Psalm 55 — Psalms
Betrayal
This sermon examines how betrayal produces physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms, and calls believers to run toward God rather than away—trusting that He listens and will provide.
Introduction
I am going to give you some names. Tell me what they have in common: Brutus friend of Julius Caesar, Benedict Arnold, Robert Hanssen, and Judas Iscariot. Betrayal. The very word signals defensiveness.
Deemed one of the biggest betrayals of history, Brutus’ move against then dictator Julius Caesar led to the tyrant’s death. Even though his wife bluntly opposed his betrayal, he joined the Roman senators who savagely killed Caesar during the peak of the revolt against his tyranny. Brutus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, who was his uncle. Arnold was an American general during the American Revolutionary War that immensely contributed to the success of the Americans during numerous battles. However, other officers claimed all his accomplishments, prompting him to sell West Point to the British. After the plan was exposed in 1780, Arnold fled and became a brigadier general of the British Army. Hanssen was a former FBI agent who willingly approached GRU, the Soviet military intelligence agency and offered his services for money. He sold the largest bulk of CIA information and assets in history to the USSR and Russia for 22 years in exchange of more than 1.4 million US dollars and diamonds. His treachery was dubbed as the “possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history” and earned him a lifetime in prison.
Psalm 55 expresses deep emotions—emotions which come from betrayal and loss. These are words of shock, dismay, and hurt. These are words which you have expressed. This psalm captures your heart at times. David is crying out to God. He is in anguish and despair. He longs for answers to questions which cannot be adequately phrased. He begs for relief. When it feels like no one can be trusted, then where do you turn? It’s easy to say God, but it feels much harder in the moment of the betrayal.
Betrayal Symptoms
The connection between betrayal and physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms is well documented. If you have been betrayed then I am not telling you anything new. Depending on the intensity of the betrayal a person can have physical symptoms like headaches, GI problems, muscle tension, and fatigue. Emotional symptoms like anxiety resulting in less sleep and a desire to run away, depression, loneliness, and a sense of mistrust. Cognitive symptoms like replaying conversations and experiences, questioning your identity, and not thinking clearly occurs.
Look at verse 2. Troubled thoughts (cognitive symptoms). Verses 4–5 the emotional symptoms are described—anxiety, loneliness, depression (not the words but the sentiment). Verses 6–7, the writer wants to run away (flight response) and find the place of refuge or shelter far from what is happening.
We don’t know this is about betrayal until verses 13–14. That piece of information reveals the depth of desperation. “Oh that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” Who doesn’t want that when the despair is deep and lasting. But it isn’t just the despair we see. Look at verses 1–2. The truth is that the writer has been crying out to God and there is no relief. He pleads for his voice to be heard and that God will respond. Look at verse 17—this pleading goes on all day and night. One keeps pleading when there is no relief. The despair deepens because of the betrayal and because God is silent.
Look at verse 15. The writer wants God to act in ways that clearly reveal that he is at work. He wants his enemies to die—suddenly. Such an outcome would demonstrate that God was at work. We, too, have prayed for sudden and definitive action from God. Maybe we are afraid to pray for death for our enemies but we certainly pray for quick changes.
When sitting beside one who is breathing with difficulty and with each rising and falling of the chest, you wonder if life is coming to an end. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” When your co-worker has only negative things to say and even tries to make you look bad in front of your employer. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” When a son or daughter has taken a path that you wouldn’t have chosen; when they are heading in their own direction and you know that the path is leading to destruction. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” When a spouse has only contempt in his or her voice; when the kindness is gone and the wall which separates you both is so thick that no warmth could possibly pass through. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” When a friend betrays you; when a friend rejects you; when a friend only pretends to be your friend; when a friend speaks against you; when a friend takes the precious secret you shared and speaks of it to others. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” When the bills are piling up and for the foreseeable future there seems to be no relief and then the pink slip comes or the hours are reduced or the first of what you know will be many bill collectors begins calling. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” When you are in a dead end job. The dreams of youth have fallen away to the realities of middle age and what once was possible is no longer. Life has little joy and little pleasure. The repetition of going to work, paying bills, and going to bed has produced a deep rut with no future. “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.”
Who hasn’t felt the deep desire to escape; to get away from the immediate; to find a place of rest, comfort, and peace? So what do we do when we want to get away and it isn’t possible to leave?
Learn to Trust
We cry out to God and we trust him to act. This is hard. We long for relief and when relief doesn’t come quickly, we think that God has abandoned us. The writer cries out believing that God will answer; he cries out trusting that God will act; he cries out knowing that only God can bring an end to his distress. So he prays. Why? Verse 23: “I trust in you.” The answer is not to run away although that is appealing. The answer is to remain and trust.
What does it mean to trust? It means to build your life around the thing that is trusted. It means that your behaviors are consistent with the thing that is trusted. It means that your thoughts bring your emotions in alignment with the thing that is trusted. It means that you are confident in the thing you trust. To trust God means that we find our confidence in him; it means that we bring our emotions into alignment with that confidence; it means that we behave in ways that are consistent with that confidence. It means that we know God is not silent; he is listening and listening isn’t passive. God listens to us and hears our hearts. Remember the story of Job. Job was comforted by his friends’ presence and that comfort was lost when they began to speak.
Job’s friends showed up and the losses were still there; the physical suffering did not go away; the stench of death was still there but he was comforted by their presence. God while listening is present. Who was the psalmist crying out to throughout the day? And by doing so, he was aware of God’s presence. Run to God. Run to Father. Don’t run away. Stay and pour out your heart to God and be confident of this—He will hear and he will provide (vs. 22).
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