If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend. (Psalm 55:12,13)One can feel the betrayal in this psalm of David. In his song Why?, Michael Card makes the observation: Only a friend can betray a friend / A stranger has nothing to gain / And only a friend comes close enough / To ever cause so much pain.
It's only with our friends - people whom we love and who are supposed to love us - that we are this vulnerable. Letting one's guard down sets us up for heartache. But that's not the end of the story. That vulnerability (and the trust it fosters) is the essence of relationship. We cannot experience love without taking the risk that we might get hurt.
God himself has experienced that hurt. Jesus was betrayed by both Judas and Peter. And how many times has God been betrayed by me? How many times should God have been able to count on my commitment, only to catch a glimpse of my back as I walked away?
But then love isn't love if it's on a leash.
When were you last betrayed? When were you last the betrayer?
[1] Why? W/M: Michael Card, Copyright 1984 Mole End Music.
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