Sons of Encouragement

by Francine Rivers

  Jonathan went to her.

  “Your son.” Rachel gazed at the baby in the crook of her arm. “So beautiful. Like his father.” Her breath was faint. She looked at the nurse standing close by, who, weeping, leaned down and took the infant.

  Jonathan’s throat closed. He was filled with regrets. He loved his wife, but Israel had always been his passion. Not once had Rachel complained. Now, she wore the pallor of approaching death. He struggled with guilt. “He is perfect, Rachel. A gift from the Lord.” His voice caught in his throat. He took his wife’s hand and kissed the palm. “Thank you.”

  “Jonathan. Do not look so sad, my love.” She could barely whisper. “The people need you.” He leaned down so that her lips were against his ear. “Our son must have a proper name.”

  His eyes filled. “Try to rest.”

  “No time,” she whispered. “Merib-baal is a good name.”

  One who contends against idols. Jonathan couldn’t speak. He held her hand tighter.

  Her fingers moved weakly. “Or Mephibosheth.”

  One who would destroy the shame of idol worship in Israel. Jonathan could only nod. Let it be so, Lord. May my son rise up to praise Your Name. He kissed Rachel’s hand again and held it cradled tenderly between his own. She sighed softly, the light fading from her eyes. He closed them with shaking fingers and wept.

  He did not leave her chambers until morning light. He washed, prayed, gave offerings as the Law prescribed, and then returned to the increasingly difficult duties of a prince guarding the realm for an absent king.

  Jonathan kept his son close as he grew. He read the Law aloud to Merib-baal even as a babe still in the arms of a nurse. When Jonathan held court beneath the tamarisk tree, he held Merib-baal in his lap as he heard cases and made judgments in accordance with God’s law. When the child grew restless, Jonathan gave the boy over to his nurse.

  When Merib-baal began to walk, he toddled among the elders and counselors. Jonathan wanted Merib-baal accustomed to the counsel of men. His son must have no fear when voices were raised in disagreement. For one day, God willing, his son would have a place among the council and would fight for the abolition of all idols from Israel.

  Jonathan made a miniature bow and arrows for his son and patiently taught him how to shoot into a basket.

  Merib-baal wanted to go everywhere Jonathan did, and was often seen out in the field, watching and playing as his father practiced with his bow.

  “You cannot go with me to war, my son.” Perhaps, one day, when his son was grown, he would have to go, but Jonathan prayed continually that Israel would conquer their enemies and end the wars. He prayed that his son’s generation could sit without fear beneath their olive trees and watch their crops grow. But the day when King Saul rested peacefully with his forefathers—and Jonathan stood beside the next king, David—was a dream yet to come.

  Jonathan continued his work to unite the tribes against their common enemy, the Philistines. He urged his younger brothers to follow God rather than men. He pressed his father to repent and trust in the God who had called him to be king over Israel.

  And often he despaired, for his efforts changed little. Least of all the heart of a jealous king, or of the king’s youngest sons.

  Yet again, Saul heard reports of David’s hiding place, and prepared to go after his sworn enemy.

  “David spares your life time and again!” Jonathan reminded him, knowing it was futile.

  “Only to humiliate me!”

  “He has sworn he will not raise a hand against you.”

  “Should I believe such a vow when he gathers an army around him? He will never raise his hand against me because I will kill him first!”

  “How many years will it take before you realize David will never fight against you?”

  Deaf to all reason, Saul stormed out.

  Abner looked grim. Was he growing weary of this chase? “If anything happens to your father, I will make sure the crown is placed upon your head and no other.”

  “The crown will go to the man God chooses.”

  “And why wouldn’t God choose you? The people love you. You look like a king. You tend the people like a king. It would be to everyone’s advantage if you were king.”

  Jonathan went cold. God, spare us from ambitious men! He gripped the neck of Abner’s breastplate and yanked the commander forward. Nose to nose, he spoke in a low voice. “If my father falls, Abner, you had better fall with him!”

  The outposts Jonathan had established sent out warriors to keep watch over the Philistines. Jonathan pored over maps, afraid of what the future held.

  Reports came more frequently. “King Saul returns from the wilderness of Ziph.”

  Relieved, Jonathan went out to greet his father at the gate. Saul came toward Gibeah, head down, shoulders slumped, riding well in front of his officers.

  “May the Lord bless your homecoming, my lord.” Jonathan bowed low. As he raised his head, he saw a look on his father’s face that gave him hope that the long years of chasing David were at an end.

  Saul dismounted and embraced him. “I trust no one but you, my son!” He cast a quick glance at Abner and turned to the elders who had come to welcome him home.

  Jonathan followed the king to his palace.

  As soon as he was out of sight of the welcoming crowds, King Saul kicked over urns and shouted at the servants to get out of his sight. Even Rizpah, the king’s mistress, fled. Saul flung himself onto his throne and buried his head in his hands. “I can trust no one.” He groaned as though in terrible pain.

  “What happened in the wilderness, Father?”

  Moaning, he gripped his head. “David! I hate the very name!” He surged to his feet. “I awoke one night with him shouting down at me. I thought I was dreaming, but there he was, standing on the hill across from our camp. David said Abner deserved to die for not protecting me. Abner and all his men deserved to die.” Saul paced.

  Jonathan offered him a goblet of wine to calm him, but the king threw it across the room.

  “ ‘Look around!’ David said. ‘Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?’ He held up my water jug and spear!” Saul trembled as he looked at Jonathan. “Tell me! How is it possible for a man to walk through three thousand men and reach me? Is he a sorcerer? Is he a ghost? Or do my own warriors hope he will kill me?”

  “Father—”

  Exasperated, Saul raised his hands in the air. “I cried out to him, ‘Is that you, my son David?’” His eyes grew wild. “I called him my son. And he demanded to know why I’m pursuing him. He demanded to know what he had done, what crime he was guilty of. He accused my servants of inciting me against him! And he cursed them! He claims they’ve driven him from his home and the inheritance God promised him. He said they hoped he would serve other gods. He cried out that I must not allow him to die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the Lord.”

  Saul’s face twisted in an agony of frustration as he continued. “He said I had come out to look for a flea as I would hunt a partridge in the mountains!” He sank onto his throne and sobbed. “If he were a flea, I would have crushed him long ago!”

  Jonathan pitied his father. Pride goeth before a fall.

  Saul pounded his knees. “I said I would not harm him. I said I had been a fool and very, very wrong.” His eyes were black holes of despair. “And he would not come to me! He would not come! He threw my spear so that it was between us and ordered one of my men to get it. Do you see how he taunts me? And then he said the Lord gives His own reward for doing good and for being loyal. He boasted that the Lord had placed me in his power and he had refused to kill me.”

  Saul held his head, eyes shut, as though he wanted to crush the words echoing in his mind. “David said, ‘Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May He rescue me from all my troubles.’”

  “David will never raise his hand against you, Father.”

  Saul rose. “He won’t ha
ve to when the kingdom goes after him. All my men watched. I could do nothing but bless my enemy.” His mouth twisted as he spat out bitter words. “‘You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.’ I said that to him and then he turned his back on me and went away. He turned his back on me!” He pounded his chest. “I am king! No matter what Samuel said, I hold the power! I—” The madness suddenly went out of his eyes and he looked frightened. “How did David come so close? He must have stood over me, my own spear in his hand.”

  “And yet, did not kill you.”

  Saul didn’t seem to hear. “Abner was right beside me. My men were all around me. Sleeping! Or were they? Maybe they watched and hoped David would kill me.”

  “It is the Lord who allowed David to come close to you. The Lord has given you another opportunity to repent.”

  Saul’s head came up. “Repent?” Saul shook his head. “I’ve done nothing wrong. God chose me to be king! Is it not right that a king should protect his kingdom?” He clenched his hands. “Why won’t you go out with me against my enemy David? He would come to you, Jonathan, and I could kill him. And then this rebellion would all be over! You’re my son, heir to my throne! Why won’t you fight to hold on to what belongs to us?”

  Long ago, Samuel had told Jonathan to speak the truth, even when the king wouldn’t want to hear it. “I will fight beside you against any enemy of Israel. But David is not one of them.”

  “David is my worst enemy!” Saul’s face contorted in rage. “David must die!”

  Years of frustration and crushed hope ripped away the walls of restraint. Furious, Jonathan cried out. “Lies and deceit! All of it! You are your own worst enemy! Pride rules your heart and we all suffer for it!”

  Eyes wide, Saul sank back into his throne. “Is it not enough that God hates me? Now my own son—my favorite, my heir—hates me, too?” When not shouting like a madman, Saul whined like a child.

  “I don’t hate you. God knows! I honor you. You’re my father. But I have watched the Lord give you chance after chance, and you continue to reject Him!”

  Saul put his fists over his eyes. “The Lord has clothed me in disgrace!” His mouth trembled.

  An inexplicable compassion filled Jonathan. Words of the Law filled his mind and heart: The Lord is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. “The Lord forgives those who turn back to Him.” The promise of a dynasty was gone, but surely peace with God was worth more than any crown upon a man’s head! “Return to the Lord, Father, for if you don’t, the Lord will not allow your sin to go unpunished. The Lord will punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generation. Your rebellion against God will cause Merib-baal and all his cousins to suffer!”

  “I’m tired.” Saul let out a heavy breath. “I’m so tired of chasing after David . . .”

  “Then stop!”

  Saul looked up at him, his eyes glistening. “You will make a fine king one day. Far better than I.”

  “I do not wish to rule, Father—only to serve.” Jonathan went down on one knee before his father. “When a man loves the Lord God of Israel with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, perhaps then he may ask for the desire of his heart.”

  Saul’s expression softened. “What do you desire, my son?”

  “I want to destroy the Philistines. I want to drive God’s enemies from our land. I want to unite our people beneath one king, the king God has anointed. I want our people to be at peace with God!”

  “You want God back on the throne.”

  “Yes!” With all his heart, Jonathan wished it could be so.

  David escaped to Philistia with his army and lived in Gath under the protection of King Achish. David had two wives with him. One had brought him an alliance with Jezreel, and the other, the great wealth of Nabal of Carmel.

  Jonathan grieved at the reports he heard. Had David forgotten the Law? The Law said a king was not to have multiple wives! Women would divide his heart. Had the years of fleeing Saul made David value military alliances over obeying the Lord their God?

  “So much for your friend’s loyalty. He beds down with our enemies,” Saul said.

  “And may return with information we sorely need.”

  Saul shook his head, refusing to believe any good of David. “If he learns the secret to forging iron, he will use it to make weapons against us.”

  Abner looked at Jonathan grimly. “Achish has given David Ziklag.”

  Saul raged. “He is out of my reach living in Philistine territory.”

  Anger welled in Jonathan. “It will please you both to remember that Goliath was from Gath. David will be no more welcome in Gath than he is in Judah.”

  “I had forgotten.” Saul laughed. “Goliath’s relatives will serve me well if they kill him.”

  Jonathan knew better. Not even Goliath’s relatives would last long against David and his mighty men. The Lord protected them.

  Over the ensuing months, Jonathan heard rumors. David went out on raids and returned with sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels. But none of the villages that had been raided in Israel had seen David.

  Jonathan remembered how he and David had plotted raids upon the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, enemies of Israel from ancient times. The Amalekites had been the worst of all, murdering the weak and weary stragglers who could not keep up with the slaves fleeing Egypt.

  Jonathan suspected where David gained his wealth. But the raids added to the danger David was in. Being familiar with the Hebrew songs honoring David for killing his tens of thousands, the Philistine commanders would have no reason to trust David! And knowing that David ran from Saul, they’d wonder what better way to prove himself and win back Saul’s favor than by betraying his hosts, the Philistines.

