As you take your seats, please turn with me in your scriptures to Psalm 55. As our meditation and reflection this evening will be coming from Psalm 55, the entire Psalm verses 1 through 23. Hear now this reading from the Word of God. To the choir master with stringed instruments, a Mosqueal of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea of mercy. Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and I moan. Because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, for they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. My heart is in anguish within me. The terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, oh, that I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and be at rest. Yes, I would wander far away. I would lodge in the wilderness. I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest. Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues, for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it. Ruin is in its midst. Oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace. For it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it. It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, then I could hide from him. but it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together. Within God's house, we walked in the throng. Let death steal over them. Let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart. But I call to the Lord, to God, to the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul and safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. God will give ear and humble them. He who is enthroned from of old, because they do not change and do not fear God. My companion stretched out his hand against his friends. He violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction. Men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you." That's the reading of the word of God. Let's bow, folks, in a brief word of prayer and ask for the Lord to bless us as we meditate upon his word this evening. Let's pray together. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we come before you this evening, and we thank you, Lord, for Jesus, our Savior. We thank you, Lord, for the word of God that reveals Christ. And as we meditate upon your word this evening, we pray that you will be with us, remind us once again of how great you are as our God, and the abundant blessings that we have received as your children. Hear our prayers, for we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Folks, I do love a good story. I think we all do. For me, a good story oftentimes is made not just with a good hero, but you really need a good villain. The old James Bond movies, for that reason, were the classics. They haven't replaced. That's why they named the movies after villains. Dr. No, Goldfinger, they don't do that anymore. Some of my favorite novels really are just made by just some great villains in the history of literature. My favorite of Shakespeare's plays is Othello. You know why? Great villain. The figure of Iago. By the way, Iago is from Shakespeare, not from a silly Disney movie, by the way, just for the record. One of my most favorite novels is Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, because another great villain, Chillingworth. Even the name kind of sends a little chill down your spine. You know, there's a common denominator between Iago in Shakespeare's play and Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter. They both pretended to be a friend, but were actually enemies. They were someone who befriended the hero of the novel, of the story, but actually was malicious in their intent to see harm come their way. There's a villain like that here in Psalm 55. He is sort of like that. And if you stop and think about this for a moment, think about just how powerful that image is. The people that oftentimes that can hurt us the most are the ones that we don't expect harm from. They're the ones that we expect the complete opposite. Trust, confidence, assurance, grace, love, gratitude. And when a person like that hurts you, that's a pain that hurts just a little deeper. Folks, that is what Psalm 55 is about. And that is for whom Psalm 55 was written. The main message that I'd like to share with you from this psalmist is that the psalmist here of Psalm 55 is struggling due to the betrayal of an unexpected adversary, a friend. Yet he appeals to the Lord, and in the Lord he finds his comfort and hope. That's it. And the main application that I hope that you'll gain from this is just when there are times, and it happens, we live amongst sinners and we will sin, which means that there will be those who will be sinned against and feel betrayed at times. But when we feel those moments of doubt and uncertainty, hurt from those that are around us, that we will learn to cast our burdens unto the Lord and know that he is there to comfort us. There are just four simple points I'd like for us to meditate on as we think of Psalm 55 here this morning. First, to think of the struggle of the psalmist in verses one through eight. And when you read about his struggles, they are powerful, they are deep, and they are painful. And then he goes on to describe the enemy, the actual person who was harming him. You read about this person in verses 9 through 15, and again a little bit later in verses 20 through 21. The psalmist, in light of the trials that this adversary, this enemy of his, is causing upon him, he rests in the Lord. That's the third thing that I would like for us to reflect on in verses 16 to 19. And then finally, some words of encouragement and application for us in verses 22 to 23. So that's our roadmap for this evening, folks. The struggle of the psalmist, verses one through eight. The description of the enemy, the wicked, in verses nine through 15. The resting of the psalmist in the Lord, the comfort that he finds in the Lord in verses 16 to 19. And then some final words in verses 22 through 23. Now, as the psalm begins here, the psalmist, again, begins rather abruptly. There is no pretense. There is no