Surviving Betrayal

Welcome to Built on God's Word, the preaching and teaching ministry of Highland Park Baptist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.! Pastor Mike Scrivani preaches on Psalm 55.

! And I say, oh, that I had wings like a dove.

I would fly away and be at rest. Yes, I would wander far away. I would lodge in the wilderness. I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.

Destroy, O Lord. Divide their tongues, for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it. Ruin is in its midst. Depression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it. It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.

We used to take counsel together within God's house. We walked in the throng. Let death steal over them. Let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul and safety from the battle I wage, for many are arrayed against me.

God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, because they do not change and do not fear God. My companion stretched out his hand against his friends.

He violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.

He will never permit the righteous to be moved, but you, O God, will cast them into the pit of destruction. Men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days, but I will trust you.

May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Would you please be seated? Betrayal devastates trust.

It turns best friends into adversaries and companions into strangers. Whether it's a spouse who breaks a vow, a parent who abandons their child, a child who distances themselves from their family, a friend who spreads gossip, a boss, co-worker, or teammate who pats you on the back in public but is secretly looking for a soft spot to stick the knife so that they get the promotion or position instead of you.

These betrayals, which come in many different forms, break our hearts. They crush our spirits. They make us not want to trust anyone because the pain that we've experienced is terrible, gut-wrenching, and really hard to forget.

We expect enemies to insult us, to stand in our way, to oppose us at every turn, inflicting us with pain and grief. However, we rarely give our enemies opportunities to hurt us in the ways that hurt the most because we always have our guard up against them.

But with our friends and our family, we let them through the gates. We unlock the doors. We give them access to intimate information about ourselves.

And sometimes they leverage that trust that they've gained from us to serve themselves at our expense, betraying us. The world seems like a different place after someone you trusted betrays you.

It's darker and it's crueler. Their betrayal can change us, leaving us suspicious and guarded against people who we should be able to trust.

We become suspicious of everyone. And we resolve never to let ourselves be deceived again. It feels safer not to trust anyone ever again.

Psalm 55 is about betrayal. David has been betrayed. He summarizes what happened in verses 20 through 21. Again, he says, My companion stretched out his hand against his friends.

He violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were soft as oil, yet they were drawn swords. We know in Scripture that David had many enemies in his life, but some of the worst enemies had at one point been his close friends.

The superscription of Psalm 55 doesn't specify which former friend betrayed David. Some think he may be referring to Saul. Some think David had a man named Ahithophel in mind.

Ahithophel was David's counselor and betrayed him when he joined David's son, Absalom, who revolted against him. 2 Samuel 17.23 says, In those days, the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God.

So was all the counsels of Ahithophel esteemed both by David and Absalom. So losing this trusted advisor no doubt dealt a heavy blow to David.

So David prayed that Ahithophel's counsel might be turned to foolishness, and in time, Absalom was persuaded to reject his counsel, wounding Ahithophel's pride in which he eventually took his own life.

But some scholars believe that David here has in mind Absalom, his son, David's third son, who became furious with David after he did not punish his half-brother Amnon for violating his full sister Tamar in an act that was just absolutely awful.

David eventually forgave Absalom and brought him back to Jerusalem, but his father's inactions and his years of inattentiveness caused Absalom to resent him, slander his father's reputation, lie to his face, conspire against him, ultimately forcing David to hide in fear for his life as Absalom came very, very close to taking his throne.

Some scholars think that David wrote Psalm 55 with his daughter Tamar in mind. She was tricked and forced by her stepbrother Amnon to be with him physically, though she resisted and protested against this wicked action.

Most victims of assault and abuse know their attacker, and it may even be a family member, as was the case for Tamar.

The depth of such a physical and emotional betrayal are hard to put into words. All this to say David was no stranger to betrayal.

If you've been betrayed by a close companion, a friend, a family member, you know the grief. You understand the misery that David speaks about in Psalm 55.

