Pride Sunday & Baptism - June 6
The Love Story of
David & Jonathan
From the first book of Samuel in the Hebrew Scriptures
by Deborah Laforet ©2021
(On June 6, 2021, the Sunday School narrated and illustrated this book for worship. We hope to soon have copy of the illustrated book in the St. Paul’s library.)
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, and a long time ago, there lived a very unhappy king. Even though he was king, he didn’t have a lot of friends, he didn’t have time to play, and he always had to do what others told him to do, even though he was king.
The king became so unhappy that he began to make others unhappy. He would throw things at them. He would yell at them. He would shout at people, “Go away!”
Afterwards, he always felt sad and would cry.
One day, a person in his court had an idea. He knew of a young person in the kingdom who played the lyre beautifully and thought the music might help the king feel better. The king decided to try it.
The young person, named David, came to the king with his lyre and began to play a song. The king instantly felt better and decided that David would live with him and play for him whenever he felt unhappy.
The king had a son named Jonathan. David and Jonathan met and the bible tells us that the “soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
Jonathan and David made promises before God to each other. Jonathan gave David the robe he was wearing, and his armour, even his sword, his bow, and his belt.
David was a warrior and won many battles. Soon, the people of the kingdom began to love David more than the king.
The king learned this and it made him very angry and he made plans to kill David. Jonathan learned about these plans. He warned David and told David to run away.
David and Jonathan were very sad because they thought they might never see each other again. They kissed each other and they wept. They made a promise to always love each other, no matter what.
David ran away and hid in caves. David missed Jonathan and longed to see him. Unfortunately, David and Jonathan never saw each other again.
Not all stories have happy endings. One day, the king and Jonathan died in a battle. David became king, he he was very sad. David had loved Jonathan very much and never forgot him.
Even when David was an old man and he had been king for many, many years, he never forgot Jonathan and always loved him. Jonathan was gone but lived forever in David’s heart.
The End