In Psalms, chapter forty-one, verse nine, Jesus quoted this verse and applied it to His betrayal by Judas Iscariot, a trusted friend, as in Matthew twenty-six, verses fourteen through sixteen, twenty to twenty-five, and John thirteen, verse eighteen, respectively. The tragic story of Judas, who at the time was in intimate fellowship with Jesus but forsook his Lord by betraying Him, serves as a warning to all who follow Christ.
In this life, there is always the possibility that we might grow cold toward Christ, allow Satan little by little to lead us into compromise with the world, and then, in the end, betray the Lord and His cause.
Jesus knew when Judas began to drift from his original faith and formed plans to betray him. Judas had the same choice as the other eleven disciples. He believed he was a trusted, familiar friend of Jesus, as shown by Christ’s commitment to Judas, as in John two, verses twenty-three through twenty-four, and Matthew ten, verses one through fifteen. Judas later turned away by his choice, as in Acts one, verse twenty-five; he did not have to betray Jesus. In other words, the betrayal of Jesus was prophesied only as to its occurrence and not to its perpetrator. The specific person who betrayed Christ was not forthcoming for all eternity. Judas’s defection to the enemy and consequent tragedy should warn every follower of Christ not to reject the Spirit’s warning about friendship with the world and turning away from Christ, as in Hebrew ten, verse twenty-nine, chapter twelve, verse twenty-five, and James for, verse four.
The theme verse under the Psalm of the Compassionate depicts the possibility that a believer could grow cold toward Christ due to the pressures of life, not hold faith because circumstances and promises do not come together as revealed, and personal relationships that suddenly go wrong as not expected. The devil is a deceiver and a strategist who creates situations for those who are in Christ to tempt them to make choices contrary to God’s way to cause disruption and corruption to later fall into sin.