“Trust in the Lord, and do good:
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.”
Psalm 37:3
I came across this verse recently and
I was really struck by the beautiful phrase “befriend faithfulness”. I wasn’t exactly sure what the verse meant at
first all I know is that it created in me a warm fuzzy feeling which suggested
that it was a very positive thing.
Firstly I thought about what a lovely
virtue “faithfulness” is to befriend.
Secondly I thought about how I was
being told to befriend it. Befriending
is a verb and I am being asked to do something!
The good old free online dictionary told me that to befriend means “to
behave as a friend, to assist and to favour.”
This then made me rethink about what it was I was being told to
befriend. It’s actually a bit hard to
befriend a character trait or virtue, faithfulness seems like it’s something
you either have or you don’t, not something you can be friends with or assist
or favour...
Then I came across this nugget in an
internet search:
Befriending faithfulness is
as simple as befriending Jesus.
He is the epitome
of faithfulness.
In my head the penny dropped and I
marvelled at how Jesus is in every verse and he speaks through every part of
the Bible. If faithfulness is a person
rather than a vague ideal it becomes much easier to befriend. It’s easier to understand what I am supposed
to do:
- To act like I am a friend of Jesus (because I am!) and remember that he calls me friend.
- Assist him in his mission to make his name and deeds known among the nations, my friends and my family.
- To favour him, to love, worship and serve him more than anything else and before anyone else.
It’s such a beautiful verse and it really
fills me with enthusiasm. My heart
literally responds with joy. I feel
refreshed as I think about my continuing journey as a Christian. And I look forward to getting up tomorrow and
thinking about how I am going to further befriend Jesus who is faithful and
true.
Lovely blog, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first half I had a slightly different interpretation, I was wondering what you think of it: your definition of befriend being 'to behave as a friend, to assist and to favour' made me think of befriending faithfulness in others, meaning to encourage and favour others' faithfulness, therefore growing in faith together. Perhaps it's easier to befriend a character trait or virtue in others?
Hi Clare, thanks for reading the blog :)
ReplyDeleteI think for me in the context of the passage this verse speaks of befriending Jesus. However I think you're right. How we grow together in our faith and encourage one another is also 'befriending faithfulness'. Your interpretation certainly lends itself better to befriending faithfulness the character trait!