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 ABRAHAM is the
only person in the scriptures who is called ‘the friend of God’.
(2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; Jeremiah 2:23)
In Psalm 18:24, David said, in reference to the Lord
being our friend, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a
brother.”
David had several friends who faithfully served him
through many battles and then turned away from him when he was old.
JOAB was David’s friend and also
chief captain in the army (2 Samuel 5:6-10). As one of the three sons
of David’s sister Zeruiah, Joab was also David’s nephew. He faithfully
carried out David’s order to place a man by the name of Uriah on the
front line of battle where he was sure to be killed, in order to cover
David’s sin of adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. (2 Samuel
11:1-25)
Shortly before David’s death, Joab joined David’s eldest son, Adonijah,
who attempted to set himself up as king. (1 Kings 1:1-9) When David
learned about the deception, he had his son Solomon crowned king, and
advised him to execute Joab after he would be fully established as
ruler of Israel. (1 Kings 2:1-6)
AHITHOPHEL,a faithful counselor of
David, also defected when another son of David, Absalom, attempted to
set himself up as king. (2 Samuel 16:23)
He may have thought he would have more power under Absalom’s rule than
he had with David, and also he resented what David did to his
granddaughter, Bathsheba. (compare 2 Samuel 11:3 with 2 Samuel 23:34)
When he saw that Absalom’s cause had failed, Ahithophel went home and
hanged himself.
JONATHAN was David’s best friend
from the time of David’s victory over Goliath
 throughout
the remainder of the forty years his father Saul was king of Israel.
However, at the end of Saul’s reign, Jonathan left David and joined
his father in a battle with the Philistines. He died in that battle
along with his father and two brothers. (1 Samuel 31:2)
The prophet Micah said, "Do not trust in a friend or put confidence
in a guide.” (Micah 7:5) In Proverbs 3:26, Solomon tells us we
should place our confidence in the Lord. David said, “it is better
to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” (Psalm
118:8,9)
 LUKE
was a very good friend, companion, and fellow worker of the apostle
Paul. (Philemon 24 and Colossians 4:14) There is very little
information in the Bible about Luke other than that he was a physician
and that he was the author of the gospel of Luke and also of the book
of Acts.
We first see Luke in Acts 16:10,11 when he joined Paul and others in
Troas and sailed with them to Macedonia. He traveled with Paul as far
as Phillipi. (Acts 16:25-17:1), but did not share in Paul’s
persecution nor leave the city.
 Luke
accompanied Paul on his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:6-21:18), and
was with him during the shipwreck that occurred when Paul was being
taken to Rome.
The last time we see Luke, he is visiting Paul in a Roman prison,
shortly before Paul’s execution (2 Timothy 4:11), and we find him to
be a faithful friend to Paul even when everyone else had deserted him.
 Zechariah
13:6 prophesied that JESUS would be wounded in the house of his
friends. Just before Jesus was arrested, He and His eleven
disciples had gone into the Garden of Gethsemene. Jesus instructed
them to wait while He went aside to pray. Twice He returned and found
them asleep. (Mart. 26:36-43) He went away the third time, and when He
returned and again found them sleeping, He
 said,
“Let us be going now. The one who has betrayed me is close by.”
While He was still speaking, Judas came with a great many soldiers who
had been sent with Him from the chief priests and elders. Judas
approached Jesus and said, “hail, master” and then kissed Him.
Jesus asked, “Friend.... why have you come here? Do you betray the
Son of Man with a kiss?"
Then the soldiers bound Jesus and took Him to the High Priest.
(Matthew 26:44-57; Mark 14:43-45; Luke 22:47-48; and John 18:1-5)
 In
Psalm 41:9, David prophesied about Judas’ betrayal of the Lord when he
wrote, “My own trusted friend has lifted up his heel against Me"
Some of Jesus last words to His disciples were:
"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I
command you." (John 15:12-14)
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