TEXT: 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 19:1-7; 20:11-23, 35-42

How would you like to have a prince for a friend? That would be exciting, wouldn’t it? Imagine getting to visit in a palace!

David, the young shepherd who killed the giant, Goliath, was not just going to visit a palace. He was going to live there! He would stay with Jonathan, King Saul’s son. Jonathan would be his friend. How excited David must have been!

Jonathan was happy too. He thought David was the bravest person he knew. He also knew that David loved God. Jonathan loved God too.

At last the great day came. David arrived at the palace. The two young men became good friends. To show David how much he liked him, Jonathan gave David some of his very own clothes to wear. Now David was dressed just like a prince! Then Jonathan gave David his own special sword and bow. He was not jealous of David, even though he knew that some day David would be king instead of him.

David was only a poor shepherd and he had nothing to give to Jonathan in return, except his friendship. He promised always to be a good friend to Jonathan.

One day David was in trouble. King Saul was angry because everyone cared for David more than they cared for their own King! The people liked David because he had been brave and killed Goliath. King Saul was so jealous that he decided to kill David!

David asked Jonathan what he should do. Jonathan told David he must run away and hide so that King Saul could not find him. It was a very sad time for the two friends. They knew they might never see each other again.

Before David left they made a promise to each other. David promised he always would be kind to Jonathan and his family. They agreed that the friendship between their families would last forever.

Jonathan and David said goodbye to each other and David went away. David never did see his friend Jonathan again, but he always remembered what a good friend he had been. David knew Jonathan had helped to save his life. He had warned David and had helped him get away from Saul, Jonathan’s own father.

Later, when David did become king, he welcomed Jonathan’s crippled son into his home and took care of him. In this way, David kept the promise he had made to Jonathan those many years before.

David and Jonathan had a beautiful friendship, despite their differences in background and position in society. We want your child to know that true friends love each other in good times as well as bad.

Help your child make a “Friendship Booklet” to give to a special friend. Across the top of each page let him write the words, “A friend is…………. and then finish the sentence. He might also like to illustrate the message.

Punch holes in the left side of each page and thread the pages together with brightly colored yarn.

FAMILY DEVOTIONS