Bosom Buddies
Today’s Verse:
I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. ~Psalm 119:63
As I write this morning’s devotion, I am in Taiwan preaching for my good friend, Dr. Ed Laurena. I consider him a good and trusted friend because of his love for God, his heart for winning souls to Christ, and his spiritual values. We have enjoyed each other’s fellowship the last couple of days and rejoice in speaking of what God wants to do through our lives. In our devotion this morning, the psalmist makes a statement about who his friends in life. He sets for us the criteria for bosom buddies.
We see the camaraderie.
“I am a companion.” The word companion has the idea of a very close relationship. This is someone you trust. This is someone you confide in and ask counsel from. This is someone who walks side by side with you, and not ahead of you. I think it is interesting that when God made Eve, he took a rib from the side of Adam and brought her to him to stand at his side. The psalmist speaks of having friendships where there is camaraderie. Where there is common ground between these friends. Where there is shared vision and pursuits. Where they are protective of the other’s name and interests.
We see the capitulation.
“I am a companion of all them that fear thee.” The psalmist narrows down the criteria of the kind of people he developed closeness to. He speaks of them that fear thee. He speaks about God fearing people: people who demonstrated an extreme reverence for the worship of God. People who made the daily worship of God their highest priority. People who desired God more than the very breath they breathe. You see, it is important that the people we have closeness to desire to glorify the name of the Lord in whatsoever they do in word or deed. People who fear God are in church. People who fear God pray. People who fear God have remorse in their hearts when they have committed a sin. We see the capitulation.
We see the conformity.
“I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.” He gives us other important criteria about his close friendships. The people he sought to be a companion with had to be people who conformed to God’s word: people who obeyed the word of the Lord. People who keep God’s precepts are people walking in the will of God. These are people who are fervently serving the Lord. These are people who make obedience to the word of highest priority. Solomon said, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
We see the contentment.
The psalmist was going through a difficult time with people who opposed his faith. He describes these adversaries as “bands of the wicked that robbed him.” He arises at midnight to thank the Lord for his goodness. In his thanksgiving, he is thinking about the people he is a companion with: people who prayed with and for him. People that defended him when he was falsely accused of things that were not true. People who stood with him in his hour of tribulation. He was thankful for those who loved the Lord as he did and stayed by him.
Do you have bosom buddies like what the psalmist speaks of? Think about the criteria established in our devotion this morning, and consider aligning yourself with people who will truly be there for you when you need them.
Have a friendly God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Leviticus 19-21