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bigmike

Where To Find Comfort When a Friend Betrays You
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Proverbs 27:6 KJV
He was once a trusted friend, but then something happened. His friendship became treachery, and the man who had been a companion, a family friend, and a confidant became an enemy. Have that ever happened to you? Painful, isn’t it? The person you thought would have gone to the wall with you slowly begins to drift away. Your phone doesn’t ring. It’s a one-way friendship. When you call or drop by, you get the connection but it’s pretty cold and routine, and your friend gives you the impression that he’s outgrown your friendship.
Here’s how one person put it, “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at God’s house.”
Those words were written 3,000 years ago, but they are as contemporary as the mail or the e-mail this morning. David, the king of ancient Israel, experienced the sadness and the grief which you may have encountered when a trusted friend, somebody close to you, starts to drift away from you and—for whatever reason—becomes an enemy, not a friend. Whatever you are, an enemy you are not, but he thinks you are or she thinks you are, and the sting of the treachery and the deceit hurts more than if someone were really an enemy and you expected that kind of treatment.
Within his power were a variety of choices which David could have exercised. Like the boss who can hire or fire, David could have made life miserable for the person who double‑crossed him. He could have responded with the “eye‑for‑an‑eye and tooth‑for‑a‑tooth” treatment. Give him a dose of his own medicine. That’s what most would have done. But what did David do?
You can read about it in Psalm 55, in your Old Testament. David began by expressing his feelings. He said, “My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy.” He honestly admitted that he’d like to walk away from the whole mess. “Oh, that I had wings of a dove!” he wrote, “I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert.” Ever feel like turning and running from an unpleasant situation? Then you know how David felt.
He was a warrior who had seen plenty of bloodshed, and David knew that anger would only breed more anger. Violence only precipitates more violence. “No,” thought David, “treating the guy like he treats me is not the solution.”
Uncertain as to what to do, David laid the whole thing before the Lord in prayer. He said, “I call to God and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”
David chose the path of wisdom as he said (and I’m paraphrasing it), “God, you take care of this whole situation.” Then he gave some advice which we badly need today. “Cast your cares [burden is the word the King James uses] on the Lord and he will sustain [or keep] you” (Psalm 55:22). And then David closed the whole subject by saying, “But as for me, I trust in you.”
Do you ever think it strange that someone who lived so long ago should understand the pain that you feel today? The book of Psalms is one of my favorites because there I see myself and my feelings, my pain, and heartache too. I also see the solutions to the problems of life today. Friend, make a note of Psalm 55 and read it carefully. Overwhelmed with worry? Then cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you just as He did David.
Resource reading: Psalm 55:1-23

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