sweet, endearing call to worship or anything like that. He just appeals to the Lord right away, and this is something that you oftentimes very frequently find within psalms of lament. There is no time to just set up some sweet words of endearment. He just gets to the heart of the matter. And that's what you find that is going on here. Verse one, give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy. If you stop to think about it, Of course the Lord's not going to hide himself. Of course he's going to listen. But again, the psalmist is appealing to the Lord and appealing to these attributes of God because he is just in such desperate need and help. He goes on to describe what is going on within him, some of the turmoil a little bit in verse two. Attend to me, he says, answer me because I am restless and my complaint in my moaning. You get a sense here of a psalmist that is so agonized he is just kind of roaming numb, just kind of grumbling as he is walking around from place to place. He just doesn't know how to make sense of what he is going through. I don't know if you've ever gone through days like this where you're just sort of kind of sighing deeply, you know, you are just mumbling words because you just don't know how to articulate it. That's sort of the image that you have of the psalmist here in these first opening verses. He gives you the reason for all of this then in verse 3. Because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me." Notice that there is... Notice, by the way, the plural and the singular. That's always sort of interesting. There is one particular enemy that the psalmist has in mind, and he is assaulting him. Notice, by the way, that in the second half of verse 3, it becomes a, they are bearing a grudge against me. The singular enemy then is representative of a horde, a group that he has now rallied together to assault David in a certain sense, sort of leading an attack against David, that type of idea. And the nature of the attack, notice how the nature of the attack is really verbal. The noise of the enemy, he says there in verse 3, that the words that the enemy is saying is such chatter that it's just noise. The idea of verbal assault is reaffirmed when you read verse 12. An enemy is taunting me, he says. In verse 21, he even describes the way that the enemy here is assaulting the psalmist even more. His speech, that is words, are smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are more soothing than oil, but they are actually drawn swords. You see how sinister that is. Here is someone who is actually trying to... It sounds like they are speaking words of comfort, but they're not. It's actually words of destruction and condemnation. It sounds like that the words that this person is saying is on the psalmist's side. But actually what he is doing is a slow, methodical, programmatic deterioration of the psalmist You see how sinister that this enemy is, not just the fact that he is shrewd and conniving But you see here he is using verbal attacks to assault the enemy He does talk about oppression, that is true. There are certain perhaps physical aggressions, but it's the verbal assault that leads to the physical aggression, you could say. It's not just one aspect of attack, it's a holistic attack here against David. Not just a threat to his body, but also to a certain degree, an attack upon his legacy, his namesake, his popularity. You see the psalmist here is trying to undermine David completely and holistically. Again, this is not an uncommon theme. Someone really should do some more study on the idea of verbal assaults within the psalm, that the psalmist oftentimes are describing the verbal attack of the wicked against them, because that is oftentimes so much more damaging than the physical one. And you see this repeated over and over and over again. Because of this, the psalmist is struggling deeply. Verses four through eight. My heart is in anguish within me, he says. Terrors of death have fallen upon me. Verse five, fear and trembling come upon me. He says horrors overwhelm me. Notice the graphic images that he is describing here. You really get the sense that his internal soul is in torment. anguish, terrors of death, fears and tremblings, horrors. I think it'd be safe to say things are not going too great for the psalmist here. He is feeling abandoned, he is feeling alone, and he's feeling the terrors of death that are upon him. In fact, so tragic and difficult is this situation, in verse six through eight, he actually appeals for the Lord to take him away. This is actually one of the rare times actually in the psalm that you hear the psalmist asking for the Lord to do this, to take him away from these troubles. Notice the imagery that he has there in verse six. And I say, oh, that I had wings like a dove. I will fly away and be at rest. You see, he just wants to get out of this situation, get out of the city, get out of Israel, get out of Jerusalem where he can find some peace and comfort. Verse seven, yes, I would wander far away. I would lodge in the wilderness, verse eight, I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and the tempest. Here you read about a psalmist here who is going through some significant assault from an enemy, both physical and definitely verbal, and so much as a torment within him that he, one of the rare times, he is actually asking for the Lord to just take him out of here, get him out of this situation. Now why? What is causing this agony and this struggle? We know it's because of this enemy and that's the next thing that I'd like for us to reflect on is the description of this enemy, this adversary that is tormenting the psalmist. You read about him beginning in verse 9. Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues. Again, there's that imagery of a verbal assault. So divide their tongues so that they're not able to strategize verbally any longer. For I see violence and strife in the city. Verse 10, day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it. Ruin is in its midst. Oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace. Again, just a litany of various different images and terms here to describe the hardship that the wicked is posing upon David, and in fact, posing upon the city. Words like divide their tongue, He sees violence in the city. There's strife in the city. Iniquity and trouble are all within the city. There's fraud in the marketplace in verse 11. There's oppression in verse 11. It really is an interesting image when you see in verse 10, it says, day and night, they go around the city on its walls. Now the wall, remember, in ancient city structure, remember, this is a protective wall that is meant to be in place to protect the city from outside invaders and intruders and things of this nature. And what you have here is a picture of the wicked, the ones who are attacking David, who are patrolling by walking the perimeter of this wall. But in a sense, what they are doing is not walking the perimeter of the city to protect the city from wickedness or enemies outside, they are trying to preserve the wickedness in the city itself. It talks about oppression in the city. It talks about fraud in the city. It talks about wickedness in the city, violence in the city, deception in the city here. And here the enemies of God are patrolling the city perimeter here to preserve these ungodly virtues that are within it. really just a terrible picture of a city, most likely the city of Jerusalem, in decay and growing increasingly worse and worse and worse in depravity. Now, to a certain extent, folks, when you read this much of the psalm, we really haven't read anything terribly new. If you read consistently these lament psalms, these sad songs in the Book of Psalms over and over again, what you will find is a consistent theme that are very much like this. Hardship, trials, corruption, oppression, wickedness. In that sense, Psalm 55 is not in any way unique, really, to the collection of Psalms here. It's really contributing to many other laments that you have that preceded it and even come after it. What is interesting and what is an intriguing contribution of Psalm 55 is not necessarily the hardship of the psalmist, it is the enemy. The way that this enemy is described that is causing hardship for David. Notice the way that he is described in verse 12. It is not in fact an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it. It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me. Then I could hide myself from him." You see, in one sense, what he is saying as he is contemplating this person or this group of people that is assaulting him, In one sense, he is saying that these are not the traditional enemies that David has had or that Israel has had before. We're not told who they are, but they weren't Canaanites. They aren't Philistines. They aren't the Moabite kings. They're not anybody like that. In fact, what you find is a surprising identity to the wickedness and the identity of this enemy who is causing all of this heartache here for the psalmist. In verse 13, It's not an enemy, it's not an adversary, verse 13, but it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my faithful friend, my familiar friend. It's a friend that is doing this. a companion who is doing this. And if you stop to think about it, it makes some sense. You folks are lovely and wonderful, so I know this might be hard for you to imagine, but try to imagine someone who doesn't like you. Someone who has it out for you. Try really hard. I'm a pastor, this is not that hard for me to figure out. I apologize, that was terrible, I didn't mean that one. But if you have someone that doesn't like you, and they say something to hurt you or try to do something cruel against you, that's not surprising. They don't like you. Of course they're gonna be not out for your best interest and for your well-being. But a friend, a friend is someone we put ourselves, we entrust our well-being to. A friend is someone that we leave ourselves vulnerable to. A friend is someone that we are willing to confide in, is someone that we are willing to love, and be loved by. You see, someone like that, if they hurt us, they can, and they can do it deeply because we allow ourselves to be open to be attacked, you see. And that's what we are talking about as a person like this. Look at the way that this person, again, just consistently, even more descriptions of this adversary. Verse 14, we used to take sweet counsel together. This is a person who, that they were giving words of encouragement and advice to each other. You can almost envision two individuals who have been kind of living life together and kind of going through the hardships of life. You know, it's not easy living in a corrupt world. It's not easy to live with a sinful nature. And they're encouraging one another. That's what you picture. We used to do this, take sweet counsel with one another. It says the latter half of verse 14, within God's house, we walked in the throng. Notice that it's in the context of the temple. Now, again, I'm not all the other sure what that means here. You know, David was a king. He was perhaps a king in the order of Melchizedek, so he may have had a priestly aspect here to his being. But there is some aspect of being in the dwelling of God and in the presence of God here that was the basis of their relationship and their fellowship and their bond together. In other words, folks, these weren't just neighbors who just kind of hung out for years You know, having weekend barbecues and having fun nights together, you know, drinking coffee and talking about the news. I'm sure, you know, whatever equivalent of that in ancient Israel, I'm sure they had something like that. But we're talking worship. We're talking service to the Lord. We're talking ministry. That's what we're talking about here in terms of these individuals. That's the kind of experience and relationship that they had within God's house. We walked in the throng. Enemies attack. Friends usually don't, and because it's a friend who is attacking him, that is what makes the pain and the struggle and the agony of the psalmist here that just much more egregious and that much more painful. Again, even notice and remember the verbal nature, again, of the attacks of the enemy in verses 20 through 21. Verse 20, my companion stretched out his hand against his friends. He violated his covenant. So there was some type of a, not probably official covenant here, but a bond of fellowship that was between these two that is being violated here because of this adversary. