FRIENDSHIP 1 - Friends stand by each other and help each other.

Friendship 1 - English file

Freundschaft 1 - German file

Devotional Thoughts about 1 Samuel Chapters 18-31

Everyone would like to have good friends at school and beyond, but we don’t think so much about what it takes to be a good friend. David and Jonathan show us attributes of a good, strong friendship.

Mitdenken is an important German verb formed by simply compounding the words for think and with. It means thinking ahead in the best possible sense. Bosses, for instance, look for and treasure employees with this characteristic because they can see the larger picture beyond their own tasks and are more likely to work with the good of the company at heart.

Jonathan had this quality. In the earlier days of his father’s mental instability, he was slow to grasp that David was in permanent danger when Saul was at large (20:2), but once he was convinced of it, he put everything on the line to help David, making as well as executing the plan to inform him secretly so he could get away safely.

And both David and Jonathan were dedicated to the other's welfare, which included the other’s family. We can see in chapters 24 and 26 and also in the Psalms what a huge struggle it was for David to resist the temptation to kill Saul and end the fatiguing exile on his own terms. But he held out because of his commitment to God and to his friend.

Lord, help me be a good friend to others because I've experienced Your friendship.

Downloading lesson files

If you're interested in the lesson file, simply click on the appropriate link above to download it in the desired language. See the Informational Pages in the right column for more about the lesson series. The next three blogs will continue the Friendship series.