Day 90.
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. (1 Sam 18:1-4)
Just after David defeats Goliath and returns to Saul’s tent, we find Jonathan stripping himself of his robe, his armor, and his weapons, and giving them to David. The significance of this act cannot be overstated. Jonathan was the king’s son and a great warrior himself. It was Jonathan that defeated the garrison of the Philistines at Geba (something Saul was expected to do in order to win the people to him as king). Jonathan was in line to become king after Saul. In this act, we see him laying down all rights to the kingship and giving the to David. In David, still a youth who tended sheep and only there to bring food for this brothers, Jonathan saw the hand of God. For David did not go against the Philistine champion in his own strength, but in the name of the Lord, revealing the man through whom God would bring victory. Though Jonathan did not know of Samuel’s anointing of David, he could see the evidence of it, and he hands his kingdom over.
As the Lord’s anointed David points us to Jesus, who is the true Christ (Christ means “anointed”). By rising from the grave, Jesus returns victorious from fighting the champion of our great enemy, death itself, showing us the evidence that He is, indeed, the Christ. To put your trust in Him is to do as Jonathan did, which is to hand over your right to rule your own life. You are not king anymore, but step aside that Jesus might reign as king over your life. This means that your efforts are no longer directed to building your own kingdom, but that of His kingdom. Are you ready to do that?
Lord, you have risen from the grave victorious and showed yourself to be the Christ! In so doing you have knit my heart together with yours. Take your place on the throne of my life and fill my head and heart with the desire to see your kingdom prosper.
