BIBLE COMMENTARY/Psalm 119: 63
PSALM 119: 63 – I am a friend to all who fear You, to all who follow Your precepts.
– Everyone needs friends, especially ones who can understand us and who shares some common interests, but sometimes, people had friends who were a bad influence to them and lead them to their suffering (1Corinthians 15: 33)
– We don’t often understand a person right away after meeting them a few times, so we cannot know for sure if they are a good influence or a bad one. When we do form a solid friendship though, it’s sometimes too late to cut off that friendship. Therefore, we should always be careful when making new friends, especially those we meet at work or at school.
– There are always some competitions at work or school because of higher pays and academic rewards.
– That’s why in those environments, people usually have the desire to be better than anyone else by all means. Those who cannot be “better” than their mates often become jealous, or even hate those who are more successful than them.
– Recently, politics has been introduced to schools and now students have become more hostile to those who have different views than them. The career politicians have encouraged more confrontations at school with their agenda on races, religions, sexes and political ideologies.
– Combine them together (referring to the competitive spirits of schools and the introduction to politics), and we can see that young children are now losing their innocence very quickly from the time they go to primary school.
– In times like this, we Christians should always be careful when making friends with others.
– According to the Bible, we are encouraged to make friends with those who fear God, because that virtue helps a person to live according to God’s standards rather than men’s.
– A person who fears God is guided by the Holy Spirit. When He dwells in him, he will have all the good characters that God wants him to have (Galatians 5: 22-23).
– We should know that not all Christians fear God, but those fear Him are good Christians (Psalm 19: 9, Proverbs 8: 13, 1John 2: 6).
– That is one of the reasons that we should befriend those who fear God. They will help us to live up to God’ standards.
QUOTED VERSES
PSALM 19: 9 – The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
PROVERBS 8: 13 – The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate.
1CORINTHIANS 15: 33 – Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.
GALATIANS 5: 22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
1JOHN 2: 6 – Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.