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In this episode, Nancy Wilson reflects on Psalm 25:14 and the surprising phrase "the friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him," exploring how fearing God means keeping His commandments and walking in His ways. She considers how covenant friendship with God defines His own special people, shapes our earthly relationships, and warns that friendship with the world is enmity with God.
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Join Nancy Wilson each week as she discusses basic christian living habits and practices.
Welcome to the Feminine Podcast. This is Nancy Wilson. Thanks for joining me today. I have a collection of the Psalms in the English Standard Version, which is not my regular Bible. My regular Bible reading is in the New King James Version. But reading a different version of the Bible or in this case, a different version of the Psalms can be really good for us. So we don't become too complacent as we read through familiar passages, a different wording and a familiar passage and sort of shake us up, can shed new light on a passage that we've read many times before. Recently, this happened while I was reading Psalm 25 when I came to verse 14. In the New King James, it says, the secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him and He will show them His covenant. This is a familiar rendering. So when I read it in the ESP, I was surprised to read, the friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him and He makes known to them His covenant. This put the verse in a really new light for me, friendship with the Lord. Friendship is something we're all familiar with. But being fallen creatures, our earthly friendships, no matter how sweet they may be, are by nature riddled with sin. We love imperfectly, we stumble into envy or competitiveness or critical spirit or we have disagreements or we give offense or we take offense. Friendships require stewardship and constant care and upkeep if we want them to flourish. But the friendship of the Lord is an entirely different matter. Surely, if we think about this, it may shed light on our own fallen friendships and how they can be more like our friendship with the Lord. To be a friend of the Lord is a wonderful privilege that God's own special people enjoy. And as the verse says, it is for those who fear Him. Fearing God is the means of becoming His friend. But what does it mean to fear the Lord? Deuteronomy 6 too says that you may fear the Lord your God to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, you and your Son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. We see here in Deuteronomy that fearing the Lord is keeping His commandments carefully, always, not willy nilly when we feel like it, but observing them, keeping them, practicing them and teaching them to our children and our grandkids. The second part of this verse in Psalm 25 is, and he makes known to them His covenant. Friendship with God means that He brings us into covenant with Him. He makes known to us His covenant. Truly, this is what it means to be God's own special people, as it says in 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. This friendship of the Lord is a staggering thought for chosen, royal, holy, special, called into His marvelous light. Once we were not friends with God, but now we have obtained mercy. Now we are the people or the friends of God. Back to Psalm 25, 14. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant. This friendship is something we pass on to our children and grandchildren by means of His covenant. He teaches us or makes known to us His covenant. Deuteronomy 1012 says, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul? This friendship with God is astounding, it's remarkable, it's too good to be true, but it is true. We must live in terms of this friendship. This friendship with the Lord is what defines us, constrains us, motivates us, to fear Him, and walk in all His ways, and to love Him with everything we have. When we are friends with God, this necessarily defines all our other friendships. In particular, we cannot be friends with the world. James 4.4, adulterers and adulteresses. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Well, God forbid that we should make ourselves as an enemy. So be alert, love not the world or the things in the world, but enjoy friendship with God. It is going to be one or the other. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, we can only do this if we live as His friend. Thanks so much for joining me today, blessings on your week. Before I go, I want to let you know about my page on Canon Plus. That's where you can find all my audiobooks, audio series, conference talks, and more. Go to mycanonplus.com or click the link in the show notes and have a look around.