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords within him. Again, we read that earlier, but again, just notice the verbal nature of what the enemy is saying here. And notice, just think about how vulnerable we can be to each other, and what false words, or what seem to be sweet words, but untrue words, how damaging that could be. What if we sinned against the Lord and it's terrible, and we are struggling for that moment of weakness, wonder, boy, I did this or I said this, does the Lord still love me? You know, sometimes it's a question that we struggle with. What if your friend comes to you and says something to the effect of, well, maybe he doesn't, but I still do? Is that really comforting? It sure sounds it. What it sounds to me is a speech that is smooth as butter, but war is in their heart. What about a struggling even of assurance of our salvation? What if we struggle with it and we have a sin, wonder, can the Lord, can he really save me even from this? Let's say your friend comes to you. Your friend comes to you and says something perhaps like, well then, let's eat, drink, be merry, if tomorrow in fact we are going to die. It sounds great. But is that really a word of comfort? It sounds to me like these words, though they sound softer than oil, they are in fact drawn swords. Make no smirk about it, folks. Words hurt. A false understanding of God hurts. False doctrine hurts. Which is one reason why perhaps the Apostle Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 7, that we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. We destroy arguments and we do so on the basis of our doctrine of God and His Word. The words of man may betray us, but the word of God is constant, infallible, sure, inerrant, trustworthy, authoritative, that gives us comfort from day to day to day. But there is this one person, in fact, that the psalmist is attacked by. And for that reason, he appeals to one other person, and that is God himself. He is the enduring struggle after struggle. It is an adversary who was once a trusted friend who is betraying him. And so he appeals to God. He turns to the Lord, and he finds comfort. And what you find here is just a very strong God-centeredness in verses 16 to 19, not a lot of spiritual disciplines per se. Yes, he's praying. Yes, he's worshiping. But you get the sense that what he is comforted by is just the fact that he can appeal to God. Notice what he says in verse 16. I call to God and the Lord will save me. In desperation, the psalmist is appealing to God and he's doing it all day long. because he is confident that though his friend hasn't betrayed him, and though perhaps others may betray him, the Lord will never do so. Verse 17, evening and morning and at noon, I utter my complaint and moaning, and he hears me and he hears my voice. Notice the order there of those daytime references, evening, then morning. So he is appealing to God from the evening into the morning all night long. until the noontime all day long. All night, all day, every day, the psalmist is here appealing to the Lord and finding comfort because he knows that the Lord is the one who hears every word. And because the Lord is the one who hears every word, he lifts up his prayer to him from day to day, confident and true. Verse 18, he redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many perhaps are my adversaries who are arrayed against me. So here you read about the psalmist, he appeals to the Lord, he contemplates the unexpected enemy, and because the psalmist finds trust and comfort in the Lord, he encourages all peoples to do exactly the same. The final point in verses 22 to 23, cast your burden to the Lord, he says. and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. Praise God for this. This is perhaps this image of casting your burden, your cares onto the Lord. Perhaps this is where 1 Peter chapter 5 gets that same imagery of casting our cares to the Lord, because he is someone who cares for you. Knowing that the Lord is on our side provides continual stability, even in the midst of all sorts of betrayal, doubt, and chaos and disorder. But for the enemy there's only judgment and wrath, verse 23. But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction. Men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. In fact, he even said something earlier in verse 19. God will give ear and humble them. He who is enthroned from of old, because they do not change and do not fear God. The enemies of the psalmist is, in fact, the enemies of God. They cannot say what they said. They cannot do what they did and think that they can get away with any of this. But for the righteous, for the godly, for the faithful, there is only life. And so the psalm ends with that word of encouragement, but I will trust in you. Boy, that's quite a psalm if you stop and think about what is happening here and the words that are being articulated, the images that are being expressed and described, the picture that is being painted here for you, not just of the trials of the psalmist, but even the one who is betraying the psalmist. When you think about David's life and you kind of wonder what stage or what moment in David's life this might be reflecting, we don't know. We're not really told. It does describe something perhaps that might be a reflection of David's life under Saul. a trusted friend who betrayed him, in fact, tried to hunt out for his very life. There are some elements within Psalm 55 that kind of rules that out. Maybe Absalom, David's son here, remember that Absalom actually does that. He entices the city against him