And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him:“for he loved him as he loved his own soul (1 Sam. 20:17).

Then Jonathan said to David: “To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty” (1 Sam. 20:18).

David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times; and they kissed one another, and wept with one another, until David recovered himself. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, for ever.” And he rose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city”(1 Sam 20:41-42).

Two of my closest and dearest friends have recently gone home to be with the Lord. Pastor Dennis Walters and Pastor Abraham Dubbeld. I was working at home when the phone rang. A few moments later Darlene came into the room crying and with a trembling, halting voice announced, “Denny just passed away.” Immediately I thought of what Jonathan had said to David when David, his friend, was leaving him, “Tomorrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.”

Our first engagement involved an 8 day revival meeting. Each evening we held services at the church and each afternoon was an evangelistic outreach. Denny being a weight lifter and a member of the Minnesota Gophers college football team had a program that Denny called “Strength Feats with Spiritual Features.” These were conducted in the city park and city schools. Denny was the strongest man I ever met. His ministry had a great attraction and resulted in a large harvest of souls. However, his greatest strength was his love for the Lord and His Word. He truly was a giant man of God. Being so humble and gentle and so strong, he was rightly called a “Gentle Giant.”

It was at that time, shortly after I came to see the Word of God “rightly divided,” that I challenged Denny with the truth of the “Mystery.” It was not long after that when Denny called and announced that God had wonderfully opened his eyes to Dispensational Truth. He never wavered in that decision even though it alienated him from a large circle of family and friends. Later, I invited Denny to become my partner in ministry by becoming our Associate Pastor. Denny went on to earn a Master of Theology Degree and became the founding pastor of the Grace Fellowship Chapel where he pastored for the past 18 years. He also directed the literature ministry of “Dimensions in Doctrine.”

10 years ago, Denny was invited to join our BDTLB Board of Directors. In that capacity he was my closest companion, advisor and dearest friend. In many ways Denny carried much of the burden in the coordinating and conducting of our Soul Winning Conferences – “Grace Revival for Evangelism”

Pastor Denny Walters,

“thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.”

Abraham Dubbeld was my friend. While on the way home from Denny Walters Funeral, I received a cell phone message that Brother Dubbeld had gone home to the Lord. I was shaken. Two empty seats in one week! Brother Dubbeld had worked side by side with his dear wife Ruth for a good number of years as volunteers in our BDTLB Literature Department.

The first time I ever met him I knew I had a friend! He was old enough to be my father and yet we had many passions in common. He had invited me to his church in Portage, Michigan to conduct a Crossroads Crusade. Unlike so many other churches, their preparation included more than an announcement in the church bulletin, and advertisement in the city newspaper. Pastor Dubbeld insisted that we go door-to-door passing out tracts and giving the gospel to as many as would give us their ear. This endeared him to me. His was a passion rare to be found.

You would think someone doing as Pastor Dubbeld did, that he would tend to be overbearing and overly aggressive. He was quite the opposite. He was always so pleasantly humble, gentle and a quiet personality. He was truly a spiritual, Christ-like man of God.

This love for souls also manifested itself in the literature he authored. His was a very fruitful pen. He wrote hundreds of gospel tracts that are being circulated in many different languages and distributed generously around the world. He never wavered from his love for the Lord and His Word.

Pastor Abraham Dubbeld,

“thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.”

Application

There are two comments I want to make resulting from my reading of 1^st Samuel 20:1- 42 and what I have said about my dear friends, Denny and Abe. The first concerning the preciousness of friendship and the second being the sorrow of separation.

The Preciousness of Friendship

It would be impossible to find a biblical account that would illustrate the depth or intensity of friendship better than what existed between Jonathan and David. There is something in this example that excites the emotions of both men and women concerning the need for a friend and the desire to have a friend. No one would discount the value and intimacy of the parent-child; husband-wife; brother-sister; brother-brother relationship. Nonetheless, some would not rate a friend-friend relationship (a pure spiritual affection subsisting between the sexes, unmixed with carnal desires and regarding the mind only) on a par with these. Of this kind of relationship, the Bible is very clear in the high estimation of its merit.

“Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; And go not to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off” (Prov 27:10).

“A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity” (Prov 17:17).

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov 18:24).

In my opinion, friendship is a fellowship that is equal in love and greatness and sometimes surpasses other human associations. Such was the friendship of Jonathan and David!

This friendship had been put to the test by the circumstances and events in the lives of both of these men. Life for them was not easy, comfortable or without tension – being from two competing families for the throne of Israel. Jonathan was the son of King Saul and David the son of Jesse – a sheep and goat herder. From human viewpoint Jonathan was the heir-apparent to the Throne of Israel.

King Saul saw David as a threat to his throne. And, at the same time, perceived Jonathan to be forfeiting his right to the throne and the kingdom because of his friendship with David. He told Jonathan, “as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and fetch him to me, for he shall surely die”. For that reason Saul, in a heated rage and with harsh language, calls Jonathan “the son of a whore,” thus implying that, in this friendship, he is shaming himself and has put his mother to shame, who as the Queen Mother should be the most honored woman in the nation (1 Sam 20:30-31).

Jonathan, was a believer. Samuel, the Prophet, had anointed David. The throne and the kingdom would, by divine appointment, become David’s (1Sam 16:13). Jonathan believed that to be true and realized that the tensions and the hatred of Saul toward David were a real danger to their friendship and David, too, was concerned that the enmity between the two families would be a hazard.

At this point, Jonathan and David adjourn their conversation saying, "Come, let us go out into the field." And Jonathan said to David, "The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness” (1 Sam 20:11-12)! Here, in the privacy of the field, they pledge their loyalty and love in a “forever” covenant - saying: “Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, for ever.’ And he rose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city”(1 Sam 20:42).

Jonathan and David are like Job the Patriarch who said, “He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). They had submitted their love and friendship to the harsh realities of life which proved its genuineness and strength to be as pure gold. Oh! Such friendship is both needed and desired!

The Sorrow of Separation

“The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall; Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty”(1 Sam 20:25).

Some things are better felt than explained. Such is the case of David and Jonathan, two friends, when, of necessity, they must go their separate ways and never again came together but once again in secret (1 Sam 23:16). Separation is a very painful and emotional experience.

The King’s table, where they commonly and expectantly met to break bread and fellowship, was now vacant. The familuar warmth and laughter is gone. The comeraderie and companionship is gone. The shoulder to lean upon, when advice and counsel are needed, is gone.

Only the person who has anticipated renewed fellowship with a loved one will really know the sorrow and sadness that is felt when, upon arriving at the work place, class, easy chair or a room finds it empty. Such is the grief expressed as Jonathan and David prepare to be separated. “David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed three times; and they kissed one another, and wept with one another, until David recovered himself”(1 Sam 20:41).

Conclusion

As sad as this parting may be it is not without an element of comfort. The two friends made a “Forever Covenant” – a promise to be kind and faithful to each other and their families from generation to generation. This is no doubt why David was benevolent towards Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth (2 Sam 9:13). This comfort does in a small way apply to those of us who are left behind. This promise is proof that Jonathan and David believed in an eternal reunion.

Dear friends, Jonathan’s, David’s, Denny’s and Brother Dubbled’s seats are empty today and they will not and cannot be filled. We are separated from them. We shall go to them when we vacate our seat. We will see them again when we gather with the saints at the feet of the Lord Jesus. We refuse to say good-bye. Thus, while we are at home in the body and absent from the Lord, our comfort is found in a similar “Forever Promise.”

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thess 4:14-18).

I wonder if there are those today who have never taken time to receive Jesus. I wonder if there are those today who never have trusted Christ. Remember:

What a Friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.