April 21: Been there, done that!

Psalm 35, 41, 43, 46, and 55

Psalm 35

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Psalm 35

[A Psalm] of David.

¹ Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!

² Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help!

³ Draw out also the spear and javelin and close up the way of those who pursue and persecute me. Say to me, I am your deliverance!

⁴ Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek and require my life; let them be turned back and confounded who plan my hurt!

⁵ Let them be as chaff before the wind, with the ^[a]Angel of the Lord driving them on!

⁶ Let their way be through dark and slippery places, with the Angel of the Lord pursuing and afflicting them.

⁷ For without cause they hid for me their net; a pit of destruction without cause they dug for my life.

⁸ Let destruction befall [my foe] unawares; let the net he hid for me catch him; let him fall into that very destruction.

⁹ Then I shall be joyful in the Lord; I shall rejoice in His deliverance.

¹⁰ All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like You, You Who deliver the poor and the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who snatches away his goods?

¹¹ Malicious and unrighteous witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I know not.

¹² They reward me evil for good to my personal bereavement.

¹³ But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting, and I prayed with head bowed on my breast.

¹⁴ I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother; I bowed down in sorrow, as one who bewails his mother.

¹⁵ But in my stumbling and limping they rejoiced and gathered together [against me]; the smiters (slanderers and revilers) gathered against me, and I knew them not; they ceased not to slander andrevile me.

¹⁶ Like profane mockers at feasts [making sport for the price of a cake] they gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷ Lord, how long will You look on [without action]? Rescue my life from their destructions, my dearand only life from the lions!

¹⁸ I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among a mighty throng.

¹⁹ Let not those who are wrongfully my foes rejoice over me; neither let them wink with the eye who hate me without cause.

²⁰ For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against those who are quiet in the land.

²¹ Yes, they open their mouths wide against me; they say, Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen it!

²² You have seen this, O Lord; keep not silence! O Lord, be not far from me!

²³ Arouse Yourself, awake to the justice due me, even to my cause, my God and my Lord!

²⁴ Judge and vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness (Your rightness and justice); and let [my foes] not rejoice over me!

²⁵ Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, that is what we wanted! Let them not say, We have swallowed him up and utterly destroyed him.

²⁶ Let them be put to shame and confusion together who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify and exalt themselves over me!

²⁷ Let those who favor my righteous cause and have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.

²⁸ And my tongue shall talk of Your righteousness, rightness, and justice, and of [my reasons for] Your praise all the day long.

Psalm 41

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Psalm 41

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is he who considers the weak and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of evil and trouble.

² The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; he shall be called blessed in the land; and You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

³ The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness.

⁴ I said, Lord, be merciful and gracious to me; heal my inner self, for I have sinned against You.

⁵ My enemies speak evil of me, [saying], When will he die and his name perish?

⁶ And when one comes to see me, he speaks falsehood and empty words, while his heart gathers mischievous gossip [against me]; when he goes away, he tells it abroad.

⁷ All who hate me whisper together about me; against me do they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me].

⁸ An evil disease, say they, is poured out upon him and cleaves fast to him; and now that he is bedfast, he will not rise up again.

⁹ Even my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted (relied on and was confident), who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

¹⁰ But You, O Lord, be merciful and gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

¹¹ By this I know that You favor and delight in me, because my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹² And as for me, You have upheld me in my integrity and set me in Your presence forever.

¹³ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting [from this age to the next, and forever]! Amen and Amen (so be it).

Psalm 43

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Psalm 43

¹ Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead and defend my cause against an ungodly nation. O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

² For You are the God of my strength [my Stronghold—in Whom I take refuge]; why have You cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³ O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling.

⁴ Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; yes, with the lyre will I praise You, O God, my God!

⁵ Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God.

Psalm 55

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Psalm 55

To the Chief Musician; with stringed instruments. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David.

¹ Listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplication!

² Attend to me and answer me; I am restless and distraught in my complaint and must moan

³ [And I am distracted] at the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression and threats of the wicked; for they would cast trouble upon me, and in wrath they persecute me.

⁴ My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵ Fear and trembling have come upon me; horror and fright have overwhelmed me.

⁶ And I say, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷ Yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ I would hasten to escape and to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest.

⁹ Destroy [their schemes], O Lord, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰ Day and night they go about on its walls; iniquity and mischief are in its midst.

¹¹ Violence and ruin are within it; fraud and guile do not depart from its streets and marketplaces.

¹² For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me—then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me—then I might hide from him.

¹³ But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend.

¹⁴ We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company.

¹⁵ Let desolations and death come suddenly upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol (the place of the dead), for evils are in their habitations, in their hearts, and their inmost part.

¹⁶ As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice.

¹⁸ He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me [so that none came near me], for they were many who strove with me.

¹⁹ God will hear and humble them, even He Who abides of old—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—because in them there has been no change [of heart], and they do not fear, revere, andworship God.

²⁰ [My companion] has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has brokenand profaned his agreement [of friendship and loyalty].

²¹ The words of his mouth were smoother than cream or 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 [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).

²³ But You, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in, lean on, and confidently rely on You.

Been there done that! Its interesting that when this happens, I am shocked. Every time. But this type of thing is common! It's comforting to know Jesus went through this. But He was God. I like to read about ordinary humans who went through this and came out of it. Stronger and better. 

This betrayal causes one to get to know his or her inner self. (I refered to this in an earlier blog.)

On another note, I like these verses:

Psalm 41: 1-3

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is he who considers the weak and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the time of evil and trouble.

² The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; he shall be called blessed in the land; and You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

³ The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness.

So if we are considerate when someone is down, whether financially, physically (or maybe they are betrayed), the Lord will look down on us in our time of distress and raise us up! 

In other words:

Luke 6:38

New International Version (NIV)

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

"Dear God, I pray for the person today who has been shockingly betrayed. Please help this person to encourage themselves in You as David did. Please help this person to know You are FOR them and that's all they need to know! Please help them hold their head high and have the inner strength and courage to keep on keeping on. Satan would try to tell them its all over and they are obviously an awful person if their trusted friend(s) is betraying them. Remind this dear Child that satan is a liar. Help them to pray David's prayer, "Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my [sad] countenance, and my God." You are worthy and I know you hear EVERY prayer! Thank You for Your peace and comfort! In Your precious name, Jesus, AMEN!"