Covenant Confidence

The love that David and Jonathan had for each other is described in terms that impress the reader with its depth of devotion and loyalty. It’s a type of love prized in human experience. However, their affection for one another was not the basis of their appeals that the other would faithfully extend kindness. They had covenanted together before God, and it was that bond, with its attending promises, that gave them confidence to expect benevolence from the other, even in the face of circumstances that could easily have tempted either of them to serve their own interests.

The covenant between these two friends is a reflection of the covenant God has made with his people. It’s a bond that has as its corollary chesed, the Hebrew term most often translated “loving-kindness” or “steadfast love.” As the writer of Hebrews explains, God desiring “to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose guaranteed it with an oath.”  He made a promise to Abraham and “since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you’” (Hebrews 6:17; 6:13-14). With that “surely,” God put himself on the line. He would stand by his word to extend chesed to those with whom he is in covenant.

This type of generous pledge making is reflected in the language of traditional marriage vows. The parties to the marriage vow “to have and to hold [the other] from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.” Don’t you long for that kind of love -- for love that is, in the words of Dale Ralph Davis, “not merely love, but loyal love; not merely kindness, but dependable kindness; not merely affection, but affection that has committed itself”? David and Jonathan made good on their vows. Unfortunately, some 50% of those who make such vows at a wedding do not. We can be assured, however, of God’s chesed for he has promised it and sealed his promise with the blood of his Son.