2 Samuel 17-18 - simply amazing stuff. Giving wrong advise to deceive (Ahithophel to Absalom) and Absalom checking with top advisors and then shifting gears to then go into battle against his father, David. Her is recorded a suicide, in Scripture, when deceit doesn't work.....he felt that he would be found guity of treason and hung himself. How sad! Absalom gets caught in an oak tree, hanging, because of his hair and David's men kill him. David is devastated and even would have liked it to have been him instead.....a father's love. In the NT reading (Mt 25-26) we go through the Last Supper, the betrayal, the arrest and the denial. We, as humans, are just amazing aren't we. God is incredibly faithful and I'm just amazed at how he puts up with us. Jesus, the Son of God, literally is "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death" as he prays for "his cup" to pass from him to the Father. God, please help each of us pull together and trust you rather than move toward deceit, trying to make something happen (Judas). Help us Lord, to say yes to you, with others and not find the tendency to deny (Peter). Ouch, Lord....sorry!