Ultimately, David's betrayal points forward to Jesus' betrayal. David's life is a type, a model of the Messiah who was to come. Jesus was rejected by many of the people he came to save.

He was lied to, he was lied about. In his moment of greatest needs, his disciples deserted him. Peter denied knowing him, and Judas committed the worst betrayal of all, betraying him to his face with a kiss on the face.

Jesus felt the sting of betrayal. Close companions broke his heart. He knows how it feels. He understands that sorrow.

Being God, he always knew Judas would betray him. But he didn't stop him because he knew what would be achieved, the greatest good ever done for anyone.

Jesus dying in the place of sinners who, in their sin, betray their creator. In the same way, David's betrayal points forward to Jesus' betrayal, and through Psalm 55, the Holy Spirit points to those who have been betrayed.

He knows you, he knows your situation, he knows how you're feeling, and this psalm is given to us to comfort us in a truth, helping us to survive the betrayal with the truth that God is always trustworthy, and he'll never betray us.

The main idea for this morning's sermon, then, is that the assurance that God is always trustworthy comforts those who have been betrayed by a close companion. The assurance that God is always trustworthy comforts those who have been betrayed by a close companion.

David's response to betrayal here sets an example for us in Psalm 55. God tells us through David's experience what to do when we are betrayed as we keep in mind that he is a God who experienced the ultimate betrayal to save us, giving us new life in him, changing us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, so we can resist the things, the sins, that being betrayed tempts us to do.

There are three actions to take when you are betrayed to experience God's comfort in the truth that he is always trustworthy and will never betray you.

The first action that we see David taking here is he complains to God candidly. He complains to God candidly. David's been betrayed. He's been emotionally wrecked by the treachery of someone he trusted.

Instead of blaming God for his close companion's sin, he cries out to God in prayer. In verse 1 again, he says, Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not your face from my plea for mercy.

It's not that God was hiding from David. That's not what David means. He's expressing here his desperate need for God's help. Like a person stranded on a deserted island who sees a ship out in the distance.

They're jumping up and down. They're screaming. They're waving. They're doing whatever they can to get the attention of those who could rescue them. David's desperate help for God here is his plea in this way.

God, I really need rescue. I really need your help. The Hebrew word translated as plea combines the idea of grace with the urgency of petition.

It's not a casual term. It communicates language of a subordinate to a superior. The superior doesn't owe the subordinate anything.

It would not be ungracious for the superior to withhold help from the subordinate in this case. Like a beggar on a street holding out a cup, pleading for money, the person he's begging from isn't obligated to give him anything.

He isn't the reason why the beggar needs help, and he doesn't owe him anything. David has been a betrayer.

Before Ahithophel and Absalom betrayed him, David betrayed Uriah. So David knows himself, and in this plea, in a way, he confesses his guilt before God.

He's experienced the anguish of the sins that he's committed against others. But he knows that God is a merciful God.

And his plea for mercy isn't based on God owing him anything, but based solely on who God is, on God's character. In verses 2 through 3, David says, Attend to me and answer me.

I am restless in my complaint, and I moan because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

David is bombarded with noise. He can't think straight. He can't sleep at night. When you've been betrayed, when someone you trusted betrays you by divulging in public what you told them in private, it creates noise.

Gossip and rumors spread about you. People are talking about you. You feel exposed. A worst nightmare becomes a living reality.

There's also the internal noise in your mind. The accusations of the enemy saying your life is ruined. Things will never be the same again.

You're helpless, and you can't trust anyone. These noises playing out in our minds cause us to think over and over about the worst case scenario and believing as if that worst case will be the case.

At night, when things are most quiet, these noises get louder and intensify, and you can't sleep. You're restless like David with moaning.

You want it to stop. What do you do? Well, here David pleads for God's mercy as he expresses his complaint to him.

We often confuse complaining with whining, and some complaining is whining. The difference here is that David isn't complaining about God.

He's complaining to God. In Numbers 11, the Israelites complained about God because they were tired of eating the food that he was providing them.

