Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days [to realize the brevity of life], that we may gain a heart of [or grow in] wisdom.

Someone who understood the principle of numbering their days was Jonathan, the son of King Saul.  What most remember about Jonathan is that he be-friended David and submitted to God’s calling of David to be the next king of Israel.  Jonathan never demanded that the throne be passed down to himself as the reigning prince.  As we’re about to see In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan was an incredible soldier who had real, practical, and inspiring faith in the LORD.

Here’s the Context

1 Samuel 14 begins with Israel’s army, The Lord’s Army hiding in a desolate area with a lot of caves in Gibeah.  In Chapter 13, Israel defeated the Amorites, and Jonathan defeated a group of Philistines in a small skirmish; as he saw tensions grow, Saul foolishly declared war against the Philistines, who were suddenly “as numerous as the sand on the seashore” from their perspective, according to v5 – he “kicked the hornets’ nest”.  Saul’s soldiers knew they were over-matched, and they “were quaking with fear” (v7).  Saul’s arrogance in going to battle against a superior enemy without seeking wisdom from God led to more and more disobedience.  Saul sees things are falling apart.  And to make things worse, instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive before offering a sacrifice, like he was told to do, Saul arrogantly and foolishly offered a sacrifice [but what He was really doing was desperately asking God to bless his disobedience, rather than striving to be bless-able!].  And guess who shows up as soon as he’s finished?  The prophet Samuel.  Instead of giving divine blessing, Samuel rebuked Saul saying in v14, “But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler of His people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14).

Then the army of the Lord retreated and hid in caves in Gibeah.  While they were hiding, the Philistines raided the neighboring villages, confiscating all weapons.  When we come to Chapter 14, the Bible says that only 2 swords remained:  Saul’s and Jonathan’s.  The rest of the army had to resort to using sharpened farm tools for weapons.  And under Philistine control, the local towns charged ridiculous prices for iron work and basic needs, so some of the Israelites resorted to crossing over and hiding among the Philistines just to survive. [They blended in]

In this defeated, depressed, desperate, and discouraging circumstance, Jonathan chose to depend on God.

1 Samuel 14:1-23 – 1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer [think personal assistant], “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.”  But he did not tell his father.

Why not?  Saul may not have approved of Jonathan’s bold decision.  We then find out where Saul was in v2:

2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron.  With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod [think priest utility- belt, except it’s a smock with pockets].  He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh…

So Jonathan sets out on this adventure of faith, just him, the Lord, and his armor-bearer.

…No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

1. Seek God

From chapter 7 we know Jonathan knew God promised He would deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines if they would repent and turn to God with their whole heart.  Jonathan also realized that the Lord was not blessing hiding in the caves of Gibeah where his father had set up camp.  He was convicted and compelled to go where God was working.  In Isaiah, God says He shares his glory with no one, but will show His glory thru anyone who trusts Him.  There is no glory in hiding instead of trusting God.  “You can’t go with God and stay where you are.”  Jonathan chose to go w