God wants us to love one another.

Psa 16:3  But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

The Psalmist knows the value of other believers. His delight is in the saints that are on the earth. He enjoys their companionship and he loves their presence in his life. He considers them as excellent; they are the best persons to be around.

How about us? Do we consider the saints to be excellent people to be around with? Do we delight in their company?

The two greatest commandments given to us relate to our relationship with God and to one another: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt 22:37, 39).

God wants us to love one another. He desires us to be in close fellowship with one another. But true fellowship doesn’t just happen; we have to work at it constantly. The first century church was in a close knitted fellowship with one another (Acts 2:44-47). It didn’t happen without them doing anything. They did things to make it happened. They came together! And one of the reasons that I can think of why they came together is that they delighted in each other’s company.

You can’t have any fellowship with your brethren without first coming together. Many of us look forward to the day when we will see Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Paul, Job, David, Ruth, Esther, and Sarah, and many other beautiful characters that we read of in the bible. But do we look forward to the saints that are around us?

The Psalmist’s delight is with “the saints that are on the earth.” He is not referring to those who are already dead and in paradise. It is the saints that he is seeing here on this earth, those around him that he delights with. Someone said and I quote: “To dwell above with the saints we love, O that will be glory! But to dwell below with the saints we know, well, that’s a different story!”

Sad, but it’s true: many want to see the characters they read of in the bible but they don’t want to see the brethren who are still with them. Even though we all desire close relationships, but because of the way we are, it puts a distance between us.

It is vital that we be committed to the fellowship of the saints. The fellowship of the saints is a family fellowship. True, families aren’t perfect and therefore, you are not either. But family get together because they’re family. They want to find out what’s going on in one another’s lives. The church should be the same: we want to find out what is going on in one another’s lives. And we should be interested in what’s happening to each other. Someone has a problem in his family, someone is sick, someone is weak in his faith, a husband and wife are not talking to each other, someone is getting married and etc. Family care about those things and so must we because we are part of God’s family and because the fellowship of the saints is a supportive fellowship. We support each other and show love and concern for each other. We delight in each other’s company.

The saints on the earth are excellent ones; they are the best persons to be with. I love the church camps; I consider the time spent together with the church members to be a delightful and excellent one. I remember the time when a group of thirty seven of us went on the Jerusalem trip together. It was eleven days of solid fellowship and great company. I wish that church members will group together for vacations instead of joining external tour groups; that will be a delight.

Some think rich men to be excellent, some think learned men to be excellent, some count men in authority to be excellent, but here we are taught that the men who are excellent are the saints on this earth. The Psalmist finds pleasure, not in the rich and the great, not in princes and nobles, but in those who are distinguished for virtue and piety. He finds his happiness only in those who are the friends of God.

If you feel that the saints are not a delight to be around, perhaps you are the problematic one. Are you a delight to be with? Do people find you a pleasure to be with? Though we delight to be in the company of certain ones, we must make ourselves also a delight to others. Others must find our presences immeasurably delightful. There is nothing more delightful than having coffee or a meal with a Christian friend. Attend church camps and enjoy the presence of the saints at meal times; they are the most delightful moments.  “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psa 133:1).


Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.