where it makes David's life so unbearable that David actually has to flee the city of Jerusalem. But there are other aspects of Absalom's life that doesn't quite fit Psalm 55 either. Ultimately, we really don't know. Perhaps this is a time of David's life that's not actually recorded in the scriptures, but what we have here is this difficulty that David's experiencing that we have here in this psalm. What might be more important is for us to remember that the psalms are not just a collection of prayers and of praises or just ancient poems. We know within the growing understanding in the Old Testament, and definitely we get to the New, that this Book of Psalms is actually a kind of prophecy. It is prophetic. In fact, it is anticipatory and painting a picture of the true David, the one who will experience true betrayal from the ones who should have given him faithfulness and love and fidelity and obedience and gratitude. So if we think of it this way, and think of the prophetic nature of Psalm 55, it's impossible to see this in almost any other eyes than the picture of the true David. Not the earthly David that we read about in the Old Testament, but the one that he is a copy of. The true David, the great David, that is the person of our Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ himself. And if that is true, then it's almost tempting to want to see a Judas Iscariot behind this picture here. Someone who was a faithful friend. Someone that Christ was vulnerable to. Someone who betrays him. Someone who violates him. Someone who oppresses him. Maybe not just Judas, but even perhaps the other 11 disciples as well. Gospels make it clear that at the time of Christ's moment of highest torment, that all of his disciples were running from their lives, abandoning Christ there to fend for himself. Jesus knew Psalm 55 perhaps better than anyone. And I wonder if he read this, but he was already beginning to understand the torment of what he would endure. And in fact, in many ways, those who are in union with Christ perhaps can experience the same, may tragically know the same type of torment of being betrayed by a friend or a family member, someone that you trust, someone that you confided in, but for whatever reason has turned against you. And in so doing, perhaps there is a blessing in disguise to say that we fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 verse 10, to know the power of his resurrection, to fellowship with him in his sufferings. First Peter chapter 4 verse 13, not to be surprised by the trials you're going through, but to rejoice for you share in the sufferings of Christ. If in fact all of that is true, this psalm is not just a psalm of the ancient David, this psalm is not just a psalm of the true David, This is a psalm for you, the psalm perhaps for the church. And in fact, if that is true, it reminds us perhaps of another way of looking at Psalm 55. Maybe the enemy here is not just Judas. Maybe the enemy is not just the 11 disciples. Maybe the enemy is just also the people of the Old Testament, the ones who cried to Christ as he entered into the city of Jerusalem, Hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be the son of David, who just less than a week later are now crying for his own crucifixion. Perhaps that's who the enemy of the psalmist is. Perhaps it's more. Perhaps it's also us. Jesus, who came unto his own, but in his own received him not. The words of condemnation that we read here that the psalmist is calling upon the wicked is just, but they are dramatic and they are traumatic. When you read the Old Testament prophets as a whole, they do the same exact thing. This is part of the reason why reading the Isaiah to Malachi stuff is oftentimes very difficult to read because the majority of it is just condemnation against the people of God, the wicked, the nations who are the people who are betraying the Lord by violating His covenant, the nations who are rebelling against the Lord and oppressing the people of God and things of this nature. It's difficult to read at times because it is still so sobering because there's just so much of it. But folks, one thing perhaps we need to remember, none of those words of judgment apply to us because of Christ and his cross and his victorious resurrection from the grave. And because he took upon himself that condemnation and wrath, what we can now do is appeal to him and confide in him, the one who will never betray or violate or hurt us in any single way. And in fact, in Christ, we now can become a friend that we could never become before. In the words of a dear friend whose passing I grieved this past week, he once said that outside of Christ, we were nothing but his enemies. But by faith, in union with Christ, forged so powerfully by the work of the Holy Spirit, because of the work of the Spirit of God, we now have become his friends, the best kind of friend that we could ever be. Outside of Christ, we were his enemies, but in union with Christ, we are a true, glorious, consummated, eternal friend. Praise God for Jesus Christ. Let's all bow in a word of prayer together. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we come before you this evening, and we thank you, Lord, for Jesus Christ, who has been a Lord, a Savior, our Creator, our King, our Redeemer, and Redeemer friend, Lord, for all of us. And perhaps as we reflect in our lives, in our frailty, in our depravity, in our corruption, Lord, perhaps we see a part of us in Psalm 55 that we just don't want to see. But praise God, dear Lord, that you have paid the penalty of these things and have made us now a faithful, obedient friend. Thank you, dear Lord, for the grace of our Savior. Thank you, Lord, for the work of our Redeemer. Help us, O Lord, to rejoice always in knowing that what we have become by faith in union with Christ and to rejoice always all the more, Lord, for that blessing that he has given to us. Be with us this evening as we reflect and meditate on these truths. Hear our prayers for we pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.