1 Samuel 20:1
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?
This flight to Jonathan belongs to the time after David killed Goliath, when Saul kept David with him and would not allow him to return to his father's house. By this time David had been entrusted with important responsibilities, yet he remained modest and won the affection of the people as well as the royal household. It was then that Jonathan's soul was knit to David's soul, Jonathan loved David as his own soul, they had made a covenant to be united as brothers, and Jonathan had given David his robe and garments, even his sword and bow and girdle.
That sacred bond between Jonathan and David remained unbroken until Saul and Jonathan died. Jonathan was used to preserve David's life when Saul tried to kill him. David's hardships and changing circumstances led him to trust God fully while he was being prepared to rule Israel.
David used the temporary calm after the defeat at Ramah to escape, because he had little confidence in Saul's repentance and feared his mood would change as before. Wounded in heart and conscious of his innocence, David longed to see his friend Jonathan once more and appealed to him by asking what wrong, iniquity, and sin he had committed against Saul that Saul sought his life. Jonathan believed his father had changed his purpose and would hide nothing from him, holding that after the display of God's power Saul would not openly rebel against God by harming David. David was not convinced by Jonathan and earnestly declared that only a step lay between him and death.