Weep The Most

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

WEEP THE MOST

1 Samuel  20:35-42

35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan's arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?" 38 Then he shouted, "Hurry! Go quickly! Don't stop!" The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39(The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, "Go, carry them back to town." 41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side [of the stone] and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together — but David wept the most. 42 Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, 'The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.'" Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

NIV

This was a bittersweet moment between Jonathan and David, as they had a sworn friendship with the LORD as a witness, and then had to part, perhaps never seeing each other again. It is difficult to leave close friends, knowing that they may be leaving for good. Today, we could phone, FaceTime, or Snapchat, email, text, or whatever other media that is or will be available, to stay in touch. But David was going to be on the run for his life from Jonathan’s father, Saul. We know the story of David hiding in caves, some of his songs, or Psalms, are about his running from Saul, his lamenting, asking the LORD how long. This farewell between David and Jonathan was sad for them; both wept, but David wept most. Once again, we are faced with the idea of having a friend, a covenant friend that close we would weep if we had to leave them behind. Again, with all our sources of staying in contact, the one left behind, we could stay in touch until the time of our going home to be with our Lord. Although the one who is left behind will indeed weep and mourn, they will need to face life alone. We know that the angels will rejoice when we come home, and the Lord will welcome us with open arms, but if we have time in our home going, as rejoicing that is, we believe we will weep before that last breath because we are leaving the love of our lives, our family, and our brothers and sisters in the Lord. All that we know on this earth will be left behind. The material things are meaningless, but those we love mean everything. Hopefully, they will either stay the course or find Jesus before their time to join us, where we will spend eternity together in the place Jesus prepared for us. Although this is not prophetic as to when the time will be at hand for us to leave our loved ones, it is inevitable, and we will rejoice,   but we know we will also weep the most.