Treachery Of Friends

Psalm 55: 1 – 23

Treachery of Friends

To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David.

1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and do not hide Yourself from my supplication. 2 Attend to me and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, and in wrath they hate me. 4 My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me. 6 So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. 7 Indeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah 8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” 9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go around it on its walls; Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it. 11 Destruction is in its midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets. 12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. 13 But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. 14 We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng. 15 Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. 16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me. 17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. 18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many against me. 19 God will hear, and afflict them, even He who abides from of old. Selah Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God. 20 He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has broken his covenant. 21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. 22 Cast your burden on the LORD,

And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. 23 But You, O God, shall bring them down to the pit of destruction; Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; But I will trust in You.

Someone asked me how can one deal with the treachery of friends? My answer might confuse you. I told the person that there is no such things as a friend’s treachery. Say what?

Yes, this is a truth. An oxymoron are contradictory terms. The statement ‘the treachery of my friend’ falls into this description.

I know you have heard the statement, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ This statement says that if someone hurt us then I have learned a lesson about them and be on the lookout for their future attempt to hurt me again. So, if I am naïve to allow them to pull another hurt against me then I should just realize that I was not alert enough to allow them to have another shot at me.

Here is something I want you to settle in your thoughts, so you can avoid these needless hurts caused by some people that you placed in the ‘friend’ category.

Let me give you a couple of verses that deal with ‘friends.’

Proverbs 17: 17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Proverbs 18: 24, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Proverbs 27: 9, “Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel.”

Proverbs 27: 17, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

You see what we have are ‘acquaintances’ not friends. We put people in the ‘friend’ category when they are only an acquaintance. Therefore, we wind up getting hurt. We should take to heart t he scriptures that was just listed as to what a ‘friend’ is really like before we add someone to our ‘special friend list.’

Today, we are going to see an example of David getting burnt by someone he thought was a friend when this guy all along was a what? (acquaintance)