Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

II. CRUELTY OF BETRAYAL - 4-9

“’ O Lord,’ I prayed, ‘have mercy on me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you.’”(4)

David immediately begins drawing upon the benefits he has accumulated by being kind to the poor. He is not buying favor from God, he is asking for the same mercy from the Lord that he showed to the poor when they were in a helpless condition. “ But my enemies say nothing but evil about me. ‘How soon will he die and be forgotten?’ they ask. They visit me as if they are my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere. All who hate me whisper about me, imagining the worst for me. ‘ Whatever he has, it is fatal,’ they say. ‘He will never get out of that bed!’”(5-8) David’s false friends have evil intentions in their hearts. Their words are more painful than the sick- ness he is experiencing calling his disease ‘a thing of Belial’ and attributing it to David’s sin. Perhaps this report of the King’s condition was what inspired Adonijah to try and take over the throne as his father lay upon his bed of sickness: “ So Bathsheba went into the king’s bedroom. He was very old now…’Adonijah has become the new king, and you do not even know about it’ …And the king vowed, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who has rescued me from every danger, today I decree that your son Solomon will be the next king and will sit on my throne’ …”(1 Kgs. 1:15,18,29,30) Abiathar the priest perfectly fits this description. He joined the rebellion of Adonijah and violated his life-long commitment to his friend and king. He was the one who carried the ephod in the wilderness when David was being chased by Saul and they would inquire of the Lord together: “ But David learned of Saul’s plan and told Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and ask the Lord what he should do…”(1 Sam. 23:9) He had been loyal to David and went into exile from Jerusalem with him during the rebel- lion of Absalom. Now he throws his life and friendship away in betrayal. David stopped Adonijah’s rebellion by instating Solomon as king. He then asked his son to judge his former friend Abiathar: “ Then the king (Solomon) said to Abiathar the priest…’You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you carried the Ark of the Sovereign Lord for my father, and you suf- fered right along with him through all his troubles.’ So Solomon deposed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, …”(1 Kings 1:26,27) This scripture was prophetic of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Jesus told his disciples at the last supper: “ …I know so well each one of you I chose. The Scriptures declare, ‘The one who shares my food has turned against me,’ and this will soon come true.” (Jn. 13:18) Judas was eating the covenant meal with his Savior and then he “ …lifted up his heal against me.”(Ps. 41:9 NIV) This meant that he had kicked Jesus as a mule would unsuspectingly kick their master. In his concluding prayer at the Last Supper Jesus again refers to this psalm: “ I have kept in your name those whom you have given me, ex- cept the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.”(Jn. 17:12) When we eat the Lord’s Supper we must be sure not to ‘kick’ other members of his body in betrayal by un-forgiveness, gossip or violating them in any way. There is a ‘built in’ judgment for that: “ For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.”(1 Cor. 11:29,30) Betrayed- “ Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.” (9)

III. COMING INTO GOD’S PRESENCE - 10-13

The benefits of David’s kindness to the poor are returning to him through the mercies of God: “ Lord, have mercy on me.”(10) • He was made well again- “ Make me well again…” (10)

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