Beware The Green-eyed Monster

1 Samuel 20:1-42

Saul is so super-jealous of David, his tormenting spirit is in full swing and he wants David dead. In fact, he was encouraging people, including his son, Jonathan, to help him do it. But, Jonathan loved David, like he loved himself - apparently even more than he loved his father. So, not only was he not willing to kill David, he felt he had to warn David of his father's plan.

So, he did just that. However, even after vowing not to kill David - at Jonathan's urging - Saul's tormenting spirit caused him to try, again, to kill David with his spear while he was playing his harp. Of course, David escaped, so Saul sent out a lynch mob for him. This time it was Michal, David's wife and Saul's daughter, who stepped in to save him. She helped him escape in the middle of the night when they came for him.

David ran to Ramah, where he met with Samuel (yep, he's still around!) and told him what Saul had done. So Samuel took him in, but Saul found out and sent men there to get him. But, God wouldn't let that happen; he had big plans for David. So, when the men got there, they got caught up in the Spirit and began prophesying with Samuel and the others. Saul decided to do it himself, but ended up with the same fate.

So now, David had to flee Ramah and find Jonathan. When he did, he asked him why his father was so set on killing him. But, Jonathan was in denial. He told David that his father had said nothing of the sort to him and he would definitely say something if he were. So they came up with a plan to learn the truth about Saul's intent toward David.

At the upcoming new moon festival, David would fail to attend. When Saul asked of his whereabouts, Jonathan would tell him that he went to Bethlehem to worship with his family. If Saul was okay with that, they would know David was safe. If he got angry, Jonathan would warn David and help him escape. To do that, David would hide in a field and wait for Jonathan's signal. The signal was Jonathan's arrow; after he shot his arrows toward David's hiding place, if he told his servant he passed the arrow, he was safe, but if he told him to go further, David was in danger.

So they put their plan in motion and, sure enough, Saul asked where David was on the second night of the festival. Jonathan told him that he went to Bethlehem to worship with his family, and Saul boiled over with rage. He cursed and argued back and forth with Jonathan about it for a while, then he threw a spear at him! At that point, Jonathan stormed out of the room.

The next morning, Jonathan went into phase two of their mission. He took his servant out to the field where David was hiding and told him to run out to pick up his arrows. As the boy ran, Jonathan called out to him to go further. So the boy gathered all the arrows and brought them back to Jonathan, who then sent him away. Once the boy was gone, David came out and saluted Jonathan. They hugged and wept together, remembered their pact of friendship and parted ways.

Sometimes in life, God has assignments for us that come from the failures of others. When that happens, those who failed their assignment can become bitter and angry and jealous. Jealousy is a dangerous sin: on its own because it distorts your thinking, but more so because it can lead to deadly actions if not checked. Even though we may have to move out of our comfort zone and away from those we love in order to escape the situation, only God can remedy the jealousy. So, when others are jealous of us, we have to pray for them and not just the situation or ourselves.

Lord, help us to recognize your hand in our relationships with others, especially when jealousy is in the mix. Help us not to be jealous of others, but know that you provide for us all we need and put on us no more than we can bear. Give us understanding and forgiveness when we have to stay, and wisdom to know when it's time to leave. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.