Friendship of God

In the ancient near Eastern culture, a king would have a regular court, but he also had a private, highly trusted council of advisors who knew his heart and final plans.  They were his friends, his inner circle.

Psalm 25:14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

Psalm 25 is a psalm about growing in the friendship of God. It is beyond mere secrets between friends. It pictures a divine council and intimacy which is available to all God’s children; but only few have entered it. Could it be that only a few desire it and are willing to pay the price for it?

The word friendship in verse 14 is often translated as secret. The Hebrew word for secret is Sōḏ which primarily means a ’couch’, ‘cushion’, or ‘circle of close friends’ sitting together in deep conversation. The God of the Bible does not just whisper random trivia but invites those who love Him onto the couch of His inner circle. He shares his purposes, burdens, and heart with them as trusted confidants, rather than as mere servants. Abraham was a friend of God (James 2:23) and so was Moses (Exodus 33:11).

How does one grow in the friendship of God?

1. Obedience

Jesus said in John 15:14-15 “You are my friends if you do what I command you. 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.”

Obey what you know of God as revealed in His Word. Every word of God is light, life, and love. In other words, it is who God is. Obedience is to walk in the light of what you know of God, what has been made known to you.

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

In other words, when we don’t obey God, we cherish iniquity in our heart. This hinders the friendship of God.

2. Build your faith in God

Take time to build your faith in God. This is the privilege and duty of a priest. Believers are a royal priesthood and are called to know the Scriptures and live by it. The man pictured in Psalm 1 takes the time to meditate on every instruction and takes care not to receive counsel from the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or take sides with the mockers. His choices each day, make him like a tree, firmly planted by the living waters (Christ).

If you're not taking time to build your faith in God, it probably means that you’re not serious about God or His wisdom and ways. Being friendly with God and being a friend of God are two completely different things. Which one are you? Friendly or a friend? S friend of God wants to know all there is about God, and invests time and effort to know God deeply, not just superficially.

What you study, reveals what you love.

3.Dialogue

Growing as a friend of God requires dialogue. One listens and the other speaks. A great way to grow in dialogue is to allow the Word to shape one’s thoughts, and motives. Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s Word is alive and active, it divides soul and spirit, it judges the thoughts and intentions of one’s heart. As you take time to speak and listen to the Holy Spirit, He will direct your conversations. It's important to be vulnerable with God as in verses 1-3. In verses 6-7, the psalmist remembers the long history of God’s kindness towards him, not his temporary moral failures. These are helpful attitudes to cultivate if you desire to dialogue with God and the Holy Spirit.

4. Seek God’s face

In Psalm 27:8, the psalmist says, You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Proverbs 27:19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

It means that your inner thoughts eventually show on your face. Seeking God’s face is to know the emotions on His face. What pleases Him and what displeases Him. The Holy Spirit has emotions and is easily grieved by the ignorance and disobedience of believers.  Believers must learn to seek God’s face, not just what His hands provide. It’s like Enoch who walked with God and pleased God (Hebrews 11:5). Walking with God for who God is, not for what God can give. Seeking God’s face is not a rule-based exercise, but just a growing desire to walk in step with the Spirit of God.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

5. The Ultimate Price

Christ death, resurrection, and ascension represent the ultimate price paid for your ransom from sin, death, the enemy and the entrance into an abundant life, a life of wholeness, well-being and purpose. That is no ordinary price, but Christ willingly paid it according to His glorious grace. A response to that can only be a life of abiding friendship and love. You may be singing about the cross and resurrection with great fervour and passion each Sunday. But when have you sat down and thought through what it means for your life, your choices, and your eternal destiny?

Finally, we see in James 4:4, “Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

The friendship of God has personal and collective ramifications for individual believers and for the Body of Christ. Are you a friend of the world or an enemy of God? One day as believers stand before the judgement seat of Christ, the choices we made in the flesh, good or bad, will need to be accounted for. A Psalm 1 man or woman will not put off to tomorrow what needs to be reckoned today.