Faith in the News Christian News
Second Samuel 1:26 “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”
David and Jonathan had a very special relationship and unlike any other in the Bible, so this verse speaks of King David’s heartbreak after losing his most beloved friend Jonathan, where he said of him and King Saul, “How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights” (1st Sam 1:25). To show you just how close they were, they once made an agreement, where it was said, “As soon as [Jonathan] had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1st Sam 18:1).
Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
This verse should remind us of the sovereignty of God. Think about this; God planned for your friend’s birth and place on earth just for your adversity. He caused him or her to cross your path in life and for your benefit. That’s what this verse says. A friend also loves you at all times, which includes the good times and the very bad times, and if they don’t, they aren’t your real friend, because a friend is born for adversity and to love you at all times as David did Jonathan.
Ruth 1:16 “But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”
What a tender image of humility and submission Ruth is. This former Moabite is ready to become part of the nation of Israel, and unknowingly becomes part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. She is willing to go with Naomi into a nation she’s never really been to, and to a worship a God she’s not really known, and to a people that are not her people; all because she didn’t want to abandon Naomi. I also believe she wanted to go with Naomi so that she could take care of Naomi and see to her welfare. Her loyalty speaks very powerfully of her humble heart.
Second Samuel 15:21 “But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.”
This is where King David’s servant, Ittai, had just pledged loyalty to the king, even if it meant his life, because David and his still-loyal subjects were fleeing Jerusalem because of David’s son, Absalom, who had declared himself king, so Ittai was risking his life to go with David.
Proverbs 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
I think this verse may be telling us that we can actually have too many friends and we can spread ourselves so thin that we don’t really have that one or two people who we can turn to that we call our best friends. We need that friend who “sticks closer than a brother” or sister. They can be there for us through thick and thin, but likewise, we can be there for them. That’s hard to do with more than 20 close friends at a time (if that’s even possible).
Conclusion
I could have used Jesus’ precious words in writing about relationships, where He said, “No 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” (John 15:15). I could also have used Jesus’ words to His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). God is always interested in relationships. Do you have a personal relationship with Him?
May God richly bless you,
Pastor Jack Wellman
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