Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’ ” (I Samuel 20:42 ESV)
Hope and Love
If you do not care about a football team, you do not care whether they do well. If you do not care about a stray dog, you do not care about its meals. If you do not care about a particular tree, you do not care about whether it survives a drought.
Jonathan did not merely care about David. Jonathan loved David. And that love give birth to a deep hope. Jonathan hoped David would find peace, despite the upcoming conflict with Saul. Jonathan hoped David would remain protected by God, so that David would know God’s blessings. Jonathan hoped David would survive the upcoming conflict with Saul, so that their offspring could be united in God.
When it comes to those we love, we hope. We desire the best future for them. We yearn to see them prosper in the Lord. We look forward to hearing good news about them.
And this is how the greatest lover of all time regards us. He hopes for us. (Hebrews 2:13) Because He loves us.
We get to imitate Him. As He hoped and hopes for us, we can hope for our beloved, too. Knowing that God has good things in store for His children allows us to be secure in that hope. We are not so much hoping in our beloved, but we are hoping in HIM for our beloved.
That is a lot of hope.
Take the love God grants us.