“The Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of perverse, rebellious woman!  Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse [David] to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness?  For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth neither you nor your kingdom will be established.  Therefore go, send and bring him to me, for he must surely die.’

“But Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, ‘Why should he be put to death?  What has he done?’

“Then Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him down.  So Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death.”  I Sam 20:30-33

Reality.  Sometimes it bites.

One way we cope with unpleasant reality is to deny it, which is what Jonathan had been doing up until then.  “Surely my own father would not kill my best friend.”

Disbelieving, but finally confronted with unambiguous words from his father’s own mouth, Jonathan tries one more time to change things from what they undeniably are, to what he wishes they were.  He challenges his father with reason.  He should know better.  His father’s unreasonable incendiary rage is legendary.  But it is Jonathan’s last play.

And it fails.

Saul’s maintains a pretense that his rage against David is for Jonathan’s benefit.  “This is all for your sake, son.”  But when that doesn’t work, Saul’s rage explodes against even Jonathan himself.  Saul’s pretense is exposed as a lie.

Jonathan finally grasps the reality of his father’s evil and deals with it responsibly, to his own pain of separation from David.

We cannot fault Jonathan for going the last mile to try to reconcile two people he loves.  He gives it every last chance.

But there comes a time when peace and détente are not the answer.  The party on the other side may be a committed to evil and will never reason, and who has no good faith intentions.  For us optimistic types who give the benefit of the doubt and try to see the good in everyone, this is hard to accept.  Yet accepting reality as it is, not as we wish it was, is exactly what wisdom and maturity calls for.

We must face hard truths with courage and faith.  Things will not get better treating them as though they were something else.  Rose colored glasses do not turn turnips into roses.

Facing hard truth does make things better.  We may not be able to wish away trouble.  But we can more successfully manage it when unflinchingly confronting it accurately.  Clear objectivity helps us see and implement more effective solutions.

We can face reality with courage because of Who is with us.  David understood this.  He wrote, “⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, comfort me.  ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

The chapters that follow 1 Samuel 20 recount David fleeing for his life, yet doing so with courage and intelligence, and providing shelter and refuge to others in the process.  He is living grace under pressure.  He affirmatively rejects taking his own vengeance, and trusts God for deliverance.

Jesus said that in the world we would have serious trouble.  But we are to take courage, because He has overcome the world.

Reality may be tough, even evil.  But we can face it and ultimately overcome it because of Who walks with us.  We have an “older brother” on our side.  We can step out of denial, face our challenges, and walk in grace and victory.

LORD, from the protection of Your presence, may I face what is before me with accuracy and honesty, and trust You to walk with me in every circumstance. 

~~~