To Encourage You

1 Samuel 20:10 “Then David said to Jonathan, ‘Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?’”

I am so thankful for the wonderful saints whose writings have been preserved for us to read.  One such man I thank God for is Charles Spurgeon.  Spurgeon was born in England in 1834, where he lived until his death in 1892.  He was one of England’s greatest preachers.  Some have called him the “Prince of Preachers.” Thankfully, 3,563 of Spurgeon’s written sermons are still available to us (https://www.spurgeongems.org/spurgeon-sermons/).  I read Spurgeon often. As I read his writings it is evident to me that this was a man who spent long hours meditating on the Word of God to the blessing of anyone who reads him today.  This morning I read a sermon by Spurgeon on the verse above.  It challenged me, and thus I share some of his thoughts with you. 

The verse above is taken from a conversation between David and his dear friend Jonathan.  Jonathan was King Saul’s son, and while Jonathan loved David as he loved himself, his father hated David and wanted to rid the world of him.  He saw David as a rival who threatened his position on the throne.  David was hiding from Saul because of Saul’s threats, yet he was one of Saul’s servants.  He knew that his absence from dinner with the royal family would likely raise suspicions from the king.  Jonathan, wrongly, mind you, thought better of his father and couldn’t understand why Saul would hate this one who had done nothing but good to him.  As they discussed this matter and David knew that Saul might ask about him, he asks Jonathan the question above: “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly.”  Spurgeon likens this to the conversations that believers might have with their loved ones regarding the Son of David, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus warned us that if we loved and followed Him that we could face opposition from the people who are closest to us, including our own flesh and blood.  He warned about this with these words: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).  Likewise, he warned that “brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Mark 13:12-13).  In other words, for those who love Christ and speak of Him to others, they are likely to face opposition. They are likely, from some, including some of those from within their own family, to be “answered roughly.”  This is too much for some people, and they abandon the faith as a result. Others, fearing such a reaction, just clam up and never tell those closest to them about Jesus.  Others may talk about Jesus, but steer clear of the exclusive claims and demands of the gospel. They water down the message so as not to offend. 

So what about you and what about me?  Does our fear that those we love will turn against us if we talk to them about the Son of David keep us from sharing with them the most critical thing in all of life? Does our desire for self-preservation keep us from sharing the gospel, which is the only hope for anyone’s soul?  May God help us to not shrink back from those who might “answer us roughly”, and thus fail to tell them about the Son of God Whom we love and call our most precious Friend.  May God enable us to boldly and clearly share the most necessary message in all the world with those we love regardless of the fact that their response may very well be to “answer us roughly.”

Related to this, as David asked Jonathan to tell him if trouble arose in his discussions with Saul, the Son of David has urged us to tell Him when we fall into any trouble on His account.  He cares about us, He loves us, and He is there for us as we serve Him in reaching the world in obedience to His commission to seek and to save the lost.  We should remember that “He came unto His own and His own received Him not,” and thus He has told us to “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:21). But praise be to God that “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12). And the children of God have been told to pray to Him about everything, not the least of which is the matter of sharing His Word.

May God help us to keep sharing the gospel, for there are some who will not “answer us roughly” but who will not only listen, but also believe and repent, and thereby be wonderfully saved from the wrath to come.