11-7-99        Shooting the Right Arrow        I Sam. 20

By Ronald E. Geroge Jr. at the Bowhunter's Retreat

Gen. 27:3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me [some] venison;

Before you go into the woods to take some venison make sure that you have the right arrows in your quiver. Shooting the wrong arrows could bring certain disaster. You must have the right arrows to win with the Lord.

Are you shooting the right arrows?

1Sam 20:20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side [thereof], as though I shot at a mark. 21 And, behold, I will send a lad, [saying], Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows [are] on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for [there is] peace to thee, and no hurt; [as] the LORD liveth. 22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows [are] beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. 23 And [as touching] the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD [be] between thee and me for ever.

1. The Arrows of Friendship: True friends with others and true friends with God. David was the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Are lowly shepherds worth the effort? Must love those who we see if we love the God who we haven't seen. Are you a fair weather friend or one who sticks closer than a brother? Unconditional love is the heart of true friendship. Jonathan was the true friend that David needed. Jesus is the true friend that went out of his way for us. This friendship is based on unconditional love.

1Sam 20:17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. Prov 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Loneliness is like a piano without keys,
Like a violin without strings.
Like a sanctuary without a congregation
Or a choir where no one sings.
Loneliness is like a blade of grass
Growing through a crack of cement.
Loneliness is like a camp ground
Without a single tent.
Loneliness is like a mocking bird
That cannot sing a song.
Loneliness is a feeling
That one does not belong.
Like a pansy in a corn field
Hidden where no one can see.
I know all there is to know about loneliness
Because it lives inside of me. (Copied)

An English publication offered a prize for the best definition of a friend. Among the thousands of entries received were the following: "One who multiplies joys, divides grief"; "One who understands our silence"; "A volume of sympathy bound in cloth"; and "A watch which beats true for all time and never runs down." But the entry which won the prize said, "A friend -- the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out."

  1. The Arrows of Self-Sacrifice: Willing to take a chance to risk ourselves for the sake of others. Jonathan sacrificed his throne, he risked his life, and his standing with his father who was in the wrong. Self-sacrifice is giving what we have or deserve for the benefit of others. The question is not what can I receive but what can I give to help you. The true sense of satisfaction is not when we get what we want but when we give what we have for someone else.

    No one ever said it better than C. S. Lewis: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love... is Hell.

3. The Arrows of Righteousness are the Arrows of God: Standing for the right no matter what the cost to ourselves. Standing for the right no matter who is in the wrong or who it goes against. Agreeing with God is risky business. Confessing that you are a true follower and not a wishy, washy follower will bring you into direct confrontation with many you love. Often times we may have to choose whom we will follow. Christ divides men with his sword of righteousness. Joshua said who is on the Lord's side? We have to choose sides in this battle of a lifetime. Jonathan chose the right side and shot the arrows of righteousness.

Matt 10: 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household.

The Chinese character for "righteousness" is most interesting. It is composed of two separate characters - one standing for a lamb, the other for me. When "lamb" is placed directly above "me," a new character - "righteousness" is formed.

This is a helpful picture of the grace of God. Between me, the sinner, and God, the Holy One, there is interposed by faith the Lamb of God. By virtue of his sacrifice he has received me on the ground of faith, and I have become righteous in his sight.

God never alters the robe of righteousness to fit man; He changes the man to fit the robe.

2Sam 22:1 (KJS) And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day [that] the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2 And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: [he is] my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.