Numbers 11, 4 through 6 says, Every day in the wilderness, God provided his people with manna, a white, flaky, batter-like substance that they baked into bread.

It was free. It was nutritious. It was good for them. The food they ate in Egypt was not free. As they said here, it came at the price of their freedom.

In Egypt, they complained to God, and God freed them from their slavery. But in the wilderness, they complained about God because they didn't like their food.

And they complained about God to Moses. And Moses complained to God about them. Numbers 11, 10 through 15.

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased.

Moses said to the Lord, Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive of this people?

Did I give them birth that you should say to me, Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing child to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me and say, Give us meat that we may eat.

I am not able to carry all this people alone. The burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once. If I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.

Like Moses, David pours out his heart to God. He's candid. He's honest. He feels overwhelmed. Listen to what David says again in verses 4 through 5.

My heart is in anguish. Within me the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. Notice how descriptive David's language is.

Anguish. Terrors. Fear. Trembling. Horror. He's horrified. He's horrified. If you've ever seen someone experience something traumatic, they have tremors.

They shake. They shiver. They're in a state of shock. Maybe you've experienced that before. If so, you probably were tempted to do what David says next in verses 6 through 8.

And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and be at rest. Yes, I would wander far away. I would lodge in the wilderness.

I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest. There's a temptation to escape when we're betrayed, isn't there? To be envious of lower life forms, like birds, who don't have the responsibilities that we have and can just fly away.

They can just leave it all behind. I know for me, sometimes when I feel stressed, I'll be petting one of my dogs, and I'll think to myself, and sometimes I might even say it to them, You know, it would be nice to trade places with you.

All you do is eat and sleep. I pet you, feed you, play with you. You've got it made. Oh, if I could just be a dog.

Sometimes in moments like David's, you can be tempted to pack a bag, turn off your phone, get in the car, and just drive away. Sometimes, sometimes, we think, Lord, just come back now.

God, this would be a great time for your second coming. Come, take me home. Take me away. Sometimes if we're honest, like Moses, and like Elijah, we ask the Lord for death, we ask the Lord for death, thinking, I'd rather die, I would rather die, than live like this.

I would rather die, than live with this. There is a time to retreat. Sometimes when we've been devastated by experiences that cause us to feel the emotions David candidly expresses here, it's good for us to retreat for a brief time.

But where we go, and who we go to, when we retreat, is important. David goes to God, and he goes to God in prayer. Remember, Jesus often left his disciples to retreat into the wilderness to be alone with his heavenly father in prayer, but he always came back.

And he always pressed on in obedience to the father's will. When Jesus sent Judas away, knowing he would betray him, he retreated with the rest of his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray.

There we read about the anguish of our savior as he experienced the overwhelming terror, the horror of being forsaken by the father on the cross, knowing that he would suffer the wrath of God for our sins, dying in our place, atoning for our sins.

Mark 14, 32 through 35 records that moment. They went to the place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.

And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, our savior, our Lord, fell on the ground, and he prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

Luke 22, 44 says, of this moment again, in Jesus being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

God knows how you feel. He has felt the pain. He has felt the pain. He has felt betrayal himself.

So be candid. Pour your hearts out to him. Tell him you want to run away.

Tell him you want it all to end. He's your heavenly father. He loves you. Complaining about him doesn't help because he's the only one who can best help you.

But you can complain to him and you should. He can handle it. He can take it. As we saw last week in Psalm 54, he is your helper.

He will help you in the ways that are truly helpful for you. So complain to God candidly.

The second action, call on God continually. Call on God continually. David goes from complaining to God about how he feels to telling God what he sees in verses 9 through 11.

Destroy, O Lord. Divide their tongues for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around on its walls and iniquity and trouble are within it. Ruin is in its midst.

Depression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace. When David asks God to divide their tongues, he's most likely referencing the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, 1 through 9 where all of the people of the earth gathered in the plains of Shinar to erect a tower that reached to heaven in rebellion against God.

