Psalm 28

A Psalm of David.

1 Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock;
be not silent to me; lest, if thou be silent to me,
I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee,
when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

3 Draw me not away with the wicked,
and with the workers of iniquity,
which speak peace to their neighbours,
but mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their deeds,
and according to the wickedness of their endeavours;
give them after the work of their hands;
render to them their desert.
5 Because they regard not the works of the LORD,
nor the operations of his hands,
he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

6 Blessed be the LORD,
because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusted in him, and I am helped;
therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
and with my song will I praise him.

8 The LORD is their strength,
and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance;
feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

JW: A prayer for help, ver. 1-3; the doom of the wicked, ver. 4, 5; a thanksgiving, closed with prayer, ver. 6-9.

2: 'Towards' - Towards the holy of holies, because there the ark was; from whence God gave oracular answers to his people.

3: 'Draw not' - Do not drag me; as thou dost these, to execution and destruction.

5: 'Regard not' - The providential works of God toward his people.

7: 'I am helped' - He speaks of it as past, because God assured him by his spirit, that he had heard and accepted his prayers.

Herein we see communication at its best and its worst. Specifically, the lines of communication are open and dishonest between God and his people (including the psalmist). Both sides speak and listen. The lifting up of hands toward God's oracle indicates the reception of the psalmist to hear the words of the Lord. The implication is that the psalmist and God's people listen to and attend to God's words. Therefore, he feeds them (v. 9).

Then we have the mixed signals and plugged lines of communication among the 'wicked.' Verse 3 speaks of something all too familiar: ...which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Most of us have been there...either taking part in this sort of hypocrisy and/or being the victims of it. This especially gets messy when the "neighbors" are stubborn or the ones in error. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that everyone plays nice with, but deep down will do anything to avoid them. Speaking peace to neighbors like these doesn't mean playing nice...but neither does it mean bashing them. It calls for graceful truth-telling...not an easy task. And that truth-telling may take time to be heard and/or healed from. So if you find yourself in such a situation that requires delicate balance like this, pray for wisdom and grace to be bestowed to yourself and your bothersome neighbor(s). However that manifests is the way to speak peace to this neighbor but to avoid the mischief.

Open and honest...and lest we forget, loving...lines of communication.

The wicked in this psalm not only send mixed signals, but also just completely ignore God's communication to them. Whereas God feeds those who listen to him, those who ignore God will find a desert (v. 4, 5): an image of aridity, hunger, and thirst, with nothing to fill or quench. So keep the lines of communication (with God and your neighbors) open, honest, and loving, so you don't dry up.