Psalm 55 - With Friends Like You......?

It seems that for several chapters now we have been listening to David plead and beg for God to exact vengeance on his enemies. He longs to be rescued from those that wish him harm. Today however, there is a twist in his heart-cry. Today he is faced with the reality that the one that is seeking to pull him down is a very close friend, an ally.

¹² If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were raising himself against me,
I could hide from him.

¹³ But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
¹⁴ with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

I tend to not want to embrace this subject but I feel at the same time that this is the message that God is speaking to me today.

Sometimes we (we being those that identify ourselves as the "church" - "the body of Christ") do more to tear each other down then the "outside world" or non-believers do. We gossip and criticize our fellow believers, we exclude those that don't fit a mold that we have established as "acceptable", we hold grudges and don't offer forgiveness, we talk the talk but don't walk the walk.

We all know that the "church" is NOT made up of perfect people. I always liked the statement that said that the church is:

"a hospital for sinners - not a haven for saints"!!!

When will we embrace that reality and stop expecting perfection out of each other?

We are called to support one another, to lift each other up, to unconditionally love because WE ARE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY!!

Recognizing that fact, maybe we should all seek to put away our halo polish and spend more time examining our own "filthy rags"!

And for those of us that feel that we have been attacked by the enemy (our friends), let us never forget the promise of verse 22:

22 Cast your cares on the LORD,
and He will sustain you,
He will never let the righteous fall!