The Nugget:
Psalm 119:63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
Psalm 119:63 I keep company with all your worshippers, and those who have your orders in their memory. (Basic English)
Psalm 119:63 I choose as my friends everyone who worships you and follows your teachings. (CEV)
Psalm 119:63 I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. (ESV)
Psalm 119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers,
and to those who keep your precepts. (NET Bible)
My Comment:
I would ask every young person, “Who do you choose as your friends?”
If you were a student in my English class, I might encourage you to write about (1) How do you choose your friends? (2) What do you most like in the best friends you have? (3) What qualities would you like to find in a best friend? (4) Where have you found the best friends that you do have? (5) What do you and your closest friends most like to do together? (6) What interests do you and your friends have most in common? Each of these topics could easily form the basis of a separate written composition. But at this point, you can surely think about each of these topics.
I would guess ahead of time that no student would happen upon the most important quality in a friend that David mentions in Psalm 119:63. David wanted for his best friends individuals who were close to the Lord, who worshipped Him, and who obeyed God’s commandments found in the Bible.
One major problem even Christian young people must face is that they are often guilty of associating closely with the wrong kind of friend.
The wrong kind of friend is probably more easy to find than the right kind of friend. Think about just how you found the friends you have now. Where did you meet them? How did you get to meet them?
The right kind of friend should have qualities of character and commitment to God and the Bible that would be an encouragement to your own growth in the Lord and spiritual things. Do you have friends that you can spend time praying together? Do you read and study the Bible together? Do you share your faith in Christ with other friends together? I think that friends like I just described are the kind of friends you should seek to have.
Where can you find such friends? Sometimes such friends may seem very scarce. When I was a young person I found them at the youth fellowship group at a close by church in my neighborhood. I found still more friends in the Bible club at the high school I attended.
If you do not have access to a local church youth group that is solidly Christian and Bible centered, you can get into the Bible deeply for yourself even by reading the posts on this site and following the Bible reading suggestions I have made here. Then share your excitement about the Lord and the Bible with your best or closest friend. If your friend is not yet a Christian, pray that God will work in your friend’s heart and that your friend will be receptive to God’s Word and your testimony. God may use you as an instrument in His hands to influence your friend to come to a genuinely saving knowledge of Christ.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on pages 629-630 for Psalm 119:63.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 674 or in Logos 5 or 6 Bible software for Psalm 119:63.
(3) Most people today do not have access to those two resources, so I have posted cross references for this passage as I have developed them even more completely for your study as given below:
Psalm 119:63. a companion. ver. Ps 119:79, 115. +*Ps 15:4. *Ps 16:3. 26:4. 45:7. 55:14. +*Ps 101:4, 6, 7. 122:8. 142:7. Ge 13:11. Judg 20:11. Ru 1:10. 1 S 23:16. %*2 Ch 13:7. **2 Ch 19:2. Pr 2:20. 12:26. *Pr 13:20. 27:17. Ec 10:10. **Ml 3:16-18. +Mt 15:14. Lk 24:15, 32. Jn 13:34. Ac 4:23. *Ac 28:14. Ro 1:12. +**Ro 15:7. *Ro 16:17. *1 Cor 12:13. +*1 Cor 15:33. **2 Cor 6:14-17. 7:6, 7. Ep 5:3, 7, 11. Col 2:2. *2 Th 3:6, 14. +*1 Tim 6:5. *2 Tim 2:19, 22. 3:5. +*He 3:12, 13. 10:25. 1 P 3:8. 1 J 1:3. 3:14. fear. ver. +*Ps 119:74, 120. *Ps 15:4. 22:23, 25. 55:19. 66:16. 76:8. 103:11, *Ps 103:17. 112:1. 115:11. 118:4. 128:4. 135:20. +*Ex 18:21. Jb 1:1, 8. 2:3. 37:24. Pr 1:29. 14:2. Ec 8:12. Is 50:10. Je 26:19. +*Ml 3:16. Ac 13:16, 26. keep. ver. Ps 119:2, 4. *Ps 103:18. Pr 1:10. +*Lk 11:28. 2 J 1:9-11. precepts. ver. Ps 119:56. Ps 111:10.