1 Samuel - The Coming King Exemplo

Courage is a much undervalued part of Christian character. It’s not something that’s mentioned lots, but it’s vital for discipleship. How can we ever hope to take up our cross and follow Jesus without courage? This passage teaches us about the importance of courage. The background is Israel’s helplessness and hopelessness in the face of Philistine raiding parties (13:16–22). Most of the army has deserted, and Saul and his army are essentially in hiding. 

In the middle of this, we see the ‘crazy’, faith-filled courage of Jonathan (14:6). He reasons that the best defence is a good offence. He decides, together with his armour bearer, to mount a tiny, brazen, all-out assault on a Philistine fort. This is the definition of risk-taking. Jonathan knows, though, that numbers and strength, and even swords (13:22), don’t matter to God. Wisely, Jonathan doesn’t presume to know what the Lord will do (notice the ‘perhaps’ in 14:6), but he knows what the Lord can do. Amazingly, it’s a massive success as the whole Philistine army is routed (v. 15). 

The contrasts between Jonathan and Saul in this story are obvious. While Jonathan is racing up a cliff, Saul is sat under a pomegranate tree (v. 2). While Jonathan wields his sword, Saul has his sword tucked in its sheath. While Jonathan only has his armour bearer for reinforcements, Saul has six hundred men. While Jonathan is leading the army, Saul is sitting around. While Jonathan trusts the Lord, Saul is hanging out with Ahijah, from Eli’s rejected line of priests (v. 3). When we set Jonathan up against Saul, we see that Saul’s carefulness isn’t godly prudence, but cowardice. 

We’re not called to be fools, but when did we last do something ‘crazy’ for Jesus? Has our carefulness become a spiritual trap? Or is our confidence in the Lord giving us courage in our discipleship? If we want to see amazing things from God, we will have to risk amazing things for God.

REFLECTION

1. How much have you thought about courage as an important part of Christian character?

2. What fuels Christian courage? What fuels sinful cowardice?