to deliver a wedding gift to Prince Jonathan, not take him captive!”

“I came of my own accord, David. If Uriah had not agreed to bring me, I would have followed him.” He extended his hand to Uriah. “May the Lord bless you for your kindness to me.”

“And you as well, my lord.” The Hittite left them alone.

David looked sick with apprehension. “You should not have come here.” He glanced around pointedly. “Are you eager to die?”

“Is that any way to greet a friend?”

They embraced and slapped one another on the back. Jonathan laughed. “It has been too long, my friend.” So many years had passed since last they spoke. “You have an army now.”

“Your father will one day catch up with me. Sooner or later, he will hunt me down and trap me in some dank cave. He has three thousand men, the best warriors in all Israel. And I have only six hundred.”

“I brought you something.” Jonathan reached inside his breastplate.

“My sling!” David took it. He looked up. “But I gave it to you as a gift.”

“Yes, and I’m giving it back to you. Do you remember the last time you used that?”

“The day I killed Goliath.”

“You were not afraid that day, and your courage rallied every Israelite who witnessed what you did. The Lord gave us victory.”

“I was a boy, then, racing into battle with the belief that the Lord was with me.”

“And so He was.”

“The Lord has forsaken me.”

Jonathan understood now why he had felt impelled to see David. “Ah, my friend, the Lord has not abandoned you. And it is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who refuses all advice.” He smiled sadly. “Such a youth could come from the sheep pastures and succeed. He might even become king, though he was born to poverty. Everyone is eager to help such a youth, even to help him take the throne.”

David stared at him. “Surely you know better. I don’t want the throne!”

“Neither did my father. Once. Long ago. Now, he hangs on to it with every fiber of his strength and wields fear like a whip over God’s people.”

“Why are you saying these things to me?”

Jonathan wanted to say more, but he didn’t want to speak before David’s men and plant thoughts of rebellion. It was one thing to run
from
a king, another to run
after
him. “Can we leave your camp and walk a while? Alone?”

David gave orders to his guards. They didn’t look pleased as they walked way, but they kept their distance.

“What am I to do, Jonathan? You know I’ve never done anything against the king.” Tears flowed. “I have served him with everything I had. And yet he hates me! He hunts me like an animal! Everywhere I go, someone betrays me and sends word to Saul. They seek a reward for my life. And I must live with men who live by violence, men I barely trust.”

Jonathan was reminded of his father as he listened to David’s outburst. Tempestuous. Filled with fear.
Steady him, Lord
. “Don’t be afraid, David. Trust in the Lord and the power of His strength to protect you. My father will never find you!”

“How can you be so sure?”

It was time to speak what he knew in his heart. “Did Samuel not anoint you king years ago in Bethlehem?”

Color surged into David’s cheeks. “How did you know?”

“It was obvious that you were God’s servant the first time I heard you sing in my father’s house. And when you went down to face Goliath, and all the times you fought against the enemies of the Lord. When we sat and studied the Law together, I knew you were a man after God’s own heart. You
are
going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware. The Lord is our rock. He is your deliverer.” He gave a soft laugh. “What a pity I cannot play the harp and sing songs that will fill you with hope.”

Jonathan spread his hands. “I have spent hours—days—thinking about what you’re going through, consumed with guilt because it is my father who causes you trouble. And I must believe that the battles you’re facing now aren’t coming to you apart from God.”

“Then where is He?”

“The Lord watches over you, David. He sees your coming out and going in. He is training you for a higher purpose. My father, even now, is being given opportunities to repent, and it grieves me beyond words to watch his heart grow harder with every test he faces.” His voice broke.

David put his hand upon his arm.

Jonathan swallowed hard. “May your heart soften like rich, plowed earth in which God will plant His seeds of truth and wisdom.” He spoke with conviction. “God has not forsaken you, David, nor will He. Not as long as you hold fast to Him and you walk—or run—in His ways.”

David relaxed. His muscles loosened, and he smiled faintly. “I have missed you, Jonathan. I have missed your counsel.”

Jonathan’s throat closed.

David looked out over his camp. “You see the sort of men I command. Fugitives. Malcontents. Men bent on violence. I hate living like this!”

“If you could rule such men and turn their hearts toward God, what a king you would be!”

David kept his face turned away. “They urge me to fight back, to kill your father and destroy the house of Saul.”

It was the custom of the nations around them.

Jonathan spoke carefully. “God anointed my father king, but He anointed you as well. What does the Law say?”

David grew pensive. He closed his eyes. “‘You must not murder.’”

“So what does that leave you?”

“I must wait.”

“And teach your men to wait upon the Lord as well.” He went to David and stood with him, looking out over the wilderness. “No one can truly lead men until he learns to follow God.”

