A FRIEND LOVES AT ALL TIMES

A friend loves at all times, and a brother

is born for adversity.  Proverbs 17:17

Aristotle defined a friend as “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” One small boy defined a friend as “someone who knows all about you and likes you just the same.” C.S. Lewis said, “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You, too!? I thought that I was the only one!’”

David, son of Jesse, and Jonathan, son of Saul, were friends. They were kindred spirits. They were committed to the good of the other. Jonathan was probably as much as 15 years older than David. What were the elements of their friendship according to the Bible?

• They made a covenant with each other – 1 Samuel 18:3

• They loved each other and delighted in each other – 1 Samuel 19:1

• They communicated with each other – 1 Samuel 20:12-13

• They counseled each other – 1 Samuel 20:10-23 (cf. Prov. 27:5-6)

• They shared each other’s joys and griefs – 1 Samuel 20:41-42

Someone has said, “Prosperity begets friends, adversity proves them.” That was true of David and Jonathan. Is that true of you? Are you that kind of friend? Many years ago, a British publication offered a prize for the best definition of a friend. They received thousands of definitions. The winning definition was: “A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.” That was the kind of friendship that Jonathan showed to David. When King Saul turned against David, Jonathan stuck with him. Do you have a friend like that?

Friends are like good health; you don’t realize what a gift they are until you lose them. In 1863, James Small wrote the hymn: “I’ve Found a Friend.” Stanza one goes like this:

I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend! He loved me ere I knew Him;

​He drew me with the cords of love, and thus He bound me to Him. And round my heart still closely twine those ties which naught can sever, For I am His, and He is mine, forever and forever.

Ike Graham