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The Betrayal Psalm

A Lifted Heel
Ps 41


I. INTRODUCTION
This Psalm is known as the betrayal Psalm.

“Lifts up his heel” [vv. 9] -- The imagery is of one raising his or her feet as if to crush an insect or a worm. What makes this Psalm all the more poignant is that the betrayer is a close friend. This Psalm is therefore the Biblical equivalent of “you too Brutus”, the supposedly the last words of Julius Caesar, Dictator of Rome.

So what is “Betrayal”?
It is when a person maliciously and intentionally acts to hurt someone by breaking his or her trust.

Trust is betrayed when lied to; gossiped about; cheated on; humiliated, the list goes on.

Right away we begin to think, “Wow that describes what happens to me all the time!”

We make it about us. However, before we get carried away with our own self-indulged pity party, I want to petition to you that there are at least two questions that must pierce our souls and hearts as we read this Psalm.

I want to submit to you that these two questions may be more relevant to each of our lives. The two questions are:


1. Have I been the betraying friend to someone close? And,
2. Have I ever betrayed my Lord; who is really my closest friend? Have I betrayed Him through my actions, words, thoughts and attitudes?

Is this Psalm about me? About you? About us? Absolutely!
Our names do appear on both sides of the list – the betrayer and the betrayed.

I received a letter from Marg Jank, missionary to Venezuela. She and her husband, Wally, had been working there since the 70’s among the Yanowamö. She has since lost her husband, she is fighting cancer and this may be her last trip to the place. She still has to finish some translation work so that they will have the Bible in their language. She writes about the time she called a meeting of the Yanowamö saints, to tell them about three things specifically. 1. A brief rundown of her experience since the 70’s. 2. Her health situation, and 3. How she will be prioritizing her time to complete the work in the little time she has. It should have a time of thanksgiving to the Lord and gratitude to her. However, that is not what happened. Let me read in her words what happened at the meeting …

I wanted them to know that I might not always be very accessible, because of hiding out with my computer and working on Bible lessons; but that if they ever wanted to talk we’d make sure it happened. Apart from the fact that someone jumped up at the end and said he wanted to know what I was going to leave them, it all went very smoothly. We talked about it later, and he and his friend said things like “It’s nice that you are leaving us with the Bible translated, but when we run out of Bibles, how are we going to make new ones if you don’t leave a computer?” And “What about all those pictures you took of us back then, so you could show them to your supporting churches and get money out of them? They sent you money to buy us food, but you never bought us any. Maybe you could leave us some food.” I explained that apart from one or two times of famine, no one was sending money to buy them food; but they did send money so we could help them medically, and that’s what we did. All the medicines, all the flights back and forth to the hospital, that all came about through the goodness of supporters. They acknowledged that what I said was true, and eventually smiled again and said maybe they shouldn’t have spoken like they did.

It was disconcerting, to say the least. I suspect they had had their minds poisoned by some anti-missionary enthusiasts who had been getting together with them just before my arrival. Both of them came to the house a couple of times after that, for friendly visits, and to get help with a literacy project.

Talk about betrayal at almost the end of 50 years of selfless service!
Apart from the Lord it should have been devastating, however, Marg had found her strength in the Lord, just like the Psalmist had done before her.

A. The end of the Psalm
The Psalm ends with the Psalmist putting his trust in the Lord and with a doxology.

[In fact all the five books in the Psalm ends with a doxology. Ps 41 forms the end of Book One of Psalms. [Ps. 72:18-19; Ps 89:52; Ps 103:19-22; Ps106:48; Ps 150:6].

In spite of the terrible betrayal, the confidence of the Psalmist on his God is not shaken but strengthened.
That’s the new line for a James Bond movie – “Strengthened not Shaken”.

It is a Psalm of betrayal but more importantly the response to the betrayal. It is a Psalm that teaches us that when we submit to our situation to the Lord entirely, He uses that very situaiton for His glory.

Our Learning
‘Trust’ is the operative word of the Psalm and the ‘how’ of the trust will be our learning.


B. Messianic Psalm

In John 13 we find ourselves in the Upper Room.
The Lord and His disciples are having a Passover meal, what we have come to call the Last Supper [technically, there is another supper waiting in heaven, and then again that will be feast].

We hear the Lord describing the events to follow and he then quotes this Psalm [See Ps 41:9].

What the Lord is doing is applying the experience of the Psalmist’s betrayal to Himself.

We read:
John 13:18. “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’

No surprise!
The Lord wants us to know betrayal of Judas is known to Him – no surprise; no change to His game plan; and no adjustment to His project layout; no Oops! Moment whatsoever.

