We are really getting a lot out of the devotional we have started recently.It’s Live Intimately: Lessons from the Upper Room written by Lenya Heitzig & Penny Rose. In today’s lesson we were to read Psalm 41, a passage Jesus quoted when He was in the upper room with His disciples (vs.9). We were instructed to contemplate how Jesus treated Judas even though He knew Judas would very soon betray Him; and then how well we measure up in the way we treat people who have betrayed us in our life. As we thought about the people who have deeply injured us in our life we realized they fall into two groups – people who were temporarily in a position to have extreme power over us and people we were in long term relationship with. As we mentally went down a list of offenders, we noted that we were better able to show love and forgiveness to the people in close relationship, but the ones we were temporarily vulnerable to during a particularly weak time were far harder to forgive. Then, when we read this whole Psalm, we noted that David actually prayed for God to take revenge on his behalf. David wanted God to prove him to be righteous in response to the attacks of his enemies, as well as to bring him back into good health and strength. As we reflected back on our times of crisis when people were misusing their authority over us to do us harm instead of help, we noted that in each situation God vindicated us as well as protected us from the intended harm, sometimes in miraculous ways. It’s very comforting to realize that when we are particularly weak or sick and enemies seek to take advantage of power, that God really does have our back. It’s also wonderful to know that God understands our struggles to forgive.