At this point, everyone spoke the same language so God confused their speech and put an end to their rebellion. David's enemies like God's enemies at the Tower of Babel are united in their efforts against him.

They aren't enemies outside the gates. They are traitors within the walls. The sentries walking on the walls of a city were supposed to be looking out to the horizon, keeping watch for a foreign army that might be invading.

But here, they represent betrayers, traitors who instead of protecting the people from enemies outside of the walls are keeping the people trapped inside the city to suffer violence and oppression from people who should be for them, not against them.

David feels trapped inside these walls. It's no wonder he wants to be like a bird so that he can fly and sail over the walls that have him pinned in.

God and only God has the power to change the human heart. The Holy Spirit can change violent people into men and women of peace. We should pray for that.

And in praying for that, like David, we should ask God to divide them, to break up their organized efforts to promote sin and cause suffering. Our mission is to declare the gospel to them that those who hear would be saved and divided, be separated from their sin through saving faith in Jesus Christ.

In verses 12 through 15, David calls for judgment on the person who did violence to his relationship in betraying his confidence. Again, those verses says, for it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it.

It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, then I could hide from him, but it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take counsel together within God's house.

We walked in the throng. Let death steal over them. Let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart. This person was someone David saw every day.

The Hebrew word translated companion was also used for a leader of a tribe. This person was David's equal, a trusted leader, a man he had intimate conversations with, a person whom he would have trusted with secret things, a person who worshipped with him, a person he had spiritual conversations with, a person who knew his life and who probably knew his weaknesses and knew his insecurities, a person he probably confessed his sins to.

This person walked in a visible place of honor with David into the temple to worship God. They seemed genuine. David had no reason to doubt him.

He acted good in church, but it was all a sham. This was a deeply personal betrayal.

Out of all the noise around him, this voice from this once trusted friend taunted David the most. first. You know, I was thinking maybe this is part of the reason why as we get older we seem to have fewer friends.

Yeah, we're busy. Some of us were married. We have kids of our own. We say we don't have enough time. And that isn't not true, but I think there's a reason why as we get older we don't have as many friends.

because we've been betrayed. We've experienced the pain of a broken relationship. But it's not good for us to live our lives in isolation.

We were created to have a relationship with God and for community within his body of the church. We shouldn't live as if every potential friendship is going to end in betrayal.

some people will fail us. But there's one person who never will. Jesus is always faithful. 2 Timothy 2, 11-13 says, this saying is trustworthy.

For if we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. As faithful as Jesus is to save those who believe in him, he is equally faithful to judge those who don't.

John 3, 18, Jesus says, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

In verses 16 through 17 of Psalm 55, David decides that he will silence the noises of his enemies by calling out to the Lord continually. In verses 16 through 17, but I call to God and the Lord will save me.

Evening and morning and at noon, I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice. Throughout the day, when the noises get loud, when the bad thoughts are infiltrating his mind, David silences them by getting alone with God, taking his complaints to God continually throughout the day and chooses to trust him, the one who has been gracious to save him and who hears his voice.

This reminds me of a song that I grew up singing in church. Many of you know it, it's called Take It to the Lord in Prayer. What a friend we have in Jesus.

All our sins and grieves to bear. What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere? Our precious Savior, he is still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit.

Oh, what needless pain we bear, we should never be discouraged when we take it to the Lord in prayer. If Jesus, the eternal, sinless Son of God, felt the need to pray, how much more do we need to pray?

Every time those voices and those thoughts, those feelings creep into our minds and crush our hearts, call out to God continually.

Keep doing it. Trust that he hears you, loves you, will help you, sustain you, and he's never going to betray you.

Third action, cast your burdens on God completely. Be candid in your complaint, call out to him continually, cast your burdens on God completely.

God seems like David is getting his feet underneath him at this point in the psalm. He sounds to me less shaky as he reminds himself of what God has done for him and what he trusts God will do for him.

