“But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.”
– Psalm 55:23
Hi James and Ellen,
What does having a friend mean to you? How do you know that who you call a friend is a friend? What does being a friend mean to you? Your grandmaa does friend building. Your grandmaa begins doing friend building with a spontaneous engaging smile. Your grandmaa is doing friend building when she is unconditionally befriending a guy, gal or kid. Your grandmaa is doing friend building when she is demonstrating a genuine concern for how a guy, gal or kid feels. Your grandmaa is doing friend building when she is carefully listening to what a guy, gal or kid is saying. Your grandmaa is doing friend building when she is inherently letting a guy, gal or kid sense that she is sincerely desiring to get a handle on the ongoing life challenges that the guy, gal or kid is encountering. Because of your grandmaa’s overt sincerity, guys, gals and kids feel encouraged to confide in her. Because your grandmaa does not do self-promoting, guys, gals and kids feel free to tell your grandmaa their life stories. Because your grandmaa never vents frustration that she might have to any guy, gal or kid who she has unreservedly accepted as a confidant, guys, gals and kids feel open to share candidly with your grandmaa. Your grandpaa defines a friend to be a guy, gal or kid who overlooks the obvious shortcomings of a guy, gal or kid and who accepts the guy, gal or kid just as he or she is without internalized motives to do what he or she can do to get the guy, gal or kid to make changes in what he or she says or does. Your grandpaa defines a friend as a guy, gal or kid who drives a relationship with a guy, gal or kid who he or she has capriciously or impulsively initiated without any thought or expectation of any kind of mutual reciprocating or interconnecting with the guy, gal or kid. Your grandpaa defines a friend as a guy, gal or kid who always conveys a genuine acceptance of a guy, gal or kid. Your grandmaa’s innate friend building ability can only be articulated by the guy, gal or kid who she has been led to come alongside of versus your grandmaa bloviating that such or such guy, gal or kid is her friend. Because your grandmaa does not pursue interpersonal relationships with gals, guys and kids just to say that she has friends, guys, gals and kids lay claim to your grandmaa as their friend. Your grandmaa magnetic personality has guys, gals and kids finding it easy to approach her to interact with her.
Do you think that a guy, gal or kid who drove a friend type interpersonal relationship with you has actually wanted you as his or her friend when one day he or she decides that he or she no longer wants to continue pursuing what he or she started with you? How would you feel if a guy, gal or kid who you think has wholeheartedly been there for you to celebrate with you the most cherished moments of joy that you have experienced and who has been there for you to entrust your very most intimate feelings during your most agonizing moments of anxiety if he or she suddenly one day moves to the other side of the fence where he or she will do all that he or she can to demean and destroy you? Why do you think that a guy, gal or kid who once sensed a compelling need to initiate a relationship that only benefited the guy, gal or kid who he or she was befriending would be led to one day decide to turn his or her back on the guy, gal or kid? David had a guy who was once a ‘true’ friend to him become the driving influencer to dispose him from being the positioned king over God’s specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group guys and gals. What would you do if one day a ‘true’ friend began to do everything that he or she can do to undermine your everyday functions and relationships? To debrief how he was feeling about what a former ‘true’ friend was doing to him, David scribed a psalm song to God to vent his feelings to Him. This psalm song became Psalm 55 in the Bible’s Psalm Psalter. This psalm song is one of six psalm songs that David scribed that are called a maskil. A maskil is a Hebrew word that is often translated as “contemplation,” “instruction,” or “a skillful song”. The sons of Korah scribed three psalms songs that are called maskil. David through the words of this psalm song tells God that he really wished that he had wings like a dove so that he can just fly away. David uses this psalm song to also tell God that he can endure the insults of his bona fide enemies and that he can hide from his actual foes but to have a guy who he had once enjoyed the sweet fellowship of walking together with through the throngs of God’s specially chosen guys and gals who would be standing outside the temple of God that was in the city of Jerusalem was really chewing up his insides. David also communicates to God through this psalm song that having a once close friend now attacking his friends while violating an unspoken friend covenant was going way beyond the pale. David describes to God his perception of what his once good friend was voicing and doing when he said that the guy’s speech was as smooth as butter while at the same time the guy’s heart was at war and that his words were more soothing than oil but at the same time this guy’s words were like drawn swords. Your grandpaa can identify with what David scribed in this psalm song as he has been attacked by guys and gals who he thought were friends.
What do you think triggered a once close pal of David to want to defame him? In seems that a self-righteous fool apparently thought that he could do a better job of filling David’s position of being a king. This misguided guy fomented a conspiracy. David is facing a mob led insurrection. Anarchy on the city of Jerusalem streets seems to be inevitable. If you were in David’s sandals, what would you scribe in a psalm song to God? Verse 23 says, “But you, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.” The one friend who you will always be able to trust – as David did, is God.
Psalm 55 (1118)