Slices
Prepare
How do we respond when we realise that close friends are not on the same side as us over an issue?
Bible passage
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.
1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my plea;
2 hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3 because of what my enemy is saying,
because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
and assail me in their anger.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.’
9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.
11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
threats and lies never leave its streets.
12 If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
at the house of God,
as we walked about
among the worshippers.
15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
for evil finds lodging among them.
16 As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old,
who does not change –
he will hear them and humble them,
because they have no fear of God.
20 My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
21 His talk is smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn swords.
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
Explore
William Shakespeare portrays the assassination of Julius Caesar in a very dramatic manner in his play with the same title. As the conspirators gather around Caesar at the Senate on the Ides of March, he is literally taken aback to see his close friend and associate Brutus to be among them. Caesar’s last words, according to Shakespeare, were ‘Et tu, Brute?’, which literally means ‘You too, Brutus?’. An alternative is put forward by Cassius Dio, who suggests the words may have been ‘You too, son?’ When family or close friends betray us, it is indeed heartbreaking.
The pain of the psalmist is seen in verses 12 to 15, as he laments over his close friend. In 2 Samuel 15:31, David is being told, ‘Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.’ This could be the context in which David writes this psalm. The anguish of the heart is not only about the fear of death and the horror that was overwhelming, but also from the fact that his opponents are those David would have never imagined to be betrayers. He, however, trusts the Lord will give him strength to face such difficult situations (v 22), and this trust in God’s saving and sustaining power is threaded through the last eight verses.
Respond
Pray: ‘Lord, help me to never be a betrayer. When I experience betrayal, help me to trust in you for the strength I need to sustain me.’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 27,28; Philemon 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that the attendees at Scripture Union International’s Young Entrepreneurship Programme in South Africa (22–26 September) will learn new skills. Pray too that the Global Board will know God’s wisdom and direction as they meet from 26 to 28 September.
