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Psalm:28

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Today's Text:

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Today's Audio Commentary: "After the Work of their Hands"

Psalm:28 Reading (⇓)

Part 1 → "Be not Silent to Me" (⇓)

Part 2 → "" (⇓)

Part 3 → "" (⇓)

Part 4 → "" (⇓)

Part 5 → "" (⇓)

Psalm:228 "" (commentary as one file) (⇓)

1. Section 1: "Be not Silent to Me" kjv@Psalms:28:1
   
• We find the saint crying out to the Lord again today.
  
• It would be interesting to know who David had in mind when he spoke of persons "which speak peace" "but mischief is in their hearts" v3
  
• He also calls them "the wicked" "the workers of iniquity" v3
  
• I would like to know because he claims v1 that if the LORD does not hear his cry, is silent to him, then then literally there is no difference between him (any saint) and them "the wicked" "the workers of iniquity" who eventually are going down into the pit.
  
• Wouldn't it be interesting to know who David had in mind when he spoke of?
  
• If we were to cry out this very same psalm today, who would these peace speaking trouble makers be?
  
• Who would the modern saint be just like if the LORD chose to be silent to them?
  


• It is a very interesting concept: the silence of the LORD = lack of separation between the saint and the wicked/righteous and iniquitous.
  
• They are then one and the same, they both begin and end at the same place, the same reward.
  
• One trust in the LORD and lifts his hands to God's holy oracle, the other does not regard the work and operation of the LORD's hands. They are essentially the very same if the LORD chooses to remain silent.
  
• Ah, but the saint claims that the LORD has not stayed silent, HE has been the saints strength + shield, HE has heard his supplications, HE has been of much help v6-7.
  
• Why then need the psalmist to bring this concept up?
  


• David, "King David", lived atop a very political world.
  
• He was used to people that would bow and say "Shalom"/bring to him gifts of peace/chant "God save the King", all the time meaning to rid themselves of him/set traps/trample him like wild bulls of Bashan. He was used to people who wanted his power for themselves. These people were always somewhere near, even within his own court and family.
  
• It has always been a world of "peace" but intending mischief in their hearts. Enemies, one would expect such behavior, but friends/allies/family?
  
• Perhaps the easiest place to observe this is with politics. It's not however the only.
  


• I can think of other matters where this peace but mischief phrase might be observed:
  
• A shop owner is promised peace if the mafia thugs are paid a cut of the profits each week.
  
• Border patrol officers promising safe passage upon a sizeable bribe.
  
• Build up a matter into a impending threat or crises and offer themselves or their services as the one and only calming answer.
  
• In many countries this mode of operation is simply a matter of daily life. "I can make life a living hell for you, but I won't cause I'm a peace seeking kind of guy, if you give me what it is I want".
  


• There are also forms of this:
  
• Where the opposition is agreeing to peace in order to strengthen their position later to overthrow you.
  
• Forms where they are presenting a public image of being for peace when secretly they doing everything to destroy those they are supposedly at peace at.
  
• Forms where the terms of peace are so one sided as to be un-agreeable (making you look like the bad guy).
  
• Forms where for the sake of peace with the community of non-belivers, the church softens its moral stance to the point where the church is no longer even standing, the non-believer's objective in the first place.
  
• I am sure that you can think of many other forms.
  


• Why is it that the people who claim to speak for peace often are the most violent? resort to civil disobedience and lawlessness? are the cause of much unrest?
  
• Why is it peace, peace, but only on their terms: them having complete control?
  
• Why is it always us not living up to their sensitivities, yet them that is publicly and purposely upsetting ours?
  
• I am beginning to think that it is built into their nature, like the kid in the sand box that just likes pushing down the other kids castles of sand. It's not anything they are willing or capable of building for themselves. It's for no other reason than they get to judge it so.
  


• Wouldn't it be great if the moment such a person or organization spoke peace but intended mischief a bolt of lightening was flung from the sky striking him/her/them down?
  
