“Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest” (verse 6). Maybe the conflicts in your life have given you this sort of longing. David often had good reason to want to escape from his fearsome foes. When he was a young man armed with only a staff and a sling, he defeated the giant Goliath (I Samuel 17:48-50). And during the last battle in which David personally participated, his nephew Abishai had to step in to keep another descendant of the giants, Ishbi-benob, from killing him (II Samuel 21:16-17). Oh yes, David was well acquainted with the “terrors of death” (verse 4).

But even though David literally faced giants in battle, he found it even harder to deal with companions and friends who turned on him (verse 13). King Saul, his own father-in-law, falsely accused him of treason and spent years trying to hunt him down. His wife Michal risked her life to allow him to escape from Saul, only to end up despising him for his exuberant devotion to God. His friends Ahithophel and Abiathar eventually participated in coups against him.

But worst of all was his own son Absalom who led a rebellion against him, driving him from his capital city. And as David fled for his life, he “went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went” (II Samuel 15:30). In doing so, he prefigured the agony of his greater Son, who wept in the Garden of Gethsemane on the same hill before being betrayed by one friend and abandoned by so many others.

So, what should we do when those closest to us stab us in the back? Just as David and Jesus did, we must keep on calling out to God. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden on the night He was betrayed (Matthew 26:44), just as David complained to God “evening and morning and at noon” (verse 17). But at the same time, we must foreswear any personal attempt at vengeance: after all, Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested, going so far as to heal one of the men who came to capture Him (Luke 22:51). Just so, David relied not on his military prowess but on God to bring down his enemies (verse 23), redeeming his soul from the battles which raged against him (verse 18).

And how could David and Jesus keep on praying and keep on relying on God to bring them justice? Because of their absolute trust in God. David said, “I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me” (verse 16). In fact, David prayed in the very last line of the psalm: “I will trust in Thee” (verse 23). Just so, even as He died on the cross, Jesus quoted Psalm 31, committing His Spirit into the hands of the Father (Luke 23:46).

So today, even if it’s our closest friends who have let us down, let us cast our burdens upon the Lord. For we can be sure that He will in fact sustain us (verse 22).

Psalm 55 (NASB)

For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David . Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Thyself from my supplication.
2 Give heed to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the pressure of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, And in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me; And horror has overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7 “Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah.
8 “I would hasten to my place of refuge From the stormy wind and tempest.”
9 Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues, For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls; And iniquity and mischief are in her midst.
11 Destruction is in her midst; Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend.
14 We who had sweet fellowship together, Walked in the house of God in the throng.
15 Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall call upon God, And the LORD will save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice.
18 He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me, For they are many who strive with me.
19 God will hear and answer them– Even the one who sits enthroned from of old– Selah. With whom there is no change, And who do not fear God.
20 He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has violated his covenant.
21 His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was war; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
23 But Thou, O God, wilt bring them down to the pit of destruction; Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in Thee.