Friends of God


Psalm 25
Of David.
1To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
3Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
5Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long.
6Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O Lord!
8Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way.
10All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will He instruct in the way that he should choose.
13His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.
15My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.
16Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.
18Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
19Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.
21May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.
22Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

There are always verses that stand out when you read a psalm over a few times. Your eye is just naturally drawn to these phrases and you reread them almost unconsciously because you don’t want to miss anything important. Two sections stand out in this fantastic psalm for me today.

4Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
5Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long.

14The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.

I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to know God’s ways to a greater degree. It is true for me today more than it has ever been and that’s saying something. I spent four years in college studying theology! And today, I must confess that I feel ignorant of God’s ways to a large extent. The more I study, the less I know. But I am hopeful because it means that God will never stop instructing me if I hold a teachable spirit.

Along that same vein we find those who fear God to be called His friends. Jesus reiterates this claim as He teaches His disciples as recorded for us by John.

John 15:12–17
12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

So David tells us that because God calls His people “friend” He makes His covenant known to them. Jesus then fleshes that idea out by telling us to obey what we have been taught. That is how we display our friendship for God back to Him. Living in obedience to God means that we live to love those around us, showing them His great grace through our actions. The simplicity of the plan is a thing of beauty.

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