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Covenant: Define the Relationship
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Why is covenant important?
Covenant is the basis of all meaningful relationships in life. It clarifies our priorities by distinguishing between those with whom we are to build life vs. those who are merely passerby. Most importantly, covenant is the basis of our relationship with the living God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Just as last week we learned that covenant relationships help catalyze the purposes of God in our lives, today we will see how these covenant relationships help maintain vision to fulfill God’s purposes.
Focus: We will better understand covenant when we know that it is meant to help maintain our vision in God.
Opaque Times
Defining the Relationship
Christ our Covenant Vision
Opaque Times
1 Samuel 23:15-29
David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord.
David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home. Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.” And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.”
So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
Covenant relationships help us see God clearly during challenging times. It is easy during challenging times to lose focus, hope and vision for the ultimate high calling that we have in God. During trying periods we begin to ask questions of ourselves like:
What is God’s endgame?
What’s the point of all this suffering and when will it end?
How do I protect God’s vision for my life and continue in faithfulness?
This is the challenge through which David and his men undoubtedly had to press while being on the run from King Saul. As David and his men continued their flight, they moved through Ziph, a town in the Judean mountains. Unfortunately, just like the people of Keilah, the people of Ziph were willing to give up David and his men to King Saul.
Here we see yet another difference between those with whom you have covenant and those you do not: People of Biblical covenant see what God sees - what others do not.
Do you think that the people of Ziph would have been willing to give David and his men up if they truly realized what God was doing - that God was going to make David king? Most people in the world will only treat you with what their natural eyes can see. They will relate to you based on your gender, your ethnicity, your past, your present socio-economic status, your credentials or experience.
People of covenant, however, have the ability to focus on God’s future prospects and calling on our lives. The people of covenant invest in you, labor for you and fight for the promise of God in you long before it materializes. Though David’s condition was far worse than in I Samuel 20 when Jonathan and David first renewed their covenant, when Jonathan goes to David in Horesh Jonathan is able to see even more clearly that David will be king.
Both Jonathan and David were of the family of Saul. Jonathan was Saul’s son and the natural heir to the throne. David was King Saul’s son in law who he brought near (“keep your friends close and your enemies closer”) through marriage to his daughter Michal, but was the God appointed successor to the throne because of Saul’s perpetual disobedience.
Jonathan acknowledged through his covenant with David the greater covenant - the one God was establishing with David beyond the natural, bringing David to the kingship he promised him. His trust in the Lord (demonstrated in I Samuel 14) enabled him to receive whatever role the Lord had for him, and to encourage David in God’s promises, even when it meant that he would not himself be king.
When Jonathan said, “I will be next to you,” it meant that Jonathan would be second in rank, but not the heir. How powerful this is when people are released from striving and feeling like they always need to push themselves over and above others!
This allows you to see clearly - Being able to say, “I am not the top dog. I am second (or whatever place God has for you)” enables you to fulfill the purpose of God by walking in the STRENGTH OF YOUR ROLE.
Covenant releases us from the sinful fruit of envy because we are able to walk in the security that God has given us importance and an invaluable contribution through the covenant relationships that he gives us.
As Aslan reminds us in the Chronicles of Narnia: “You doubt your value. Don’t run from who you are.”
You will not be overlooked by God who establishes covenant with you.
You will not be forgotten by those whom he’s given you to walk in covenant.
Defining the Relationship
Covenant relationships need to be intentional to be fruitful.
The truth is that covenant relationships are based on commitment, not convenience. However, commitment can be difficult at times and challenging to maintain. Think about the friendships you fell into during college life vs. those in you must work for in adulthood.
Yet people ask the question, “Isn’t it enough to just be in relationship with the people you’ve always known and with whom you’ve always been familiar?” Is it? Or does God have something more?
God definitely has more for you if your friends have consistently and always been accomplices to your perpetual sin.
I Corinthians 15:33 (ESV)
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
Yet people will also ask, “Why should I have to make effort if we’re supposed to be in covenant? “Shouldn’t things just be organic?”
Loving people over any extended period of time will require sacrifice. Your number will eventually be called and the requirement will come. Sacrifice is the mark of any covenant relationship. Remember, in the Scripture above, David stayed in the stronghold and Jonathan went home.
We also see that commitment is expressed at times in unpleasant, but necessary counsel. In I Samuel 20, we see Jonathan telling David truths that he didn’t want to hear that would ultimately save David’s life. Though David served valiantly under Saul, Saul was now turned against David and intent on killing him. Jonathan let David know of his need to flee. He was pointing out the places David didn’t need to go and the people who would harm David by association.