Verses 18 through 19, he says, he redeems my soul and safety from the battle I wage. For many are arrayed against me. God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old because they do not change and do not fear God.

David takes refuge in the truth that his enemies will be humbled by God. Their sins will not go unnoticed by him or unpunished by him because God, he knows, is a righteous judge.

brother, sister, when you're betrayed, as difficult as it might be, you must surrender a desire to seek vengeance.

When we've been hurt, our natural reaction is to make the person who hurt us feel something of the pain that they've caused us to feel.

The same love that sustains us and heals us when we've been betrayed also frees us from having to be the one who administers justice.

God's promised us in his word that not only will he never leave us or forsake us, he's also promised to punish every sin, which is ultimately committed against him.

And he will punish that sin either in the horrors of hell or in the death of his son Jesus. Romans 12, 17 through 21 says, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

As you wait for justice, remember that your judge intimately knows your pain. Jesus was not only betrayed to death by the worst of his twelve disciples, he was also denied three times by one of his best disciples, and then he was abandoned by all the rest of them.

Then from the cross, Jesus surrounded by the enemies who conspired in secret to organize his death and who publicly beat him and whipped him and nailed him to the cross, prayed in Luke 23, 34, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

Here's a hard thing. Being like Jesus means forgiving others for sinning against you even if they don't ask to be forgiven by you.

That's hard, isn't it? But that's what being like Jesus means. Again, David's steadying himself in the steadfast faithfulness of the Lord, but in verses 20 through 21, it's like he can't help but recall that close companion's betrayal again.

Like, here's this noise again in my head. My companion stretched out his hand against his friends. He violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart.

His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn with swords. David's close companion assured him that he could be trusted, that he would be loyal.

He convinced David to let his guard down, but those tendered words became swords which cut him deeply. so here the pain is still real and is still very raw.

But instead of going after his betrayer, David chooses to go harder after God. And he encourages us to do the same in verses 22 through 24.

Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved, but you, O God, will cast them into the pit of destruction, men of blood, and treachery shall not live out half their days, but I will trust you.

David makes a choice here. He makes the choice that he is going to trust God. He is going to trust in God's righteousness. He is going to trust in God's judgment.

And so he's choosing to cast his burdens completely on the Lord and leave it all to him. This is another hard thing to do.

I remember when Jack was younger after his football games, if you've had a son who's played football, they're just drenched in sweat, covered in sweat.

There's not a dry spot on the uniform. It's heavy equipment and it's hard to get off and it stinks. And so after every game, I would help him pull all of that stuff off and it was hard because it was slippery and there would be the transference on my dry clothes with his perspiration and the smell.

And I'd carry all of that stuff for him to the car because he was exhausted. as his father, I was more than pleased and happy to bear that burden for my son.

And I'm just a man. How much better is our heavenly father? Brothers and sisters, this is what Jesus has done for you. Matthew 11, 28 through 29.

Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We can't save ourselves. We can't overcome our sin to get to God on our own.

That's impossible. We have to come to Jesus because he's the only one who overcomes our sin. He is the one who bears our burden and who continually commands us to take to him in prayer all the things that are making us feel anxious.

Casting, that word casting is like hurling, heaving, laying it all on his shoulders which are infinitely bigger than ours and are more than capable to bear it.

Philippians 4, 4-7 gives that encouragement. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand. This is a command. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

There's a choice for us to make here. Will we trust God completely with our burdens? I once heard John Piper share this illustration in answer to a question from a college student about how to cast our cares completely on Christ.

She read it in the Bible. She wasn't sure. She was struggling to do that. And so here's his response. he said suppose you live in a village with about 5,000 people and no army no fortress and suppose you hear that an army of 5,000 armed soldiers was coming against you to destroy you.

Now that would be in your heart a burden. It would be an anxiety. And suppose that there was a king with an army of 50,000 soldiers who had pledged himself to protect you and your village when you call him for help.

