Double-crossed

Psalm 35:11-18

11Malicious witnesses testify against me.

They accuse me of things I don’t even know about.

12They repay me with evil for the good I do.

I am sick with despair.

13Yet when they were ill,

I grieved for them.

I even fasted and prayed for them,

but my prayers returned unanswered.

14I was sad, as though they were my friends or family,

as if I were grieving for my own mother.

15But they are glad now that I am in trouble;

they gleefully join together against me.

I am attacked by people I don’t even know;

they hurl slander at me continually.

16They mock me with the worst kind of profanity,

and they snarl at me.

17How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing?

Rescue me from their fierce attacks.

Protect my life from these lions!

18Then I will thank you in front of the entire congregation.

I will praise you before all the people.

If you’ve ever been double-crossed or betrayed, then you can understand how David must have felt when he wrote this psalm.

And David knew betrayal. When David became king, instead of killing or exiling the entire household of the previous dynasty, he showed them kindness (2 Samuel 9). But Saul’s servant Ziba held a grudge and later tried to deceive David. How’s that for gratitude?

On another occasion David sent emissaries to express his sympathy regarding the death of a neighboring king’s father, but the king openly humiliated the ambassadors (2 Samuel 10). Later, David’s own son Absalom and trusted adviser Ahithophel rebelled against him (2 Samuel 14–15). As the rebellion continued, many of David’s friends and allies turned against him.

David had to feel stung by these betrayals. How do you feel when your trusted friends stab you in the back? You may find it difficult to trust anyone again. You may want to pay them back for what they have done to you.

But Scripture tells us: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. . . . Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good” (Romans 12:20-21). These words are hard to follow, but God will give us the strength to do whatever he asks.

Discouraged in the work of life,

Disheartened by its load,

Shamed by its failures or its fears,

I sink beside the road.

But let me only think of Thee

And then new heart springs up in me.

SAMUEL LONGFELLOW

Psalm at a Glance

Three times the psalmist launches into lamentation and prayers of desperation (verses 1, 11, 19), but in spite of the seeming hopelessness of his situation, each section of this psalm concludes with praise (verses 9, 18, 27). Even our prayers of desperation should end up in praise.