I guess if you were to ask a dozen people, “What is friendship?” you might get a dozen different answers . . . but, then again, maybe not. Off the top of my head, if I was asked what constitutes a friend, I might respond that it’s someone who knows you . . . who accepts you . . . who is there for you. But I don’t think you’d noodle on it very long before you ended up with, “A friend is someone you can confide in . . . someone who confides in you.” So how do you respond when that “someone” is the LORD . . . JEHOVAH . . . THE EXISTING ONE?

The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.   (Psalm 25:14 NKJV)

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.   (Psalm 25:14 ESV)

According to my online Bible, the word translated “the secret” in the NKJV has the idea of a council . . . an assembly . . . a circle of intimate cohorts . . . the kind that engages in familiar conversation . . . the kind that engages in intimate fellowship . . . the kind of dynamic upon which friendships are defined . . . thus, the ESV translation. And it is the privileged place for those who fear the LORD . . . for those who have bowed the knee . . . for those who have believed the gospel . . . for those who have received the gift of life by faith. For them, there is friendship with the LORD . . . there is an intimacy . . . there is a “sharing” of the secrets of the ways of God.

Paul says that there is a “secret and hidden wisdom of God” which is revealed through the Spirit of God. He also writes that, as believers, we have received the Spirit so “that we might understand the things freely given us by God” . . . and as such, “we have the mind of Christ” (1Cor. 2:6-16). That is the evidence of friendship . . . we have been brought into the secret councils of God.

Here’s how Spurgeon puts it, “Saints have the key of heaven’s hieroglyphics; they can unriddle celestial enigmas. They are initiated into the fellowship of the skies; they have heard words which it is not possible for them to repeat to their fellows.” Truly, it’s an inner circle . . . but one open to all who believe in the Son. It’s a coming together which launches a world of discovery . . . a world not of this world. It’s the privileged place of the child of God . . . it is an inexhaustible storehouse of awe-inspiring wonder as God, by His grace, reveals more and more of Himself and His ways to our mere mortal, though regenerated, minds. It is the fruit, it is the evidence, of God’s desire for deep relationship with us. If is friendship with the LORD.

Oh, what privilege . . . what blessing . . . what fall-on-your-face wonder. That God would desire to enter into such intimate council with His creation . . . that we would be pleased to share Himself with this speck of creation sitting in this chair.

Every time I open His word, it should be a reminder of the friendship He has sought with me as He makes known His promises . . . as He reveals His ways . . . as He illuminates His nature and mindset. Every time I interact with the Scriptures, I should know afresh that intimacy of communion as the Teacher instructs the disciple . . . as the Master directs the servant . . . as the Shepherd makes Himself known to His sheep.

I am a friend of God . . . unreal! Oh, that it would be be for His glory . . . .