So when we read this Psalm in the light of its application to the Messiah – that he was betrayed just like we often have; to know that ‘He felt what we feel’ the life lessons become that much more endearing and comforting.

‘He felt what we feel’ …It reminds me of the Graham Kendrick song:
He walked where I walk (echo)
He stood where I stand (echo)
He felt what I feel (echo)
He understands (echo)
He knows my frailty (echo)
Shared my humanity (echo)
Tempted in every way (echo)
Yet without sin (echo)

God with us, so close to us (all)
God with us, Immanuel! (Repeat)

One of a hated race (echo)
Stung by the prejudice (echo)
Suffering injustice (echo)
Yet he forgives (echo)
Wept for my wasted years (echo)
Paid for my wickedness (echo)
He died in my place (echo)
That I might live (echo)
[Accessed: Nov 25. 2014. http://www.grahamkendrick.co.uk/songs/item/158-god-with-us-he-walked-where-i-walk.]

How can we not fall in love with a God who loves us so intimately…

Our God “experienced” betrayal.
We read:
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [Is 53:3].

Now when we go through betrayal our confidence is that we have a…
High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, … one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [Heb 4:15].


C. Context of the Psalm

The Psalmist seems to be laid up with some sickness.
We are not aware as to the nature or cause of sickness. The sickness however, seems to be serious enough that he is unable to get up. During this time his enemies come to visit him but secretly only to see how quickly will he die. His close friend betrays him having raised his heel to crush him. It is at this time the Psalmist turns to the Lord in trust to seek grace in his time of need.

According to most Bible scholars what prompted David to write this Psalm was the context of him running from Absalom during which time Ahithophel, David’s trusted counselor, had aligned himself with Absalom.

The prayer in this Psalm could thus be the prayer that Ahithophel’s counsel would be brought to naught.


D. Divisions of the Psalm

On the basis of our objective for this Psalm, I want to call the three divisions of the Psalm the following:
a. Vv. 1- 3: Our Stand in Grace
b. Vv. 4 – 10: Our Supplication for Grace.
c. Vv. 11 -13: Our Song of Grace. [Doxology].

a. OUR STAND IN GRACE
Ps 41:1-3

The superscription over this Psalm found in most translations is, “O Lord, be gracious to me”.

As we read the Psalm we realize that the stand of the Psalmist is in grace. He recognizes that his context, his circumstance and the conflict he finds himself required much grace.


A. Remembering grace

The Psalmist takes time to remember the seven-fold goodness of the Lord to those who remember the poor.

In the first two verses we get:
1. The LORD delivers him
2. The LORD protects him
3. The LORD keeps him alive
4. He is called blessed in the land
5. He is not given up to the will of the enemies
6. The LORD sustains him in sickness
7. The LORD restores him back to FULL health.
B. Response to Grace.

The response is that grace receivers must be grace givers.

That’s a Biblical truth!

For example, we are reminded in the prayer that the Lord taught his disciples, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others their trespasses”; or as Peter was reminded to “forgive seventy times seven” – which is to forgive without count.

It is the principle of passing on grace-- Once we receive grace, we cannot not be a grace giver. The expectation of grace is that it must be passed on.

Here the Psalmist talks to us about showing grace to the poor–those who are poor financially; poor in their souls; and poor emotionally…

Grace has an expectation that it must be imitated.

Having experienced such immeasurable grace we are expected to pass that grace on to others without measure and without murmuring.


C. No “victim mentality”

The previous Psalm [Ps 40] ends with the Psalmist remembering, “he is poor and needy and yet the Lord thinks about him”.

True Psalm 40 and 41 may not have been written chronologically [Psalm does not have chapters. Each is a separate Psalm. That is why we do not say Psalm chapter 41]; However, it is sequential in the Book One of Psalms.

Note what does not happen here. David does not say, “I am poor and needy… and therefore I am not able to consider others who are “poor or needy.””

David doesn’t say, “You think you are poor? Let me tell you about me.”

The Psalmist is not blighted by the “poverty of the mind”. Even in his low estate he is able to say that he considered the ‘Poor’.

We receive Grace not based on us being a “victim” but a channel.


D. Money as a resource

In our Friday Bible Study meetings we have been considering the correct interpretation of the parables.

We saw from Luke 16 how the Pharisees loved money. We read in:
Luke 16:14. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

They could not believe Jesus was for real. They couldn’t believe that abundance of money was not God’s blessing on them. They couldn’t believe that He was teaching that money was to be used as a stewardship resource--A resource to be used for making an eternal difference.

We are reminded in this Psalm that we are not to consume the various resources just on ourselves but to “Consider the poor”.

Liberality in giving is Biblical.