David smiled ruefully. “I never thought it would be this difficult.”

Jonathan put his hand on David’s shoulder and squeezed. “Do what you know is right, what we talked about all those evenings we read the Law together so many years ago. Do not repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when my father and those who follow him tell lies about you. Do good for the people. That is what God wants you to do, no matter what your circumstances.”

“You see the way I live. From hand to mouth. Running, always running.”

Jonathan wept. “I can only tell you what I know. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to your prayers. The Lord turns His face from evil. I have watched how God has turned from my father because Saul rejected Him. The Law tells me to honor my father. It does not say honor him only if he is honorable.” His sorrow sometimes pulled him down into despair.

“I walk a narrow path, David, between a king whose heart grows harder with every year that passes and a friend who will be king. But I will keep to it in obedience to the Lord. A man who lives by his own light and warms himself by his own fire one day will lie down in eternal torment. Such is the life my father leads, David, seeing enemies where there are none, hungry and thirsty for the Word of God and not even knowing it. His every act of disobedience widens the gap between himself and the One who can give him peace: the Lord!”

Jonathan raised his hands in anguish. “Lord, I do not want to follow my father. I long to follow after You, to be where You are. Don’t You jealously long for Your people to be faithful? Surely You offer us the strength we need to keep faith. Give us strength!”

David looked at him, eyes awash. “I had not thought how this must be for you.”

Jonathan’s shoulders relaxed. His mouth tipped. “You’ve had other things on your mind. Surviving, for one.”

“But what about you, Jonathan? You are the prince of Israel, heir to your father’s throne.”

“Don’t make the same mistake my father has. It’s not my father’s throne. It’s God’s throne to give to whomever He chooses. And the Lord sent Samuel to anoint
you
the next king of Israel.” He wanted David to understand. “I love my father, David, but I’m not proud of him. When I heard what he ordered at Nob, I was ashamed of the blood that runs in my veins.”

David spoke in a quick rush of words. “It was my fault that happened, Jonathan. I saw Doeg. If I’d killed that Edomite, none of those priests would have died. Their wives and children would still live.” He nodded toward the camp. “Ahimelech’s son, Abiathar, is with us and under our protection.”

“My father gave the order. What Saul does in the name of his kingship makes my bones ache with shame.” He lowered his head and fought his emotions. “I pray unceasingly that my father will repent. We would both know if that happened. He would remove the crown from his head and place it on yours.”

How different Israel would be if his father returned to the Lord.

If only, Lord. If only . . .

“You came a long way to see me, my friend.” David spoke quietly, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Come. Eat. Rest.”

“I came to encourage you.”

“We will encourage one another.” David slapped him on the back as they headed back to camp. “We will sing songs of deliverance to our God. We will praise the Lord together.” He grinned. “We will make joyful noise before the Lord.”

Jonathan laughed. Here was the David he remembered and loved so dearly, the friend who was closer than a brother.

They did celebrate far into the night.

And David’s men watched in wonder.

When Jonathan awakened, he saw David stretched out across the entrance to the tent. He sat up and David awakened, reaching for the sword at his side. “We’re safe, David. All is well.” And then it occurred to Jonathan what David had been doing. “Am I a lamb that you must sleep at the gate of the sheepfold?”

“My men—”

“You don’t have to explain.” He gave David a nod and grinned. “I am honored to have the commander of such an army as my personal bodyguard.”

David called for his servant to bring food. They breakfasted together.

“You eat well.”

David shrugged. “Some of the people are good to us.”

“Be careful whom you trust. Even though you delivered Keilah from raiders, they were only too eager to turn you over to Saul.”

David nodded, pensive. “How is Michal?”

Jonathan felt the heat mount in his cheeks. Michal was like those of Keilah. Fickle and shallow, she had nothing good to say about David. Jonathan shook his head. “She is well and lives alone.” He didn’t want to speak against his sister.

David looked grim. “This is no place for a woman like Michal. We’re always on the run.”

“One day you will come home, David.”

“For now, I must live in the wilderness.”

“Remember our history. The wilderness is a sacred place to our people. God called us into the wilderness. It was in the wilderness God met with our forefathers and traveled with them. It was in the wilderness God performed His great miracles.”

“It is a barren, difficult place where every day is a challenge to the body and soul.”

“The wilderness refined the faith of our forefathers and prepared them to enter the Promised Land. It is in the wilderness that you will learn God is sovereign. The Lord will meet your needs. He will train you as He trained Joshua and Caleb. God prepared them for battle and gave them victory. Surely, God’s voice is heard more easily here in the quiet than in the cacophony of a king’s court.”