ad a hard time recently. He has been sorely tried. He has
been bitterly disappointed. He has passed through one great sorrow
after another. I am afraid his faith is going to be destroyed. I am
afraid he will lose his grip of God unless I go to see him and help him
and strengthen his hand in the Lord. And that is why I am going."

And so Jonathan hurries on. And the angels must have crowded the
windows of heaven to behold him as he walked upon this glorious errand.
I would go a bit out of my way any time to get to see a man who is
going to see his friend, not to ask for help, but going for the one big
purpose of making the man whom he is to visit a little stronger, a
little better, a little more loyal to his Lord.

And not only did Jonathan go for that purpose, but he succeeded in it.
When he left David, he left him a stronger man. I do not know what he
said to him. That is not recorded. I do not know that he quoted
scripture to him or even prayed with him. He may have. He may not
have. It is not absolutely necessary to have prayer always in order to
strengthen our friend in the Lord. Sometimes all we need to do is just
to talk to him and let him talk, and convince him that we sympathize
with him, that we are interested in him. And having done that, somehow
he comes more and more to believe in God's interest.

But whatever Jonathan said, David was stronger and better and braver
after he had gone. I think I can hear him as he looks after the
retreating figure going through the forest. And what he is saying to
himself is this, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me,
bless His holy name." And I think when the books are balanced in
Heaven that Jonathan will get quite a bit of credit for David's
exquisite music. There are terrible clashes in his songs. "He that
did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me." Jonathan did
not inspire that. But there is many a blessed passage that might never
have been written but for the loyal and loving and constant friendship
of Prince Jonathan.

And last of all, this visit was beautiful in its self-forgetfulness.
Its beauty reached its climax here. Just think of the circumstances.
Samuel, the prophet, has declared that David is to be king. But in
everybody's mind, the throne by right belongs to Jonathan. David is in
perplexity. He is on the point of losing his faith. If he loses it he
never will be king. This will give Jonathan his chan