"For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has magnified himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance.” (vv.12-13)
Here in Psalm 55, David pours out his heart to his Lord because a close friend Ahithophel has betrayed him. Ahithophel had been David’s close personal friend and counselor but Ahithophel turned on the King. If the betrayal had been a known enemy, then that would have been expected and David could have handled it. But when betrayal comes from this unexpected, close person, he was caught off guard and it broke his heart.
Nothing rocks our world more than the betrayal of a close friend or a loved one. It can break our hearts and cause us to react differently than if the betrayal came form someone else. In dealing with this, David went through many different emotional stages; heartache and terrors of death (v.4), fearfulness and trembling (v.5), thoughts of running away to escape the situation (vv.6-8), even asking God to take revenge upon his betrayers (v.15). Then David finally came to the correct conclusion concerning this and all disappointments in life, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (v.22).
We, like David, are going to have disappointments in this life, we are going to get hurt. Family, friends, co-workers, they are all human, and as such will disappoint. Therefore, like David, when treachery rears its ugly head call upon the Lord, cast your burden on Him, He will sustain you and hold you up. He will strengthen you, and not allow you to be moved from His protection. Trust in the Lord.
The Truth: “The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity” (Proverbs 10:29)
Here in Psalm 55, David pours out his heart to his Lord because a close friend Ahithophel has betrayed him. Ahithophel had been David’s close personal friend and counselor but Ahithophel turned on the King. If the betrayal had been a known enemy, then that would have been expected and David could have handled it. But when betrayal comes from this unexpected, close person, he was caught off guard and it broke his heart.
Nothing rocks our world more than the betrayal of a close friend or a loved one. It can break our hearts and cause us to react differently than if the betrayal came form someone else. In dealing with this, David went through many different emotional stages; heartache and terrors of death (v.4), fearfulness and trembling (v.5), thoughts of running away to escape the situation (vv.6-8), even asking God to take revenge upon his betrayers (v.15). Then David finally came to the correct conclusion concerning this and all disappointments in life, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (v.22).
We, like David, are going to have disappointments in this life, we are going to get hurt. Family, friends, co-workers, they are all human, and as such will disappoint. Therefore, like David, when treachery rears its ugly head call upon the Lord, cast your burden on Him, He will sustain you and hold you up. He will strengthen you, and not allow you to be moved from His protection. Trust in the Lord.
The Truth: “The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity” (Proverbs 10:29)
