Day 8

1 Samuel 19:1-5

Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
Part of the covenant Jonathan made to his friend David was to stand up for him. To stand back to back, even when the other was not around. As Saul’s distrust of David continued to grow, Jonathan stepped in to defend his friend and his honor.

In a world of social media where anything goes, especially if it can get likes and follows, it is hard to find safe places of refuge. Places where you know that what you have said and done is safe with that person. This goes beyond just confidentiality; it goes to the protection of one’s reputation. In the Christian church, we are called brothers and sisters, parts of the body of Christ. This means that we are intrinsically connected together and what hurts one-part hurts another (1 Corinthians 12:26). Never before have we needed to know that our friends and our brothers and sisters in Christ have our backs.

As you take time today in prayer, thank God for those friends in your life that have your back. Also, be sure to reach out to those friends and thank them, acknowledge them for having your back. Finally, think about how you can be such a friend and refuge for others. Be ready to stand back to back with others, giving them that refuge and safe place.