Swear By His Love (1 Samuel 20:17)

 


Friday, June 27, 2025


Psalm 140

1 Samuel 20:12-34

Acts 13:26-41


Observance: Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and teacher (d. 444)


Swear By His Love (1 Samuel 20:17)


And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.


The greatest tales in history that tell of glorious deeds, honourable people, acts of bravery, and all those wonderful sorts of things find their basis in the type of love that God commanded us in Leviticus and later in Jesus to “love your neighbour as yourself”. This type of love has a depth like no other type of allegiance or affection. Jonathan loved David as he loved his own soul, and asked David to swear on that love.


To make an oath on the basis of this divine love is to make a promise that one can trust. The trust of the oath is not demanded by anything so base as money or duty, which can change hands. The love of God that inspires us to love one another grips us so tightly that we could not imagine breaking our promise. Because to break the promise based in love would wound the one breaking the promise just as much as the one with whom the promise was broken. The lover and the beloved both have skin in the game, as it were.


This type of love, when expressed between fellow human beings, is a taste of the infinite love of God. That is, when we experience it in our lives, and we enjoy it, we can know that if and when we want more, then there is an endless amount coming our way from God. As St Paul is demonstrating in his sermon that we are working through in Acts, the oath of love is an oath of old. The oath made in love by God to humanity is from eternity past, promised throughout human history, and expressed ultimately in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.


To experience Christ’s love for us in greater measure means we have to love others as Christ loves us. It is another promise from God for our enjoyment and God’s glory. The more we love one another as we love our own soul, the more we learn about Christ’s love for us. And there is always more to learn.


Pick one person in your life at the moment. How might you love them more as you love your own soul, and so learn more about Christ’s love for you?


God of love, whose oath of love finds its climax in Christ: pour into our hearts a greater measure of your love, that we may love one another more, and thereby learn more of your love for us.

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