It was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.
 There was one, however, who from that day learnt to know him, and this was Jonathan; and what was it then that made the difference? Why was it that Saul, who had such far more abundant reason to remember David, should have so quickly forgotten him? How comes it, on the other hand, that Jonathan's soul was at once knit to David? The reason was the faith of Jonathan, which wrought by love consequently in his heart, and thus left him free to appreciate the excellent fruit of the grace of God in David. Nothing was lost that day on Jonathan, whose soul was knit with David's when he ceased speaking to Saul. How much there was in David that stamped him as a man after God's own heart, and made him an object of the deepest interest and affection to Jonathan! Had it not been for this divine link, David must have seemed, for Jonathan's interests, a dangerous rival and interloper. Granted that this too was precisely the reason for which we shall find Saul allowed a feeling to arise in his heart which at length gained complete mastery over him. But this very fact shows Jonathan's delightful spirit the more, and the disinterestedness which grace produces. For it is plain that the more Jonathan's soul realized, not only the qualities of his friend, but the destinies to which God had assigned him, David grew day by day in the love of Jonathan's heart. The Spirit of God dwells for our instruction on this attractive tale. How differently fared an incomparably greater than David! Deserted when He most needed sympathy, yet Himself cherishing the most gracious appreciation of those whom He had watched over with unfailing love! Yet He says, "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations."
