[One-Verse Meditation]

1 Samuel 14:45 (NIV) But the people said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

(Meditation)

When God remained silent in response to Saul’s question, “Shall I pursue the Philistines?” he concluded that the reason must be a ‘sin’ within the camp of Israel. Without looking at himself as the source of all the problems, he tried to root out the sinner by casting lots. He said, “You stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other,” and in his pride of being blameless, he cried out to God, “Give me a true answer!”

However, the reality God revealed completely overturned his expectations. The lot fell to Saul and Jonathan, and then finally to his son, Jonathan. Enraged by the unexpected result, Saul placed his own oath and a king’s honor above the will of God. So he judged his son with an even more terrifying vow: “Jonathan, you must die.”

It was, paradoxically, the ‘people’ who stopped Saul’s foolish judgment. The king was spiritually blind, but the people saw the truth. They cried out, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance?… For he did this today with God’s help!” The people feared God more than the king’s oath. And so, they rescued Jonathan from the king’s unjust sword. It was the work of God.

This event poses questions to us today: ‘Who is the real sinner?’ ‘How does salvation come?’ ‘What does a true king look like?’ In this scene, where the innocent Jonathan was placed under the curse of an unjust oath and faced death due to Saul’s foolishness, we discover the shadow of the cross. And we sing of Jesus Christ, the true King.

(Prayer)

Lord, help me to look at myself first, so that I may discern Your will rather than my own pride and image. Let me then rejoice in Your will and also look to those around me in this new day. Amen.
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(Daily Meditation)

1 Samuel 14:38-52