Soothing the Pain of Betrayal

Verse of the day: Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

King David, in this verse, seems to be reminding Himself, as a means of finding comfort, that when we hurt the most we need to bring our burden(s) to the One who cares most about our well-being (1 Pt 5:7). It is generally believed that this Psalm was penned as the result of King David’s son Absalom’s rebellion, and the betrayal of King David’s most trusted adviser Athithophel. Although their relationship was not as close as King David and Jonathan, they enjoyed a close friendship. For any one of us, the betrayal or forsaking of family or a close friend is a very painful situation to deal with. The betrayal of Absalom was another consequence of King David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba (2 Sam 12:10-11). King David clearly states that his heart is severely pained at the fact that he is now, once again, running for his life from his own flesh and blood who sought his death. To add to the pain, the one person he trusted as a friend, and adviser, has sided with Absalom, who is now his enemy. In this lifetime God may allow us to experience painful situations such as this which He will use for our good to make us more like Christ (Rom 8:28-29). However, before we blame God for it, let us not forget that God is not the one who causes people to do these things. People do what they do because they are sinful, and because man was the one who made the decision to sin by disobeying God in the first place (Gen 3; Rom 5:12). Satan loves to use those closest to us to betray us and hurt us, but then direct the blame at God in order to put a wedge between us and Him. In verse 16 of this Psalm, King David records for us what his ultimate, and best, response is for this kind, or any kind, of betrayal, “As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD will save me.” In the midst of his crying out to God for His vengeance upon this act of betrayal, King David recognized that his life was in God’s hands, and the LORD was the only one who could save him for his current circumstance. One of the best things we can do in times of painful betrayal is turn to the One Person who understands that pain more than anyone else; for Jesus Himself was betrayed by one of His own disciple, and forsaken by the rest of them (Luke 22:48; Mk 14:50). One of the end results that God expects from His children, regardless of what the circumstance or the form of betrayal, is that each of us forgive those who hurt us, and do evil against us, regardless of who they are, whether family, friend, best friend, fellow Christian, etc. (Eph 4:32). We are called to not only forgive but return good for evil (1 Pt 3:9; Pr 20:22; Rom 12:17-19). We see evidence of this by King David’s desire to see his son Absalom unharmed and how he mourned his death (2 Sam 18:32-33). In the end, King David’s life is saved, and he returns to his throne, even though he suffered the loss of his son. As for Athithophel, his betrayal of King David, and alliance to Absalom, ended in his suicide (2 Sam 17). The bottom line is that King David trusted the LORD to not only heal his pain, but also bring justice to the situation. This is the same God who is our Heavenly Father. As born again believers, we add to the pain of the moments of our betrayal when we refuse to trust God to take care of the situation. When we become bitter and unforgiving and seek our own form of justice, all we do is prolong our misery, and even make ourselves sick emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. If we choose righteousness when those who we hold dear to our hearts choose unrighteousness toward us, we know that “He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” We may not see the results of God’s vengeance right away, and we may not see healing within ourselves right away, but we must not hinder that process, and stunt our growth in Christ, by becoming, hard-hearted, stiff-necked, bitter, and unforgiving. Let us cry out unto our God, casting our burdens on Him, trusting that He will sustain us.

Regardless of what painful situation we may encounter in life, we have a God who desires to be our strength in those times of trouble. However, He wants to do it as our Heavenly Father, and not just our Creator. Today, He extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus in repentance, confessing their sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).