Freely received, freely give. If we don’t give liberally, we haven’t shown our gratitude for having received liberally ourselves.

Judas! Remember the thief?
Money was an issue with Judas. True, we may say he was patriotic and that he betrayed Jesus because Jesus did not meet his ‘standards’ of a Messiah. However, the Bible tells a different story.

We read in:

John 12:6. He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

The context of the verse is the time when Mary took an expensive ointment – a pound of pure nard and lavished it on the feet of Jesus. Judas watching this, in effect, says why spend it all on Jesus, let us give equivalent money to the poor. The truth is he cared neither for Jesus, nor for the poor. He cared only to get his slimy hands on the money – to get the hard cash in his cold hands.

Jesus doesn’t share Judas’s miserliness. This was a time for being lavish.

Worship of our God must be extravagant anything less is idolatry of self.

The time of corporate worship is your time to be lavish both in your heart and with your money. Our miserliness in both is a severe indication of our lack of gratitude.

Satan had found a foothold in Judas’ heart—his love for money. So when Judas couldn’t get his hand on the 300 denarii he was willing to settle for 30 silver coins. He couldn’t sell the perfume so he sells Jesus for the price of a slave [Exodus 21:32].


OUR LESSON

How low do we stoop? How easily do we betray?
At what price do we sell our Lord for with our choices, our priorities, our lack of passion for learning His Word. Our excitement for everything else shows our price tag on our Lord Jesus.

What we need is an “attitude adjustment”. These early verses of the Psalm helps us with just that.


III. OUR SUPPLICATION FOR GRACE
Ps 41:4-10

Notice that grace forms the two bookends of this passage [Vs.4 and 10].

In verse 4, the Psalmist asks for forgiveness. Forgiveness, whether in his lack of giving; or forgiveness for having lifted up his head in boastful pride because of his abundant giving; or whether for another reason, we do not know.

Whatever be the reason, it is a good reminder that when we come before a Holy God we cannot barter grace.

We cannot exchange our good deeds or our charity for grace.

Do this for me God, because I did this for you.
We are reminded no human charity can command God’s grace.
“not by works lest any man boast…” [Eph 2:9].

Two sets of people described
The Psalmist then describes to two sets of people in his life – his enemies and his friends.

We should spend some time in verse 9 & 10 to feel the entire weight of the writer’s heart. We will see what it meant for David and what it meant for our Lord.
A. David

The word used for my ‘familiar friend’ may be translated “the man of my peace”.

For our discussion here, let us agree with the Bible Scholars that it is Ahithophel who is referenced here. If so, there is an insightful verse in 1 Chronicles.

1 Chron 27:33. And Ahithophel was the king's counsellor: and Hushai the Archite was the king's companion:

That’s an indication of where Ahithophel stood.
Though David had considered Ahithophel to be a close friend, he was really only a ‘counsellor’, probably in the matters of the Kingdom.

[v.10] Prays that he may repay them
In Ps 41:10, David bookends his prayer with grace and ask for deliverance that he may repay them.

We are not told whether David wants to repay with good or with evil.

My understanding is that having begun with acknowledging the need for grace in v.4 and v.10, we can be somewhat confident David that is not praying for paying evil with evil--That he be allowed to take vengeance upon his enemies on his own.

B. Lord Jesus Christ

This idea of not taking vengeance becomes clearer as we see the response of our Lord Jesus Christ at His betrayal.

Judas is the betrayer here.
Judas is the disciple who was eating with Jesus while holding hands with the Devil.

Meaning of Judas
The name Judas is the Greek equivalent of Judah--It means “Praise”. However, his behavior never adds up to his name. In his love for money this New Testament ‘Judah’ takes on the Lion of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The gentle Messiah
We saw how in John 13 the scene opens with the Passover feast. During the supper Jesus gets up, lays aside His outer garment, ties an apron and begins to wash the feet of His disciples.

Notice as He begins to wash the feet of Judas, both Judas and Jesus know what is going to happen in next few hours. There is neither a protest from Judas, nor hesitation from Jesus.

In fact, so gently did Jesus treat Judas through all the days they walked together that no disciple was able to hazard a guess as to who was the betrayer.

The generous Messiah
Notice also how when Judas is sent out into the dark the disciples assume it may be to get something for the feast, or, mark this, ‘to give to the poor’.

We read in [John 13:29]:
Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. [John 13:29].

The assumption that it was ‘to give to the poor’ would be true only if the practice were true.

Now consider that it was in the middle of the feast that Judas was leaving to help the poor. That can only indicates that giving was not occasional but important and intentional.

