Psalm 28

Scripture

Psalm 28

Today I want to focus on verse 3 "Don't drag me away with the wicked- with those who do evil- those who speak friendly words to their neighbors while planning evil in their hearts."

Observation
"Those who speak friendly...while planning evil" At first when I read this I thought it was talking about people or friends who are of the back-stabbing type. But as I thought more about this I realized this could be true, however I think it is more than that.

The KJV reads "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." When I read this translation I had what I call an AH-HA moment.

Speaking nicely or friendly and then having "mischief in your heart" is a sin. This is a difficult thing for us to see if others are doing it, because we will generally only hear the nice things they are saying.


Application
It is important to watch for this in others, but I think it is more important to not do this ourselves. I remember the first time I heard the term WYSIWYG (prounounced wissy-wig)and thought it was a clever acronym for What You See Is What You Get. Although it is generally a computer term I think it could apply to our lives.

As we speak our kind words we should also have kind thoughts and motives. The more kindness we have in our hearts and minds the less room there is for "mischief"


Prayer
Lord thank you for reminding me to be in prayer whenever my mind wanders. Please help me to keep those ideas of "mischief" or the "planning evil" from my heart. I pray that anyone who is speaking kindly but is not reflecting this in their own hearts will realize it and be able to make this change in their lives. This Psalm has a beautiful verse to pray through praise, verse 7 "The Lord is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving."