Helping Each Other Find Strength in God
Originally shared October 26, 2026
When you think about the people whose lives are recounted in Scripture, is there someone you particularly appreciate or relate to?
If you’ve read other Sustain devotionals, you may have noticed that I deeply appreciate David, especially in the rugged honesty he modeled for us in the Psalms. I’ve written about him plenty of times. But another of my favorites—someone who truly moves me—is Jonathan.
Would we have seen David step into all that God was calling him to if it hadn’t been for the support and encouragement of his good friend Jonathan in critical moments?
I mean, we know that the Lord’s purposes ultimately prevail. In this case, though, God gave His servant David a pretty remarkable friend to help see him through some intensely difficult years—times when the call on his life must have seemed quite out of sync with his circumstances.
The truth is that we need each other’s encouragement and support in this journey of faith. No man (or woman) is an island. Our brothers and sisters in the Lord can help us to keep pursuing His purposes for our lives, especially when the going gets tough.
And that is exactly what we see in today's passage. David is on the run from King Saul (Jonathan’s dad), who is wild with jealousy over David’s military success and popularity. Saul recognizes the Lord’s favor on David’s life, but he can’t accept it. He is desperate to protect his throne, though David hasn’t lifted a finger against him.
Into this chaos, David’s true friend Jonathan shows up to support him.
Let’s take a look.
While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.
1 Samuel 23:15-18 (NIV)
This is remarkable on a number of levels.
First, as the son of the current king, Jonathan would have been the natural successor to the throne. What's more, his father Saul was very keen to keep the throne for himself and his family line. Yet, David was the one the prophet Samuel had anointed to be the next king at the instruction of the Lord.
One might expect to see a sense of rivalry between David and Jonathan, but that is not the case at all. Instead, Jonathan’s response was the polar opposite of his father’s. Instead of grasping for power, he recognized the Lord’s will that David be king and embraced it wholeheartedly. He chose to face the rage of his father and lay down his own claim to power rather than to oppose the will of God. As he says to David, “You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you.”
Twice Scripture tells us that Jonathan loved David as himself (1 Samuel 18:1,3).
Who does that remind you of? To me, the selfless love of Jonathan and his willingness to submit to the Father’s will despite the personal cost reflect the heart of our Savior, Jesus.
While David’s life carried great risk and great glory, Jonathan’s life required rare humility and deep loyalty.
In my view, both men’s lives were extraordinary—though their earthly outcomes were so different. David would become king. Jonathan would perish in battle before he saw David ascend to the throne. But both men oriented their lives around the Lord’s purposes. Both men’s paths required deep faith and dependence on the Lord.
Here’s the other thing that I find so beautiful and remarkable in this passage: Jonathan goes to his friend in his time of need. He seeks him out and helps him find strength in God.
He doesn’t help him find strength in his own military prowess. He doesn’t help him find strength in his own ego or selfish ambition of any kind. He doesn’t look for hope in David’s circumstances, which were pretty crummy at that time.
He helped David find strength in his God.
That is, he encouraged his faith. He reiterated the call of God on David’s life.
Jonathan encouraged his friend to keep believing in and pursuing God’s purposes for his life when things were really difficult.
And his humble attitude and actions fully supported his words.
Let’s seek to be this kind of friend.
Let’s be the kind of friend who helps others keep moving toward the Lord and forward on the path He has for them.
I thank God for the people in my life who do this for me. They are priceless. If not for them, I doubt very much whether any of these devotionals would ever have found their way to you.
And if we don’t already have people like this in our lives, let’s ask the Lord to bring them.
Let’s also ask Him to show us the people who are already there who need a friend.
Seeking to follow the Lord and faithfully use the gifts He has given us will absolutely stretch us. There are times when we will struggle or feel weak and discouraged.
This is exactly when a faithful friend can make all the difference.
In moments when it’s hard to keep going… in moments when we feel we have lost the plot in our own lives… we need someone who will listen and understand while also reminding us that our current discouragement doesn’t have the final word.
In these moments, a friend who loves the Lord can gently point us back to His heart and remind us that He still has purpose for our lives.
A faithful word of encouragement, spoken in a critical moment, is powerful.
May God give us grace and discernment to do this for those we love, just as Jonathan did for his friend David.
🌿 Questions for Reflection
Who are the people in your life who have encouraged you to find strength in God? I invite you to pray a prayer of blessing and thanks for these people.
Where might you have the opportunity to be this sort of friend?
🙏 Prayer
Lord,
Thank You that You don’t ask us to walk this road alone. Even David, whose calling was so singular, needed a true friend in his time of need. And we recognize that we also need one another’s encouragement and support on this journey.
Help us to be the kind of friend who seeks out and encourages others. Help us to be friends who will consistently point others back to You, the true source of strength.
May there be no selfish ambition or sense of competition among us, Lord, but rather humble hearts that long to see Your glory and Your purposes at work through all of our lives. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Thanks so much for reading!
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.