The Best Friend To Have

Psalm 25:14-22

14Friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him.

With them he shares the secrets of his covenant.

15My eyes are always looking to the LORD for help,

for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies.

16Turn to me and have mercy on me,

for I am alone and in deep distress.

17My problems go from bad to worse.

Oh, save me from them all!

18Feel my pain and see my trouble.

Forgive all my sins.

19See how many enemies I have,

and how viciously they hate me!

20Protect me! Rescue my life from them!

Do not let me be disgraced, for I trust in you.

21May integrity and honesty protect me,

for I put my hope in you.

22O God, ransom Israel

from all its troubles.

William Edwards was a magistrate in the Rohilkhund district of India when the Indian Mutiny erupted in 1857. For more than two months he was a fugitive, living first in a cow house, then in a hut on a small barren island. Separated from his wife and children, he heard of massacres but could not find out whether his loved ones were safe or not. In the distance he could hear gunfire, and he was gripped with anxiety.

During this time Edwards lived in the Psalms. On August 5, 1857, he wrote in his diary: “There is not a day on which we do not find something that appears as if written especially for persons in our unhappy circumstances, to meet the feelings and wants of the day. This morning, for instance, I derived unspeakable comfort from the fourteenth and seventeenth verses of the Twenty-fifth Psalm.”

Then he began a trek of 150 miles along the river through enemy territory and got out safely.

If you know you are a friend of God, you can endure a great deal of distress. That is what strengthened David through his darkest times, and that is what can strengthen you. At times we may not understand all that God is doing, so we pray as David did in these verses. Yet it provides great comfort to know that God feels our pain and loves us very much.

I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend

So kind and true and tender;

So wise a Counselor and Guide,

So mighty a Defender.

JAMES G. SMALL

Bible Networking

To find out who has been called a friend of the Lord, read Exodus 33:11; Isaiah 41:8; Matthew 11:19; and John 15:15.

Notable Quotable

“Jesus’ home was the road along which he walked with his friends in search of new friends.”

GIOVANNI PAPINI