Read Psalm 109:1-5 1Be not silent, O God of my praise! 2For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. 3They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. 4In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. 5So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
It isn’t difficult to put the words of this psalm into the mouth of Jesus. If David felt betrayed by those he loved, how much more so Jesus? No one had loved like him, perfectly, unceasingly. No one else did only good and yet was rewarded with the greatest of evils in exchange.
Chances are you too have felt this sort of betrayal on some level. Someone you loved turns against you in Judas like fashion. Of course we are not Christ, but we do have Christ living within us, and so the love we showed was real, it was genuine, it was good, and yet not received. Friendships abandoned. Accusations made. Maybe even lies told.
What can we do in the face of such betrayals? Pray – but I gave myself to prayer. As we will see, David’s prayer will be one of imprecation. Christ’s prayer, however, was one of forgiveness and grace. Father forgive them.
Do you run to prayer as your first option in times of great relational stress and disappointment? To live is Christ invites you to. Jesus was not silent on the cross. He taught us how to pray in our agony. He taught us how to pray for our enemies. He taught us how to pray in the face of evil.
Prayer. Jesus, prayer was always your first response, may it be mine as well. Amen.
To Live is Christ 