• Wouldn't that be a whole lot easier? Then it would be obvious that there is a difference between good and mischief, moral and vain panting.
  
• But, we don't have that from the LORD at this time do we? Does that mean that the LORD is being silent? No it means that the LORD has chosen something other than a lightening bolt.
  


• What then should be our supplication?
  
• We are going to have an interesting time today with Psalm 28.
  
• We might think of this in ways that you have not already thought about this.
  
• Perhaps in ways that the psalmist had not originally intended, or perhaps in ways King David precisely intended. You be the jury!
  







2. Section 2: ""
   
• Let me start off by putting it this way: What would you be willing to do for the sake of peace? (Prime Minister Chamberlain was willing to sign a treaty with Adolf Hitler)
  
• There is a human tendency to gravitate towards the path of least resistance, navigate toward the calmest waters, steer clear of the noise makers. While it does not always equate to peace at all costs, it does often equate to peace at considerable cost. Oh what the frazzled parent is willing to give in on in the presences of that always screaming child just to acquire a moment of tranquil rest. We all know this tendency is true. If our children know and operate in this fashion, so too does our enemy.
  
• By elementary school the bully has learned that the peace seeking kids will give him their milk; some will even hand over their entire lunch or lunch money.
  
• It does not always take action to create disturbance, it merely takes the possible threat, the perception of, the prediction of. "I will do this if you don't do that" is one way it is presented. One does not even have to put themselves in the hostile seat "they will do this if we do not do this" or "I can keep them from doing that if you give me this" (remind me again... who are they?). Funny isn't it? Peace should come quite naturally, but it always seems that peace comes at a steep price to us and a sizable gain to them.
  


• For most all of us peace is the name of the game. Or should will call it by its other name, the fear of or aversion to there being unrest?
  
• The fear of not fitting it. The fear of being outcast. The fear of not being protected, feeling endangered. The fear of getting hurt or being slandered.
  
• The fear of failure. The fear of embarrassment. The fear of being demoted. The fear of being fired. The fear of poverty. The fear of hunger. The fear of sickness or theft or injustice or prejudice.
  
• It is easier for an addict for instance to be at peace with remaining addicted than confront the fear of what it would take to do and be anything better.
  
• It is easier for the battered wife to continue seeking the peace of her abusive husband than confront the fear of her escaping to a peaceful life on her own.
  
• And worst of all there are people are more than aware of this and ready to take full advantage of it.
  
• "Peace, peace" they'll say, ah but there's "mischief" intended behind this.
  


• How deep can "peace" but "mischief" possibly extend?
  
• A political 15 year old refugee from Benin, picks cocoa pods in Ivory Coast along with his younger countrymen just to have food to eat for another day. He can not transport his seeds to market unless he pays the local ranger then the policemen passage. They have the power to turn him in for child labor and deforesting forbidden rain forest, but for the right price are willing to look the other way. He sells his crop at the coop, where many others like him have to sell their crop because the manager of the coop has threatened to burn them all to the ground unless he can make his exorbitant cut. The manager in turn sells to a district middleman, who knowing the illegal nature of this exchange is willing for a price to commingle it with other legal stocks and thus pass the inspection of the state controller who has his cut in this also. Palms are greased all the way up and down supply the chain. The chocolate manufacture stateside has the courts and international community to contend with, it comes up with a ethical certification system that pays these same characters (and others) premium pricing per pound just to get these agencies off their back.
  
• Then we could look at the reasons the young man is a refuge to begin with. There too we see this peace, or shall we call it mass aversion to fear and what citizens are willing to sacrifice for the sake of a relative peacefulness? The majority becomes willing to sacrifice their minorities, willing to sacrifice their neighbors, sacrifice their morals and their ethics, even their children to the slave trades or youth militia groups.
  
