As we turn our attention 1 Samuel 20, the covenant between David and Jonathan takes center stage. Their story isn’t just about friendship—it’s about a covenant that is stronger than fear, deeper than politics, and more enduring than family pressure. When David was at his wit’s end, he relied on their covenant.

Despite all of Saul’s scheming, despite the overwhelming odds against David, despite the most hopeless of circumstances, God continually delivers David.

But our passage this morning reminds us of several things: First, we’re reminded that trials are inevitable (vv. 1-10), second, we’re reminded that God’s deliverance is certain (vv. 11-17), because, lastly, God is sovereign over all things (vv. 18-24).

The blessings we experience in life have been handed down to us from God. In fact, the blessings we experience in our lives are signs of God’s grace towards us more than the result of our own efforts.

James reminds us that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” In our passage this morning we’re reminded that God’s hand of blessing protects (vv. 17-19), empowers (vv. 20-27), and grants us success (vv. 28-30).

Jealousy and envy are silent, deadly sins that consume you from the inside out, which is exactly what we see in our passage. Saul’s jealousy of David began as fear, turned into anger, which then led to attempted murder. If you’re taking notes, we’ll see that, first, jealousy distorts our perception (vv. 6-9), second, jealousy steals our peace (vv. 10-12), and lastly, jealousy separates us from God (vv. 12-16).

On Facebook, friendships are effortless, curated, and often shallow. You can have hundreds or even thousands of friends, yet still feel lonely. You can “like” a post without truly knowing the person behind it. And at any moment, with just one click, you can unfriend someone if they say something you don’t like.

But when we open Scripture, we find a radically different vision of friendship. Biblical friendship is not built on convenience, appearances, or mutual interests, rather it’s built on love, sacrifice, and commitment. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” True friendship isn’t about how many people are in your circle—it’s about who is willing to walk with you through life’s highs and lows.

Isn’t that what we just read about Jonathan and David? Jonathan’s friendship with David wasn’t based on convenience because Jonathan was willing to risk everything for David. According to the Scriptures, true friendship is about sacrificial love and loyalty.

The story of David and Goliath should shape the way we think about spiritual warfare. It should shape the way we think about maintaining faithfulness in the midst of adversity. But more than anything, this story should shape the way we view, reflect, and understand the gospel itself. David’s victory over Goliath foreshadows Christ’s ultimate victory over sin, death, and Satan himself.

We must approach this famous story asking ourselves that very basic question: What does it tell us about God?

When you approach this passage that way, you’ll quickly realize that it tells us a lot about God. Just in the introduction to the story of David and Goliath we learn that God is displaying his strength, power, and superiority over any false gods that may lead us astray.

When passages are challenging like this one there is at times a temptation to chase rabbit trails while overlooking the overarching message. Despite the theological complexity of this particular passage, the overall message is quite straightforward: a life that rejects Jesus Christ and lives apart from his holy presence not only leads to spiritual emptiness, but can also lead to pain and suffering in this life.

At various times, we’ve all sized someone up, made assumptions about their character, only to learn that our assumptions were completely wrong.

We have a natural inclination to judge people based on outward appearances, but as our passage reminds us this morning – God does not judge people based upon their outward appearances, but upon their heart.

We’ll see three things this morning: first, man looks at outward appearance (vv. 1-6), second, God looks at the heart (v. 7), and lastly, we’re reminded that God often equips the overlooked (vv. 8-13).

Confession is a powerful thing—but only when it is genuine.

Many people believe that saying “I have sinned” is enough. They assume that if they admit their wrongdoing, everything is made right. But true repentance is more than words—it is a forsaking of sin, a turning of the heart towards Christ, and a sincere pursuit of obedience to Him.

Imagine a person who gives generously to the church, volunteers for every ministry, and sings loudly in worship—but at home, they neglect their family, harbor secret sin, and refuse to submit to God’s Word. From the outside, they seem devoted, but their heart is far from God.

This is exactly what we see in the life of King Saul in 1 Samuel 14:47–15:23. Saul was a man who started with great potential, yet he consistently failed where it mattered most: in obeying God.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Legalism is the act of putting a human tradition in the place of God’s law and making obedience to that tradition the grounds of salvation.”

Saul bound everyone to his vow as if it came from the lips of God himself, and then he performed several religious acts in an attempt to earn favor with God. As interesting as it may sound, Saul too is a legalist.

Our passage teaches us three things about legalism: first, legalism places heavy burdens on God's people (vv. 24-30), second, legalism will drive you to sin (vv. 31-35), and lastly, legalism leads to division (vv. 36-46).

The central theme of Jonathan and his armor bearer’s story isn’t about military conquest and personal bravery. It’s a story about God and how he fought for them. After all it was the Lord who threw the Philistines into a confusion and caused them to turn their swords on one another.

And so, from this passage we learn about how the Lord fights: first, we must remember that victory does not come through human strength. Second, we’re reminded that if God is for us, who can be against us? And lastly, in the moments of doubt, remember that the battle belongs to the Lord.

In 1 Samuel 13, Saul finds himself in a pressure cooker situation. The Philistine army has gathered in massive numbers—chariots, horsemen, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore to prepare for war. Saul’s own men are trembling with fear, and many of them are running away. And as his men are fleeing in droves, and the Philistine army is looking more and more ominous, Saul is forced to wait for days on end for Samuel to offer the sacrifices to the Lord.

And of course, we know what happened: as the pressure continued to build Saul decided the best course of action was to defy the word of God and offer the sacrifices himself, and in doing so, he exposed his heart. And we learn several things from this passage: first, we learn that Saul did not wholly trust the Word of God, second, we see that Saul believed it was his own efforts that would protect him, which of course exposed Saul’s weakness as king.

In our passage, we’re reminded that Christians are called to serve and obey the Lord. In fact, it’s exactly what Samuel told the people of Israel in verse 14, “If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.”

Verse 13: “...today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.” You see there’s a clear parallel that you and I must consider: Just as the people of Israel were dependent upon their king to save them, so you and I are dependent upon a king to save us.

We’re totally dependent upon Jesus for our salvation! We must rely on Jesus Christ.

This morning we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in Israel’s history: the coronation of Saul as the first king in Israel. It was supposed to be an exciting, joyous day in Israel, because they finally got what they so desperately wanted: a king.

The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that every detail of your life and of this world is under the sovereign control of God Almighty.

Which is exactly what we see in our passage. It’s another ordinary day for Saul, but God’s providence is quietly working behind the scenes.

God's providence is evident in the anointing of Saul as Israel's first king, reminding us that His holy will is not restricted in any way by human expectations.

The people of Israel have collectively decided that all their problems will be solved if only they had a king. And as we’ll see the problem wasn’t necessarily that they requested a king, but rather what the request suggested: they’d rather depend on themselves than depend on the Lord. They wanted to be self-reliant. They wanted to be totally independent - and that was the problem!

The great puritan writer, Thomas Watson actually wrote a short book called The Doctrine of Repentance. In it he wrote:

“When a spring of repentance is open in the heart, a spring of mercy is open in heaven.”

If you truly repent of your sin and turn to Jesus, you will experience the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of the Lord. There is a direct correlation between repentance and mercy.