Abraham was the friend of God, therefore God told him when He was about to destroy Sodom. Note the words: "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" (Genesis 18:17)
Abraham and the Lord were so intimate that the Lord could not think of doing anything without telling His friend Abraham. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant." (Psalm 25:14) "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)
What a blessed privilege to be admitted into the confidence of the Lord, to share His secrets! "The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way." (Psalm 25:9)
What wonderful possibilities for improvement this opens up to us! For, "As for God, His way is perfect." (Psalm 18:30)
But friendship is a mutual affair. "A man that has friends must show himself friendly." (Proverbs 18:24)
If God reveals His secret affairs to us, and tells us all about himself, because we are His friends, then we must unbosom ourselves to Him because He is our Friend. We must keep nothing back from Him, even as He keeps nothing of His back from us. It is easy for us thus to confide in Him, when we come to know the value of His friendship.
We naturally shrink from telling even the Lord some things about ourselves, because we are too much ashamed of them to speak of them. This would not be if we knew Him as we ought. He is a true and faithful Friend, and will never reveal what is told to Him in confidence.
If we do not tell our sins to the Lord, then they will at the last be published to the whole world; but if we tell them to Him, He will cover them up, so that no other soul can ever see them or learn about them. But, better than this, He will forget them himself. He says of His people, that: "[He] will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19) "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12)
But God never forgets anything that exists; therefore when He forgets our sins they are for ever blotted out of existence. "The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none." (Jeremiah 50:20)
Who would not have such a friend? Why should we seek to conceal anything from the Lord? or why should we show ourselves so unfriendly, and so unworthy of His friendship, as to substitute in any particular our will for His? "O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusts in Him." (Psalm 34:8)--Present Truth, April 30, 1903--Original title: Back Page--Genesis 18:17.