We all need God appointed people who we trust to do this in our lives.
If you are not sure that you are in covenant with people, make a covenant to ensure that you have agreed upon purpose in Christ.
Distinguishing Marks of Covenant:
You are intentional with the relationship. You don’t wait for ideal circumstances for covenant to fall into your lap. Jonathan went to meet David at Horesh.
You define the relationship so you both have clear understanding of covenant expectations.
You inconvenience yourself to make it happen. You will have to make ongoing and repeated effort to maintain and reestablish your covenant relationships. Never have a one and done mentality. “Do you love me?” “Of course I do. Didn’t I tell you at the altar?”
You diligently strengthen one another’s hands in God. You PURPOSEFULLY and regularly remind one another of the PROMISES of God. This allows you and those with whom you are in covenant to see clearly in the midst of the long fight of faith. This is what Jonathan did for David, reminding David of the certainty of God’s promise to bring him into the kingship despite the optics of his then present circumstances.
This is important because:
“Your life is always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts.”
-Craig Groeschel, Pastor of Life.Church which develops Youversion and the Church online platform
Covenant will also bring you to the word of God to show you that life is not all about you. We see from Saul’s reaction to the people of Ziph that his focus was continually on himself.
He said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me.”
Saul was so removed from the word of God at this point and so warped in his thinking that he felt anyone helping him fulfill his murderous campaign was worthy of God’s blessing and was being loving. Similarly, by exposing the whereabouts of David and his men, the people of Ziph would have thought that they could curry some sort of favor with Saul for their benefit.
How true it is that myopic people, even in the midst of sin, can make conversations, focus and relationships all about them. They take from relationships solely for their own ends.
In many modern relationships, the sad truth is that people can be incredibly self-focused and the relationships can be terribly one sided, even while invoking the name of the Lord.
Have you been there before - part of conversations where people couldn’t stop talking, usually about themselves, and never asked you one question about your situation?
This is not Biblical covenant. It is not even good social skill yet it happens all of the time. Biblical covenant is a mutual care for those involved to the benefit of all parties in service of the one true king.
Christ our Covenant Vision
The crowning of Jesus as the one true king is our covenant vision.
Ultimately, David was able to persist in faith when he was reminded that God had made a promise to make him king. His covenant with Jonathan helped maintain that vision, being strengthened in the Lord despite the threats on his livelihood. David persisted because God had shown him the end game.
God’s covenant people are able to do so today as they maintain the heavenly vision - the promise of Jesus being exalted as the resurrected king. We look forward to being co-heirs with Christ, as he rules over his restored creation.
In the meantime, God’s covenant with his people means that he will not give us up to permanent destruction or failure. It may be hard to see when you are dealing with the threat of layoffs, the stress of a new business venture, remote work and maintaining the equilibrium of family life at home.
Yet know that just as Jonathan with David, the covenant that you have with Christ is meant to keep you alive, encouraged, growing and advancing while God works behind the scenes.
Our covenant relationships continually remind us that our God is a miracle worker. This was seen in the rescue that David experienced at the Rock of Escape. Just as when death was at David’s door God stepped in at the last moment to call Saul away to fight the Philistines, so God is working behind the scenes by the power of his Holy Spirit on behalf of his people today. It is because of Calvary’s cross that God has established covenant with you so that Jesus has become our Rock of Escape.
On the cross Jesus took the punishment that we deserve, diverting Satan who would come to destroy our minds, bodies and futures because of our sins.
By Christ’s resurrection from the dead he gives us forgiveness of sins and eternal escape from the death that would otherwise claim our lives. It is what God’s church will experience, even as we navigate the last days full of uncertainty and threat prior to Christ’s return.
Matthew 24:3-14
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Covenant is what God uses to communicate his expectations to humanity.
Covenant is also the very basis of our access to the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven, including our redemption, the favor that is upon us, forgiveness, present and future healing, justification, sanctification and one day glorification in Christ. Our covenant relationships remind us that Christ is the one whom every tongue will confess and before whom every knee will bow, proclaiming that Jesus is Lord. This promise is true of Jesus, even during opaque times.
His sacrifice was perfect - now we make our sacrifices to strengthen one another’s hands in God to win the lost and make disciples to his glory. We maintain this vision until we see Christ, with whom we have covenant, crowned as the one true benevolent King of all the earth.
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Second City Church - Covenant, Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020