I had never seen anything like it. A young man from Bethlehem showed up on the battleground and single-handedly slayed the Philistine giant. We were all too afraid to fight him, even my father the king. But this man defeated the giant with nothing more than a slingshot.
“Abner,” my father snapped, eyes glued to the young man as he took the giant’s own sword to decapitate him, “whose son is this young man?” My father had granted this young man permission to fight, but he hadn’t expected him to be successful. Now he wanted to know more about him, undoubtedly so that he could recruit him to the army.
Abner, the commander of my father’s army, promised to find out and brought the man before my father, still dragging the giant’s sword behind him and holding his freshly decapitated head. It dripped blood at my father’s feet.
“Whose son are you, young man?” my father demanded.
“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite,” he panted in reply. He said his name was David. David… a very nice name. He bowed low and presented the head to my father as a gift and a sign of loyalty.
Sitting beside my father, I couldn’t take my eyes off this man. He was strong and ruddy. He had unshakeable faith in the God of Israel. He had found his way into my father’s good graces. In fact, my father was so impressed with him, that he took him home with us, refusing to let him return to his home in Bethlehem.
The strangest thing happened inside of me as this man David stepped foot in our house, my house. I couldn’t believe that we would be sharing space together, that I would have opportunity to see him every day. My heart beat quickly at the thought, and it felt as though my very soul was reaching out to touch his. I loved him as my own soul, as if we were two bodies but one person.
After my father left the room, I ran up to David. I wanted to tell him how I felt, that I loved him as myself.
“Hi,” I said, coming to an abrupt stop in front of him.
“Oh, hello. You are the king’s son, correct?”
“Y-yes!” I exclaimed. He knew who I was! “My name is Jonathan.”
“It is an honor to meet you,” David said, bowing before me in a gesture of respect.
“There’s no need to bow,” I said, softly. “We are but one soul, and all I have is yours, including all of myself.”
Well, that’s what I wanted to say. But the words got caught in my throat. Unable to express myself verbally, I decided to express my love in a different way. I removed my royal robe and gave it to David, along with my armor, my sword, my bow, and my belt.
“What is all this?” David asked. “I can’t accept these.”
I extended by arms full of gifts, silently insisting that he take them. He looked at me inquiringly and I knew I had to say something. Taking a shaky breath, I said, “These are a sign of a covenant between us. I swear that I will be loyal to you, and that all I have is yours.”
Then he smiled. David smiled at me. And my stomach lurched, and my breath caught in my throat, and I tossed my armor in his hands, turned, and ran away because I couldn’t stand to look in his eyes for another moment.
1 Samuel 17, 18
Neglected Word 