JONATHAN loved David and was devoted to him, but he never separated himself from the house of his ungodly father to throw in his lot entirely with the friend he esteemed so highly. This verse tells of the last time the two friends met. David continued in the place of rejection. Jonathan went back to his own house and was destined to die on Mount Gilboa when Saul was overthrown. His dream of association with David in the coming day when the kingdom would actually be his, was never fulfilled. The lesson for us is a salutary one. We are called to put the claims of Christ above all others—even above the closest natural ties. Our reward hereafter will answer to what we have suffered by identification with our rejected Lord now.
“No time for trifling in this life of mine;
Not this the path the blessed Master trod.
But strenuous toil; each hour and power employed
Always and all for God.
With ceaseless blessings from my Father’s hand
My earthly path is every moment strewed;
God ever thinks of me; should I not be
Always and all for God?”
―A. B. Simpson.