Below Psalm 28 is posted in both KJV and WEB formats followed by my observations and where they led me.
KJV
Psalms 28:1 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 operation 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.
WEB (World English Bible)
Psalms 28:1 To you, Yahweh, I call. My rock, don’t be deaf to me; Lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you, When I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Don’t draw me away with the wicked, With the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve.
5 Because they don’t regard the works of Yahweh, Nor the operation of his hands, He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be Yahweh, Because he has heard the voice of my petitions.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.
8 Yahweh is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people, And bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also, And bear them up forever.
I almost posted the previous Psalm (27) instead of this one. Psalm 27 is one of my favorites. There is so much to draw from it. I include verse 11 or a paraphrase of it anyway in my daily prayers:
11 Teach me your way, Yahweh. Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies.
Why post both KJV and WEB versions? The King James is my “go to” – it is the bible I read every day. More specifically, I read one particular publication, “The Companion Bible” by E.W. Bullinger. This title was first published over 100 years ago. I like it because Bullinger was an exceptional scholar and his Companion Bible offers a great deal of insight via his notes and the appendixes. In this version he always prints the Hebrew word YHWH as LORD. At the time, the scholarly translation was Jehovah. I believe the current rendering of YHWH as “Yahweh”, a phonetic spelling is more accurate. Why is this important? YHWH, or Yahweh, is the proper name of God Almighty. His only begotten Son has a proper name. In English it is “Jesus”. As for the name YHWH, the WEB version translates it into a pronounceable name and treats it as God’s proper name. While I often transition the word “LORD” accurately in my head, I think it is important to offer a plain rendering for anyone who prefers not to practice my kind of mental gymnastics. Besides that, the WEB is a fairly decent rendering for the most part while presenting a version of scripture that is easier to read.
Do note that other words in scripture is also rendered “lord”, with and without caps, and as such, words with completely different meanings are jumbled together so as to dilute the true magnificence of God’s Word.
As for my comments on this passage, my focus today leans more towards those described as “wicked” here. These are also referred to as “workers of iniquity”. Here the references begin in verse 3…
Psalms 28:3 Don’t draw me away with the wicked, With the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts.
By asking Yahweh not to draw David away with the wicked he, of course, implies the wicked will be drawn away. Away from what? Away from whom? There is no answer to the question of “where” but it is logical to ascertain the wicked would be drawn away from those who are not wicked. So far so good.
Next, we are faced with another challenge as the word “the wicked”is now coupled with “the workers of iniquity”. Notice the word “with”. It appears twice. Huh. So are the “wicked” the “workers of iniquity” or another group? I must admit I got stuck on this for a moment. I almost simply declared “what’s the difference, really?” and moved on. Then I realized God, does not use words idly. He is not at all haphazard in His usage. Thus I decided it was worth a bit more effort to find out. The results were no less than enlightening
The word for “wicked” in the Hebrew is “rasa” (pronounced raw-shaẃ for some reason) it mostly means “guilty one” as in guilty of sin against God or man. It also means “hostile to God”. Hmmm. Okay, this word seems pretty straightforward. Onward.
The phrase “workers of iniquity” is comprised of two words – pa-al, meaning to do or make – and aven. Aven is where things get interesting, but only after digging a bit deeper. Mostly it is defined as trouble, wickedness, sorrow, or idolatry. The root word is not used but it means “to pant”. In this respect it is linked to Ecclesiastes where it says “everything is vanity”. How is it linked? Vanity can be understood as “vapor”. Now consider the more modern phrase “huffing and puffing”, or how about “nothingburger”?
Now consider the rest of the verse: “Psalms 28:3 …who speak peace with their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts”
They talk of peace but they want mischief. Would it be safe to say this pretty much sums up the globalists, the media, and everyone else seemingly bent on tearing down this nation? Climate change, white supremacy, racism, the list goes on for pages. What little truths proponents manage to sprinkle into their rhetoric are either inconsequential or blown far out of proportion and nearly entirely encompassed by lies. In the end, nothing but vapor comes from their mouths.
The next verse urges God to give them their due. I’ll leave it at that. The following verse states that because they do not regard Yahweh, He will break them down and not build them up. Now, take a moment and consider those thoughts. Did those people David wrote of deserve what they got? Maybe even more? After all God is merciful.
What about you? Do you regard God? What of our nation? How much do we, as a people, regard God? For most I would say God is a mere afterthought, if He is thought of at all. We go about our days, live our lives, send our kids off to school, go to our jobs, stop at the supermarket, take our children to afterschool activities, and maybe watch some television. Surely anyone whose life resembles part or all of these daily activities are not “wicked”, but how much do we regard God?
