12 Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good feeling toward David, shall I not then send to you and [h]make it known to you? 13 If it please my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also, if I do not [i]make it known to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14 If I am still alive, will you not show me the lovingkindness of the Lord, that I may not die? 15 You shall not cut off your lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies.” 17 Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because he loved him as he loved his own life.
There is an interesting trend in the oaths that the Israelites used, which was that they would always appeal to God to be the final authority and witness. Here Jonathan does the same, in both blessing and cursing: “may the Lord do so to Jonathan” and “may the Lord be with you”.
They needed no other witness than God, and to be sure, there was no better witness. Ultimately, they recognized that God was in control, and even when they were powerless to enforce a promise or an oath, they knew God would make things right. They trusted Him to be good, and to reward good and punish evil.
And while God does not always punish such things on this earth, we can know that He is good, and worthy of our ultimate trust. We can trust Him with our lives, with our children’s lives, our friends’ lives, and certainly the lives of all our family.
When so many things in this world are not trustworthy, God IS!