For it is not an enemy who reproaches me. Then I could bear it;  Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me. Then I could hide myself from him.
But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend.
We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng.
Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, for evil is in their dwelling and in their midst.
As for me, I shall call upon God, and the LORD will save me.     Psalm 55:12-16 NASB

If you are old enough to be reading this, then you have probably lived long enough to be betrayed by someone close to you.  It is one thing to be let down by an acquaintance, someone you know but are not so close to.  It’s a horse of a completely different color to be betrayed by someone you know and love.  If you have ever been betrayed by someone in your church family, well that is something that is particularly hard to deal with.  Once you experience this type of betrayal, you can easily understand where the term “backstabber” came from.

This Psalm was written by David.  David experienced betrayal at the hands of King Saul when he served under him.  Saul would fly into fits of rage and would attempt to kill David.  David could have killed Saul on a couple different occasions, but chose to let God deal with him.  The entire story of David and Saul is covered in 1 Samuel, chapters 16-31.  David loved the Lord and had a reverential fear of Him.  However, once David achieved great success and became king, he slipped and fell into sin.  This brought hardship on him.  His children fought against each other and his own son came against him.  David knew great success and he also knew great suffering.

As Christians, it’s easy for us to be happy and filled with joy when we are in these periods of great success.  It’s easy to be happy when we are surrounded by those who love us and respect us.  But when you face betrayal, when you are attacked by enemies that you thought were friends or even loved ones, that’s a whole other ballgame.

So what do you do?  Well first and foremost you put on the armor of God, which is discussed in Ephesians 6:10-18.  You recognize that you are not fighting flesh and blood but the dark forces of evil.  You suit up and prepare for battle, but most importantly you pray and you trust God.

I love the last verse of Psalm 55. Verse 23 says, “But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days.  But as for me, I trust in you.”  The most important thing we can do when we face an attack is trust in God.  Psalm 91:2, “I will say of the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.”

When the enemy attacks, we can trust God to bring us through.  I am happy to say that I can look back on times when I have been betrayed by those that I thought loved me and had my best interest at heart. I can see where God brought me through unharmed.  He used these situations to strengthen me and to draw me closer to Him.  James 1:2-4, “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”.

We must also know that even when it seems like the enemy is winning that God is at work.  His word promises us that the wicked will be destroyed.  Psalm 37:20 says that the wicked will perish.  It tells us that the Lord’s enemies are like flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

Know that when people plot evil against a child of God that God will deal with them severely.  The bible tells us in Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived.  God cannot be mocked.  A man will reap what he sows.”  In Hosea 8:7, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”

So we just need to stand strong in Christ and know that He’s got this.  The devil tries to use these people to distract us from doing God’s work, but we must persevere.

My prayer for you today is that you are in a peaceful period with no distractions.  However, if you are suffering betrayal or an enemy attack, I pray that you are using the tools that God has given us in His Word to fend off this attack.  I pray that even though you are suffering, you are experiencing the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).  When times are really hard, I pray Psalm 91, the Psalm of protection.  Know that God is protecting you and will bring you through unharmed.

Have a great day!