Now some of you reading this may be active in their church. If you are doing good as a result, I commend you. For those who are doing everything they can, I’ve got news for you, God has bigger plans for you. I would ask you to look around you. How many others are living similar lives? I’m not asking you to judge, just take notice. Jesus said “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few”. Count yourself blessed to be one of the labourers.
As a nation we not only do NOT “regard” God but many are intent on driving God out of our nation entirely. The globalists’ goal is to replace the One True God,Yahweh, with a one-world government. I can almost see some of you scoffing but take heed – what did the communists do in the former USSR? What are the Chinese doing today? I’ll tell you right here and now, communism is nothing more than a thinly veiled tool of the globalists. The end game is the same – one government to rule us all.
What can we, as Christians do? Speak out. Hold forth the truth. What you should NOT do is “speak out against”.
First and foremost, get right with God.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Do you believe that God is? Can you honestly say you trust Him… no matter what is going on around us? Do you believe God will reward you if you diligently seek Him? Do you even want to please Him?
Are you ready to make a real commitment to God? I’m not talking about the “starting to go back to church again” kind of commitment. By all means do that if you aren’t already and seek out more opportunities to spend time with your siblings in Christ, but I’m talking about your own personal walk. Are you committed to seeking out God on a daily basis in prayer and reading scripture? Do NOT give me “I don’t have time.” nonsense. Rather, think about looking the Creator of the heavens and earth in the face and explaining how you were “too busy” to seek Him out. I’ll wait.
Let me be blunt. Unless you are fully persuaded God is real, He is in control, and His Word is truth and relevant to our lives today, you aren’t ready to step out, much less step up.
For those who have gotten this far, pray for God to open up opportunities for you. Ask Him to put you in the game. You need not look far. In the words of Lewis B. Chesty Puller, USMC
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time”
EXPECTATIONS
What can you expect to happen? This, I cannot say because I do not know. From my own life, I can say I haven’t made any big splashes. It would be nice if I were able to say that, at least, I’ve lived a good and sinless life these past 40+ years. I cannot say that at all. Every day I find myself before God acknowledging my need for forgiveness. Even so, I am a better person than I was four decades ago. I am a better person today than I was yesterday. With all of that said, I can safely say that while my life would never be called exemplary in my Christian walk, I have from time to time been able to muster up some instances of positive influence. The least of which is this blog, mostly because I cannot say for sure anyone has actually read my postings and came out the better for them. Still, I write and post. What I can point to is some of the people I’ve been blessed to have crossed paths with. While I haven’t kept score, I strongly suspect I’ve gained more than I’ve given, but who can say what effect we’ve had on others in the long view? It’s easy to see some of the impact my wife has had on others and much of that impact is a direct result of my influence on her.
The bottom line here is while someone reading this may go on to do great things in God’s name, and even point to something read here as inspiration, no human can say for sure how my scribblings might be received when I post them. My goal is to do today what I feel led to do rather than launch some mighty ministry intending to change the world. For all I know, that kind word I had for some person in passing will yield bushels of fruit while this entire blog ends up being no more than a puff in the wind.
The same goes for you. God, Yahweh, is working in you right here, right now. What you accomplish is up to Him. All you need to concern yourself with is those things you can do right now.
James 5:16b The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
One of the most sneered at actions one can do is prayer. Who sneers at them? Non-believers scorn prayer, yet God places great emphasis on it. Where do you stand on this? Do you scoff? Or do you believe “that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”?
“But… I’m nobody special!” Oh really? How so? Did not Yahweh choose you “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”? Nobody expects you to be the next Paul of Tarsus or Billy Graham. If you are not, that doesn’t mean you have no place in God’s Kingdom.
1 Corinthians 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
This entire passage refers to the “body of Christ” – that’s you, me and all of our brothers and sisters in Christ since that day at Pentecost. We all have our place in the body. Every. Single. Person. God chose us for a reason – His reason. Who are we to question Him?
Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, I see our nation poised for revival. I see a massive outpouring of God’s Word and God’s grace upon our nation. Will this be enough to restore our nation or will our nation fall to the globalists? I cannot say. It doesn’t matter. What matters is for each of us to get right with God, seek Him out and endeavor to live a life pleasing unto Him. I am convinced there are many, many of His children in this nation who are ready to turn to Him. What part will you play?