Shattered by Betrayal: Using Psalm 35 to Help Survivors of Abuse Rebuild Trust
The companion piece for the April 28 edition of the Theologically Speaking podcast is BJU Seminary Biblical Counseling faculty member Bruce Meyer’s article in the Spring 2025 issue of the Journal of Biblical Theology & Worldview. The introduction is reprinted below along with a link to the entire article. Note the three purposes of the article at the end of the introduction.
Hope is essential for any person, but even more so for those who have experienced abuse—hope of restoration, hope of deliverance from confusion, guilt, shame, defilement, and such. The Scriptures are filled with hope, but an abuse survivor needs specific hope, “laser-guided” truth, that directly addresses the problems she faces, both the sin that came at her from the abuser and any sin that comes out of her heart in response to the abuse.
One of the most common struggles for abuse survivors is broken trust with those who should be trustworthy, such as a parent, teacher, coach, sibling, and the like. The individual to whom the weak and helpless looks for care becomes a source of severe pain. In suffering abuse, whether physical, sexual, or verbal, it is the betrayal of trust that often makes the abuse so destructive in the life of the survivor, since her distrust wrongly spills over into other relationships. Tragically, the loss of trust often intrudes into the survivor’s perception of God. It is such betrayal that complicates the survivor’s ability to trust anyone, regardless of the person’s trustworthiness.
Many in Scripture suffered betrayal and its effects. David himself was betrayed by some of his closest companions. The counselor who is dealing with survivors of abuse can find in David’s life patterns that guide him through the growth process toward restoring trust, especially the trust in God that is so essential to the survivor. Therefore, survivors of abuse will reestablish trust when they follow the biblical pattern of recognizing and expressing their thoughts and feelings of betrayal to God, trusting him for restoration.
In that regard, the purpose of this article is threefold. It will show:
- First, how to openly express thoughts and feelings of betrayal to God,
- Second, how to use Psalm 35 as a counseling example for rebuilding trust, and
- Third, the Scripture’s all-sufficient character in providing care for those who have suffered trauma.
