Souls Knit Together (1 Samuel 18:1)

 


Monday, June 23, 2025


Psalms 124; 125; 126

1 Samuel 17:55-18:16

Acts 12:1-11


Souls Knit Together (1 Samuel 18:1)


As soon as David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.


There’s a gag floating around observing the fact the Jesus’ greatest miracle was having twelve close friends in his early thirties. But perhaps it is not as much of a gag as it sounds – close friendship is something reliable when we are children, but, like our backs, gets more difficult as we get older.


C. S. Lewis’s famous work The Four Loves goes into far greater detail than I can about the different types of friendship, affection, and, yes, love. He draws on Classical definitions, and there are some great categories he comes up with. But while we can be as academic as we like about relationships, it still needs to actually be done in order to happen.


The friendship between David and Jonathon is famous, and rightly so. There is something special – almost supernatural – about two men having a close bond the way they did. It was not like the love between a husband and wife, and the text clearly says that. This was something deeper than a marriage bond. To have someone in your life that you love to spend time with and love to see do well, even to the point where you would decrease yourself in order that they increase, begins to move outside of what we are normally used to.


A great friendship truly is divine. Our greatest Friend showed us what it looks like – he lowered himself from the glory of heaven to the dust of the earth and spent all his time either in prayer or in service to others. As a result of his great giving of himself, our souls are knit to his. Our life comes from Christ; his works come through us. What a friend we have in Jesus!


What is your closest relationship? Could you call that person a friend? How might the friendship of Jesus teach you to develop your friendships with others?


Christ our heavenly Friend: your bond with us is greater than marriage. Draw us up to the heights of the love you have for us, that we may rest in your companionship, and share that love with others.

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