A Friend Loves At All Times (Proverbs 17:17)
No doubt, this proverb has wide applications. Within the stories of the Bible, we have the account of the friendship of David and Jonathan, of Peter and John, of Paul and Timothy. In our own church tradition, there is the well-known friendship between McCheyne and Andrew Bonar. No doubt we have our own friends. What are the things that define friendship? We could suggest length, intensity, loyalty, comfortableness, interest in, willingness to protect, emotional connection. No doubt there are many more features. The Bible mentions one surprising friendship, and it is God who speaks about it several hundred years after the friendship occurred. He mentions it through the prophet Isaiah in one of his messages to the people of Judah: ‘But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend’ (Isa. 41:8). Of course, it is possible to read the statement as suggesting that Abraham was still God’s friend in heaven. It could be that the aspects of friendship se...