- Righteous Surround
Psalm 142:7b
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name:
The righteous shall compass me about;
When I am saved, delivered, redeemed and brought out of the prison of Sin, Death and the Devil the promise is that I will find myself surrounded by righteous people. This we find to be actually true by experience; it just so happens that way. But it is assuring to know that this is a promise of God and He works it out that way for the new believer. God designs life in this way and we find Him bringing other believers across our path as we also go out seeking others with the same faith.
A believer in Christ deliberately seeks and finds the fellowship of folks with a blood (of Jesus) kinship; it may partially be confirmation bias, but it is also God planting that desire in us. All people tend to drift toward other people who think alike and congregate with them, but it is actually the Lord who brings believers together in fellowship.
If the saying is true that “bad company corrupts good morals,” then it should also be true that good company lifts up, purifies and encourage good morals. We are known by the company we keep. The church on earth and the frequent fellowship gatherings of Christians is not an accident but it is invisibly created by God.
It happens quite often, and it is by design, that fellow Christians show up in times of need and consciously and unconsciously encourage us. The righteous compass me about. Just as God is always there, so also He sends someone to be there. The Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the entire Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. The fellowship of believers is a work of God, and a promise.
It is true that sin and evil surround us all the time, and so does God; but it is also true that righteous, good, God-fearing people will surround us as well. And that’s a good thing.