The Arabs have a saying about a true friend.

They say, a true friend is a friend to whom you hand the wheat and the chaff of your life together.

And they would gently take both in their hand and so lovingly and carefully blow away the chaff and hand you the wheat back.

But Proverbs 1717 said it best.

A friend loves at all the time and a brother is born for adversity.

Today I want to talk to you about the distinguishing mark of godly friendship, namely loyalty.

Turn with me, please, if you have your Bibles, to 1st Samuel chapter 19, verses 1 to 7.

There in these seven verses, we're going to discover a true model for loyalty in godly friendship that is all too rare today.

In days gone by, loyalty was considered to be a virtue.

But today, somehow, many people look upon loyalty as foolishness or impractical.

Some see it as non-beneficial. They see it as outmoded that is incompatible with modern day pragmatism.

Loyalty, which is indispensable to godly friendship, is seen today as

temporary. Its duration is limited to the benefits gained. It is merely for convenience.

In fact, there was a half-time show in a high school game, and people

sitting in the bleachers, and one man sitting way, way up on the top, while the trumpet was playing

solo, that man was yelling right there in the nosebleed section. Everybody can hear him.

This is my boy who's playing solo on the him. This is my boy who's playing solo on the

trumpet. This is my son who's playing. And he kept bragging. This is my boy. Listen to him. He's my

son. Until the boy started making terrible mistakes. I mean, he was getting those notes all over the

place. And finally the man was heard to be yelling.

He said, well, it might be not.

They all look alike from up here.

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