One of King David’s close companions, Ahithophel, betrayed him. Ahithophel was David’s personal counselor; something like a modern cabinet advisor to the US President. According to 2 Samuel 23:34, Ahithophel’s son, Eliam, was one of David\u2019s mighty men. And according to 2 Samuel 11:3, Bathsheba\u2019s father was named Eliam, which would make Ahithophel, Bathsheba\u2019s grandfather. It seems Ahithophel never forgave David for destroying his granddaughter’s marriage to Urriah. So when David’s son Absalom rebelled against his father’s throne, Ahithophel joined the rebellion against David, betraying his trust. We should all rejoice that God both forgives and forgets our sins when we confess and repent.<\/p>\n
In the New Testament, Jesus quoted this verse in reference\u00a0\u00a0to Judas’s betrayal of him (John 13:18). Being betrayed by someone close to you inflicts one of the deepest wounds. Such betrayal causes us to put up walls of protection in order to keep from being hurt again. Later, if we find a new friend, one who looks safe, and we pull our defenses down; and that new friend then turns and betrays our trust once more, the damage can feel irreparable. The simple yet not easy answer to this problem is to not build higher walls and become harder and more calloused, but rather to choose to forgive and release again and again, just as God does with us.<\/p>\n
Down through the ages followers of Jesus Christ have experienced similar betrayals. In 1535, William Tyndale, the first to translate the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English in order to make a Bible that the common people could read, was betrayed by a friend and taken prisoner to the castle of Vilvoorden. In spite of more than 500 days of horrible conditions, he continued to work on his translation. But he was unable to finish it because he was sentenced to die a heretic’s death: strangulation and burning at the stake. On October 6, 1536, he cried out his last words of forgiveness: “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” This prayer was answered 3 years later with the publication of King Henry VIII\u2019s 1539 English \u201cGreat Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n
“LORD, we choose to forgive those who have wronged us, because You have forgiven us.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalms 41 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup> Blessed is <\/em>he that considereth the poor: the LORDwill deliver him in time of trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2<\/sup> The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and <\/em>he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3<\/sup> The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4<\/sup> I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5<\/sup> Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6<\/sup> And if he come to see me <\/em>, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when <\/em>he goeth abroad, he telleth it <\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7<\/sup> All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 8<\/sup> An evil disease, say they <\/em>, cleaveth fast unto him: and now <\/em>that he lieth he shall rise up no more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 9<\/sup> Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his <\/em>heel against me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 10<\/sup> But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11<\/sup> By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12<\/sup> And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13<\/sup> Blessed be <\/em>the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of King David’s close companions, Ahithophel, betrayed him. Ahithophel was David’s personal counselor; something like a modern cabinet advisor to the US President. According to 2 Samuel 23:34, Ahithophel’s son, Eliam, was one of David\u2019s mighty men. And according to 2 Samuel 11:3, Bathsheba\u2019s father was named Eliam, which would make Ahithophel, Bathsheba\u2019s grandfather. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7939"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16534,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939\/revisions\/16534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}