A theme verse for the Evangelical Covenant Church, the sponsor of North Park University and the seminary, is Psalm 119:63: A theme verse for the Evangelical Covenant Church, the sponsor of North Park University and the seminary, is Psalm 119:63:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1753],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psalm-119"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nI am a companion to all who fear you,
\nto all who follow your precepts.
\nThe psalmist had friends; his friends were those who feared God and who followed God\u2019s ways.
\nTo be a \u201ccompanion\u201d or a \u201cfriend\u201d (Hebrew chaber<\/em>) is to be joined to another, to be clasped to them \u2014 the way the wings touched one another in Ezekiel\u2019s visions, the way curtains were clasped to one another in the tabernacle, the way tribes made a league with one another.
\nBy the time of the NT the followers of Jesus had become \u201ccompanion\u201d with one another in the journey and the early church folks had learned to be friends especially with those in the household of faith.
\nThere is no hint here of separatism, but there is a strong smell of fellowship \u2014 and the psalmist\u2019s fellowship was focused on anyone who feared God and whose fear of God was shaped by following Torah.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"