READ: Jeremiah 18:15-20
Do give heed to me, O Lord, and listen to what my opponents are saying! Should good be repaid with evil? For THEY HAVE DUG A PIT FOR ME. REMEMBER HOW I STOOD BEFORE YOU TO SPEAK GOOD on their behalf, so as to turn away Your wrath from them.
Jeremiah 18:19-20
The Israelites said ‘Thank you’ to Jeremiah by digging a pit for him. Jeremiah was rewarded with evil for the good works that he did. He loved the children of Israel. He loved the people that he had been sent to. He stood before God and spoke good things on their behalf. How did they reward him? By digging a pit! Some people actually set traps for you.
Be careful that you do not reward someone who has spoken on your behalf by setting a trap for him.
I once had a friend who dug a pit for me. I had shown him kindness for many years. In response to my love for him, he hoped and wished for my downfall. He kept checking to see whether his expectations of my destruction had come to pass.
He had dug a pit for me and together with his friends was hoping to hear the news that I had fallen into it. At one point when he was not hearing the news, he told someone that I had already fallen into the pit but came out quickly. He just could not wait to hear of my downfall.
Indeed, it is painful to hear that someone, for whom you have spoken good, has dug a pit and is waiting in the shadows to hear that you have dropped in to the pit. What do you expect a friend to do? A real friend would rather put a sign out there to warn you of the dangerous hole in your path.