So you send a message to the king and plead with him to come and protect you against the enemy and he sends a royal messenger back with a message with the official king's seal on it and says I will protect you the enemy will not overwhelm you signed the king.

Now what would it mean for you at that moment to cast your burden onto the king? Surely the answer is this. To the degree that you trust the king's promise to protect you to that degree your burden will be lifted.

If your trust is small you will still feel burdened but if your trust is great your burden will be light.

Trust is the key to letting your burden go putting your burden on the king. Do you trust Jesus?

Do you trust him? You should. You should. He's proven trustworthy. He's proven faithful.

faithful. He died on the cross for your sins. He suffered in your place.

He was betrayed for you. And I know for me he's never been unfaithful to me. And if you know the Lord I'm sure you can say the same.

he's good and he's gracious and he's always trustworthy. If you're here this morning you don't know him he's brought you here to hear this word to know who he is.

And he says to you come to me. Come to me and I will take your burden of sin. Come to me and I will save you. Come to me and you'll have eternal life.

And that's the invitation for you. But you know David turned out okay. He lived a long life. He died an old man.

There was a lot of stuff. A lot of bad and good. Maybe that won't be the case for all of us. But in Christ we have a promise that will never fade.

A Lord who will never betray us. And who's pre-ordained a time in our future when he will wipe away all our tears.

And we will dwell with him in perfect unending peace. So how do we adjust as believers based on what we've heard?

I think it's to conform to Jesus' example by choosing to forgive. Choosing to forgive doesn't mean that there aren't consequences. There are consequences for our sin even when it is forgiven.

So choosing to forgive someone doesn't mean that there aren't consequences but it's choosing to be like Jesus. Ephesians 4 31-32 commands us here in the church as believers, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Let's pray.

Well, Lord, we thank you for passages like Psalm 55. Psalm 55. Father, I'm sure that anybody here who's lived long enough has experienced the betrayal of someone whom they trusted, someone who was a close friend or a family member, someone who shouldn't have betrayed them.

God, it's painful when we are betrayed. But, Lord, we take comfort in the fact that you know how we feel, you care about how we feel, and you help us with how we feel.

God, I pray that we would be obedient to what we see here through the example of David, your servant, of what to do when we're betrayed.

That we would take those complaints to you and be candid. Lord, that we would cry out to you and be honest. Why wouldn't we? Because you already know how we feel. And, God, that we would continually come to you.

So often when we're betrayed, we think that the answer is to get back, to get even, return to other things, to dull our senses and our emotions, and those things don't help.

So, God, I pray that we would come to you continually whenever those noises become loud, that we would seek you in silence, and we would call out to you, and that you would remind us of who you are in your word and your promises to us in it.

And, God, I pray that in those times we would cast our burden to you. Lord, you want it. You've told us to give it to you because you love us.

And so, God, I pray that we would trust you with it. You told us not to worry about tomorrow, and you told us not to worry about the future. But to seek you each day and trust that you are sovereign and you're in control, you're righteous, you're good, you'll repay sin.

Our mission and our purpose is to share and tell people about you in the hopes that they would be saved by you. And, God, I pray that you would help us to conform ever more into your likeness.

It's hard, God, to forgive people who haven't asked for our forgiveness. And even if they've asked for it, it's really hard to want to forgive them. But, God, by the indwelling of your spirit, you cause us to be supernatural people who are able to do things that we wouldn't otherwise be able to do.

And so, Lord, help us to never forget that, God, all of our sin is a betrayal against you. That, God, we've betrayed you. That we've rebelled against you.

That we've sought to go our own way. And, Lord, you've been gracious to forgive us and to save us. And so, help us to be the same. And, God, in any and all ways, I pray that we would trust you.

That we would lean not on our own understanding, but that we would walk in your ways and that we would do what you command so that we can experience the peace and the hope more fully that is to be had in Jesus Christ alone.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. To learn more, visit us in person or see the website at highlandparkbaptist.net