Jesus could have reasoned, I have healed the poor; I have given the people their dear ones from the dead; I have fed the 1000’s when they are hungry and so I really don’t need to give any money – that too money that I don’t have in the first place. On top of that Judas is stealing what little I have. In fact, I am the one who is poor and with no place to lay my head.

This passage teaches us that Jesus’ giving was intentional even in the material things.

The grieving Messiah
Jesus on His part though keeps the disciple informed that He knows the future. He knows who is going to betray Him. He tells them in John 13:19.
I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. [John 13:19].

When we get down to John 13:21 we see the anguish of our Lord when identifying Judas as the betrayer.
“After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” [Jn 13:21]

This anguish couldn’t be because Jesus was going to die; He knew that from the beginning. This couldn’t be because Jesus hated confrontation; He was no sissy, who drove out the moneychangers. It certainly was not because Jesus made a mistake in choosing Judas; He just told his disciples He knows whom He chose.

The anguish of the Lord is captured in Mat 26:24.
The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” [Mt 26:24].

We must note that…
• Judas was not an unwilling accomplice in betraying Jesus. It was not because Jesus had to be betrayed according to the Scriptures that Judas was created.

That would be totally against the teaching of the Word of God and against the character of God.

• Judas was not deceived but he makes an active choice to betray.

But what God does is that He designs that evil choice into His plan.

• Jesus is in anguish for the lost soul of Judas; for the effect of sin on mankind and its resulting devastation. He is the one who weeps at the grave of Lazarus and over the city of Jerusalem. His heart still breaks at the ones who are made in the image of God...
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [Rom 1:21].

Jesus alone had the solution to Sin and according to the Scripture He was to be betrayed on his journey to the cross; but woe to the man, the Scripture says, through whom it was to be accomplished.

Having walked with Jesus, Judas now languishes in Hell. That should break every righteous heart.

God’s Word says in [Heb 6:4-6]:
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. [Heb 6:4-6]

“Lifted his heel against me…”

This phrase reminds us of the first promise of the Messiah in Gen 3:15.
The serpent will bruise the heel of the seed of the woman; and in turn he will crush the serpent’s head.

Picture here is the betrayer lifting up his heel to crush. For that is what the Devil expected to do to the Messiah but manages to merely bruise the Messiah’s heel. Messiah though returned the favour by crushing the serpent’s head.

To paraphrase Gen 50:20.
The betrayer meant it for evil but God meant it for good.
IV. Our Song of Grace
Ps 41:11-13.

See how the Psalm ends.

For both the Psalmist and the Messiah it ended well. They put their trust in God and were not disappointed. Also that they were not just not disappointed but rewarded by being set in the presence of the Lord forever [v.12].

Have we been betrayed? What should be our response?

We often won’t let go. We want the person who hurt us to hurt.

We are confident that God will be soft on that person and will let them off the hook. We think only we can handle revenge and repay in equal measure. It is during these moments of intense emotions that we need to learn to trust that ‘vengeance is His’. There is no place for revenge, neither now, nor later.

It is time to give it all up to Him who is able to do all things well for His glory. For that is what our lives must account for.

Both the Psalmist and the Messiah trusted God in their circumstance and situation and both were blessed to see God turn each of their betrayals for His glory.
V. What’s the take away?

First some quick picks:
1. We can expect betrayals in this life –from both friends and enemies.
2. When faced with betrayals turn to the Lord pleading for grace.
3. Remember that vengeance belongs to God; don’t try your hand at it.
4. Don’t go about life like a selfish victim.
5. Be generous. Your liberality must be an outpouring of your gratitude.

Let me quickly summarize with a story…

Haddon Robinson from Back to the Bible talks about a man who stopped at a grocer, picked out a watermelon, and asked the owner how much it cost. "It's $1.10," he replied. So the man dug into his pocket, found only a bill and said, "All I have is a dollar."
"That's ok," the owner said, "I'll trust you for it."
"Well, that's mighty nice of you," the man responded, and picking up the watermelon, started to leave.
"Hey, where are you going?" the man behind the counter demanded.
"I'm going outside to eat my watermelon,” said the man.
"But you forgot to give me the dollar!" replied the owner.
"You said you would trust me for it," the man called back.
"Yeah, but I meant I would trust you for the dime!" the owner said
"Oh!", the man replied, "You weren't going to trust me at all. You were just going to take a ten-cent gamble on my integrity!"
Often times that is what we do with God, we take a gamble on His integrity over the inconsequential things of our lives. The major ones though we reserve our right to be the judge. Especially things that affects us personally – including hurts and betrayals.

The psalmist challenges us to trust the Lord entirely. Learn to trust the Lord to handle our lives well not just in the good times but also in our worst betrayals.

Psalmist was able to say [V.12]
“But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.”

What about our integrity in these matters?