  Jonathan laughed at David’s boldness, as David grew rich from raiding Philistine villages while living under the protection of the king! Surely the Lord laughed as well. David would have time now to learn the secrets of forging iron.

  Not a doubt regarding his friend entered Jonathan’s mind. One day, David would return to Israel, and he would bring with him the resources and knowledge gained from the Philistines.

  The only question was whether the Lord would allow David to return in time to save Saul from his own miscalculations.

  Heading for Aphek, the Philistines gathered their forces, and Jonathan feared they brought God’s judgment with them.

  Jonathan lifted Merib-baal onto his shoulders and went out into the fields. “Run, Abba! Run!” Merib-baal spread his arms like an eagle and squealed with laughter as Jonathan ran.

  Reaching the stone pile, Jonathan lifted his son down and set him upon his feet. “I must go away again, my son.”

  “Me go, too.”

  “No.”

  “Don’t go.” Merib-baal wrapped his arms around Jonathan’s neck and clung.

  Jonathan held him tight and then pried his son’s arms loose and held them at his side. “Stand still. You must listen now, Merib-baal. This is important. Look at me!” The boy raised his tear-streaked face. “Remember what I’ve taught you. Always worship the Lord our God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.”

  Jonathan touched his son’s chest and forehead, and ran his hands down his son’s arms. He struggled against the emotions filling him. Was his son too young yet to understand? Lord, make him understand. Open his heart to my words.

  Digging his fingers into the earth, Jonathan took Merib-baal’s hand. He poured soil into it. “This is land the Lord our God gave to us. It is our inheritance. We are God’s people. Your abba must go away and fight to make sure no one takes it from us. Do you understand?”

  “I don’t want you to go.” Merib-baal had his mother’s eyes. Doe eyes filled with innocence and sorrow.

  Oh, God, protect my son! The boy’s weeping pierced Jonathan’s heart. Jonathan knew there was always a chance he might not return. He had never talked of David with his son before, but perhaps
he was old enough now. He had to be old enough. He held Merib-baal away. “Do you know who David is?”

  “Enemy.”

  “No. No, Merib-baal. You must listen to me. David is my friend. He is your friend, too.” Jonathan cupped his son’s face. “Remember this, Merib-baal. One day you will meet David. When you do, I want you to bow down to him. Bow down with your face to the ground the way men do before Grandfather. God has chosen David to be the next king over Israel. David will be your king. Do whatever David asks of you. Be his friend as your abba has been his friend. Don’t make him sad.”

  Merib-baal nodded.

  Lifting his son, Jonathan swung him back onto his shoulders and headed back to Gibeah.

  The child’s nurse waited at the city gate and followed them to the house.

  Jonathan put his son down, hugged and kissed him. He buried his face in the side of his son’s neck, inhaling his scent.

  Merib-baal’s arms tightened around his neck. “I love you, Abba.”

  Jonathan’s heart lurched. “I love you, too, my son.” He combed his fingers through the thick curly locks of soft hair. “Practice with your bow. Listen to the reading of God’s law every day.” Jonathan had made arrangements for it to be read in his absence. “Go now and play while I speak with your nurse.” He straightened, watching his son scamper off.

  “If you should hear that the Philistines have defeated us, hide my son quickly. Do you understand?” The Philistines would sweep across the land, hunting down all of Saul’s relatives and putting them to the sword if they could.

  “Yes, my lord.”

  He saw the nurse understood. “Do as I’ve instructed. Do not wait for the counsel of others. Get Merib-baal away from Gibeah. Keep him safe until David becomes king. Then take my son to him.”

  “But, my lord—”

  “You need not fear David.” Jonathan prepared to leave. “He and I made a covenant of friendship. David will keep his oath.”

  Jonathan saw terror in his father’s eyes when the king heard that a great multitude of Philistine warriors was headed for Shunem, and David was sighted among their numbers, marching at the rear with King Achish.