Read Psalm 35:11-18. 11Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. 12They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. 13But I, when they were sick—I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 14I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning. 15But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; 16like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth. 17How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! 18I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
Nothing hurts more than to think someone is your friend, someone you wore sackcloth for, fasted for, someone you grieve and lament with, only to find out that they are actually an enemy who rejoices at your stumbling and gathers to mock you at the feast. Have you had a similar experience with a friend turned enemy?
Or maybe YOU are the mocker. Maybe you’re the one laughing at your “friend’s” stumbling, rejoicing in their failures, gnashing your teeth in anger at their success. Maybe you’re the lion.
What kind of “friends” do you have? What kind of friend are you? Failure and success usually reveal the hearts of friends don’t they? True friends rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. True friends are like Jesus. Jesus would never rejoice at your stumbling. He would never mock you behind your back. He would never tear at you like a lion.
Why? Because he knows what it’s like to go through this sort of soul crushing by those who are close to him. At the cross, Christ was repaid for all his good with evil. He was mocked and torn at by his enemies for us. And, yet, despite our sin that sent him to the cross he sees our lives as precious. As worthy.
Christian, Jesus sees your life as he sees his own.
To live is Christ is to find a friend in Jesus who is always for you, laughing when you laugh, and crying when you cry.
You: Do you ever feel surrounded by those who would like to see you fail?
You in Christ: How does knowing that you are in Christ allow you to face relational disappointments and even betrayals with faith?
Christ in you: Is there a past betrayal in your life that you need to forgive? How can Christ in you help you to find that forgiveness?
Pray: Jesus, you are a true friend. I can’t wait to thank you for your friendship in the great congregation, this Sunday and into eternity. Amen.
To Live is Christ 