And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. 1 Samuel 23:16 NIV

This is a great little verse that merits further study. In order for me to show you what the Lord has taught me through this verse, I need you to do me a favor, however. Pretend this verse is all you know about these characters. I'm sure you know the characters well, and we should never take scripture out of context, but for illustration purposes, pretend with me. If we knew nothing about these people, and all we had was this verse, I believe we could discover some important principles about these characters.

The first character we meet is Saul. From this verse we can figure out that Saul must be somebody. When our boys started school, I often stopped being Ron, and started being Jeremy and Nathaniel's father. Ever feel that way. Saul evidently was someone people would know, because Jonathon was called his son. We also know that he was a father, and that he had a son. We know that outside this verse, Saul is an important character in God's Word.

The second character is Jonathan. Of course we know that Jonathan is Saul's son, but we also know that he was apparently someone who was willing and able to help. The verse says that Jonathan "went" to David. It doesn't appear anyone forced him to do so.

It also shows that Jonathan was an individual who could help David. The verb is "helped", past tense. Jonathan helped David. And, the verse tells us that Jonathan knew where to ask for help. Jonathan came for a specific purpose, to motivate David to be closer to God. We need more Jonathans in the church today!

The third character in the verse is David. David was so well written about in Old Testament, but if this is all you knew, what could we discover about him? First, I think we can clearly see that David had a need. Jonathan wouldn't have went to help him if he hadn't. Also, David made himself available to Jonathan. It is hard to help people if they don't allow you into their life. Evidently, David was one that knew that God was the place to find strength. He allowed Jonathan access to his life, so that he could find his strength in his Creator. We need more Davids in the church today, as well!

The final character in this verse is God, and He is the most important. He is the central focus of the verse. If we only had this verse to learn about God, we could know three things about God. First, God was willing to help. Apparently David did find his strength, with Jonathan's help, in God. Second, God was available. It doesn't read as though finding God was difficult. We don't know how long the search was, but the active parties appear to be Jonathan and David. God was waiting to be found. Third, I read the verse to indicate that God was sufficient! The verse doesn't say that Jonathan helped David find God and his lucky charm. They didn't look for God and and a four leaf clover. They didn't search for God and the psychic hotline number. Jonathan helped David find his strength in God. God was sufficient for whatever need David had.

And God is willing, available, and sufficient for you and me today!

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