1S20-8: ‘Faith By Itself, If It Is Not Accompanied by Action, Is DEAD!’

“Therefore show kindness to your servant, for you bound your servant to yourself by a covenant before Adonai. But if I have done something wrong, kill me yourself! Why turn me over to your father?”-1 Samuel 20:8

Do you have a friend, colleague, or acquaintance who is unreliable?

When I say “unreliable”, I mean there is a HUGE gap between what they say they will do and what they actually do.

They say they’re going to meet you at 4 pm at some location, but they show up an hour late…

They promise to take certain actions for a business project both of you are supposed to be collaborating on, but they never follow through…

They agree to return your phone calls and messages on time, but they never do…

Sometimes it’s weeks (in some crazy cases, even months) before they get back to you…

Ever had someone like that in your life?

It’s frustrating as all hell, isn’t it?

Now why am I bringing this up?

Well, take a look at verse 8 in 1st Samuel Chapter 20.

David is appealing to the covenant of loyalty and friendship he had entered into with Jonathan.

He is saying that because of this covenant, Jonathan ought to show him “kindness”.

Now that word doesn’t accurately capture what Jonathan is really saying here.

The original Hebrew is CHESED.

In this context, this word would be better translated as “faithfulness”, “integrity”, or “reliability”.

CHESED isn’t just “being nice” or “polite” towards someone.

David is invoking a covenant relationship here.

In other words, he is asking Jonathan to follow through with what he promised.

Vigorous ACTION was the only order of the day.

If Jonathan did NOT follow through, not only would he be breaking the covenant between them, but a divine penalty would result because the covenant was made in Adonai’s Holy Name.

The lesson to be learned here is that a person’s words mean NOTHING if there aren’t any actions to back them up.

Think of all the folks who go to some evangelical event, “commit” their lives to Christ by saying the “Sinners Prayer”, and then a week later, they’ve returned to their old and unredeemed ways.

Onward.

So Jonathan responds to David by letting him know he can trust him.

Then David asks an important question:

“Who will tell me in the event your
father gives you a harsh answer?”

That’s a darn important question…

And it perfectly dovetails with our takeaway for today about reliability.

See, the reason why David was asking Jonathan if it was gonna be him or some other person involved was because if it was gonna be another person, David would need time to verify that person’s RELIABILITY.

Involving other players added a significant element of jeopardy to the plan being hatched.

This leads to another takeaway and I’ll close with this.

Before entering into a relationship with another person, do your due diligence…

Just like David was doing here with Jonathan…

That girl you’re thinking of marrying?

She may have a body count higher than King Solomon.

That guy you’re thinking of going into business with?

He may have been convicted of fraud multiple times in the past.

That congregation you’re thinking of attending?

It may be involved in some sordid financial practices to fleece its members of all their money.

Ya feeling me here homies?

DO. YOUR. DUE. DILIGENCE.

Done.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone claims to have faith
but has no deeds?
Can such faith save them?
Suppose a brother or a sister is
without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace;
keep warm and well fed,’
but does nothing about their
physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead.”
-James 2:14-17