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 sense of betrayal in this song 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?
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