Dear friend,
There is a kind of pain that is different from all the others.
It is not the pain of being attacked by someone who has always opposed you. You expect that. You can brace for it.
It is the pain of being attacked by someone who used to stand beside you.
The president knows that pain well. Over ten years, he has watched man after man who once praised him turn and speak against him. Tucker Carlson is only the latest. A man who once defended him to millions now attacks him to those same millions.
I will not repeat what he has said. You have likely heard it.
Tonight I want to talk about something deeper than one man. Because I know that many of you carry this same wound in your own life.
The friend I lost.
Many years ago, I had a friend in the Church. We were young together. We prayed together. We sat up late talking about God and the world and what we hoped to give our lives to.
And then, over one disagreement that mattered deeply to both of us, he turned. Not quietly. Publicly. He said things about me to people I respected. Things he knew were not true.
I have been with the Church for fifty years. I have sat with the dying. I have buried children. And still, some nights, I think about that friend.
Because an enemy can hurt you. But only a friend can wound you.
David knew.
King David knew this wound better than anyone. He wrote about it in Psalm 55, verses 12 through 14.
If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it. If a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God.
My close friend. With whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship.
Most scholars believe David was writing about a man named Ahithophel. He was David’s most trusted counselor. Second Samuel says his advice was so good it was like hearing the word of God.
And when David’s own son Absalom rose up to take the throne, Ahithophel went over to Absalom’s side.
David’s closest advisor joined the rebellion against him.
What David did.
Here is what I want you to notice. David did not rage. He did not curse. He did not spend his nights rehearsing what he would say to Ahithophel.
He prayed one short prayer. Second Samuel chapter 15 verse 31.
Lord, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.
That is all. He handed it to God. And God answered. Ahithophel’s advice was ignored, Absalom’s rebellion failed, and David returned to Jerusalem as king.
David did not win by fighting the man who betrayed him. He won by giving the betrayal to God and continuing on.
This is part of the pattern.
I have written often about the pattern Scripture shows us. God chooses a man for a moment. And the opposition always follows the same path.
One of the most painful parts of that path is betrayal from the inside. David had Ahithophel. Jesus had Judas, who ate at His table and betrayed Him with a kiss.
It always comes. And it always comes from someone close.
So when a man like Tucker Carlson turns, do not be shaken. It is not a sign that the story is falling apart. It is a sign that the story is following the pattern exactly as Scripture said it would.
I traced that whole pattern, the betrayals included, in They Tried To Stop Him: What The Bible Says About Donald Trump. David and Ahithophel. Jesus and Judas. And what happened to the chosen man every single time.
You can find the guide by clicking on the image below:
Alternatively, you may find it here: https://fatherthomasletters.com/products/they-tried-to-stop-him-what-the-bible-says-about-donald-trump
And for you.
Now I want to speak to you, not about the president.
Many of you have written to me about a friend you lost. A neighbor who stopped waving. A sister who stopped calling. A man from church who will not look at you anymore, all because of who you voted for.
That wound is real. I will not tell you it is small.
But I will tell you what David learned. Do not carry it to bed every night. Hand it to God.
Psalm 55 does not end with the betrayal. It ends with verse 22.
Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken.
He will never let you be shaken.
You do not have to fix it tonight. You do not have to win the argument. You only have to give it to the One who sees it all and keep walking.
Friends sometimes come back. I have seen it many times. And if they do, let them find you unbitter.
God bless you, friend. Rest well this weekend.
With you in prayer always,
Father Thomas
This weekend I want you to do three things:
One. Read Psalm 55 out loud this weekend. All twenty three verses. When you reach verse 22, read it twice. Cast your cares on the Lord.
Two. Think of one friend you have lost over politics. Pray David’s kind of prayer for them, short and honest, and hand them to God by name. If your heart allows, send them a simple message that has nothing to do with politics. Just, I was thinking of you.
Three. Read They Tried To Stop Him this weekend, using the image or link above. You will see that betrayal is not the end of the story. It never has been.
One last thing.
If this letter meant something to you, please forward it to two people you love. A friend from church. A brother or sister. Someone who feels as alone in these times as you sometimes do.
Many of you found these letters because someone shared them with you. Thank you for doing the same.
Was this letter forwarded to you? You can receive them yourself, free, here: https://fatherthomasletters.com/subscribe
P.S. If you want to go deeper on anything I have written, everything is available at fatherthomasletters.com/products — including The Signs Are Here, which maps today’s headlines directly against the specific passages that described them, and the Father Thomas Prayer Card Collection, which many of you have told me you return to every morning. Take a look when you have a moment.