• Governments speak peace. Councilmen speak peace. Businessmen and buyers and distributors speak peace. Cartels and mafias speak peace. Unions and employers speak peace. Trade and civil enforcement speak peace. Collectors and inspectors speak peace. Communities and neighbors speak peace. Peace at what price? Peace with how much more mischief?
  
• I would venture to say that the number one problem in quite a few third and second world countries is a massive corruption that largely goes unchecked by the people's ability to stand against it. In the United States and elsewhere, we do not suffer this yet to the same extent (I believe largely in part due to the sizable influence of Judaeo-Christian religion). Our problem is that in the quest for world wide peace via global markets and cheaper prices, we are providing economic incentives for this massive corruption to thrive without anyway ourselves of controlling it.
  







3. Section 2: "" kjv@Psalms:28:3
   
• "Draw me not away"
  
• First you will notice that there is only one of "me", but there are plural/more than one "wicked" and "workers", no doubt part of David's concern. It often feels that way; doesn't it? Even when like minded are gathered together it can feel like the few of us against all of them. You know what? Often times it is this way.
  
• Second, notice then there are the neighbors. It is the neighbors that peace is being spoken to, and for the most part the neighbors are willing to go right along. None of them want to stir anything up. Most of them are too self focused to even know that there is anything mischievous going on anyway; as long as they are not effect it is all well and find for them. Those that do know of the mischief are willing either to overlook it or else cash in themselves. So the numbers are in fact totally out of proportion.
  
• Third, David's concern extends to not wanting to be drawn away with them in the impending judgment, he doesn't want to lumped in together with them, if God were going to sweep the whole ugly matter up David does not want to be swept up along with them. He wants there to be a clear distinction between the one that is lifting hands to the LORDS holy oracle and those plural who are shaking their fists at it, the one crying to God and the ones mocking and laughing the saint to scorn.
  
• Most neighbors are not of this virtuous stock. They would prefer not to be drawn away from the crowd. They would rather be found one of the many, comfort in numbers, hiding from further responsibility in plain sight. They might even be the ones standing right along with all the rest criticizing the virtuous, calling them the trouble maker.
  


• "which speak peace to their neighbours"
  
• This is what the wicked and the workers and both seen doing. You wouldn't know what they are intending by what they are saying. In fact often they will attach their endeavors to a civil or just cause that a broader coalition of interests that "neighbors" would be compassionate about.
  
• Peace is a cover to hide their more mischievous intents. The saint could point his finger, accuse the wicked and the workers in front of the neighbors, but the cover is so intact that it is the saint that is publicly disregarded not the wicked plural nor the many workers.
  
• Passion is easily stirred and inflamed. Passion rarely thinks its way through to the logical conclusion, especially for the inexperienced and starry eyed youth. Passion sees things the way it wants to only, and not even the well traveled saint can change a neighborhoods rage when its passion has become enraged.
  


• "but mischief is in their hearts"
  
• Mischief is in the wicked and the workers heart. Still it can be sold to the simple minded as "peace". Neighborhoods and local businesses can be burning down and yet the marchers march onward for what they think will mean peace. When all the smoke has cleared, it is not peace you and I find that has been established, it is social mischief that has again failed and like a stampede left a wide swath of destruction behind.
  
• How did the neighbors compassionate and peaceful coalition of broader interests come to all of this? Dare we say that it was not the saint who warned you of all this, it was the mischievous and malcontent heart of the wicked and their workers.
  


• kjv@Psalms:28:5 "Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up".
  
• "They" = the wicked... "because they do not regard"
  
• "They" = the workers... "because they do not regard"
  
• "They" suddenly and without previous hint or notion = the neighbors by association... "because they do not regard"
  
• "Draw me not away with" them cries the saint "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".
  






4. Section 3: "Give them according to their deeds" kjv@Psalms:28:4
   
• Not everyone that opposes the saint is "wicked".
  
• BackToThePsalms010 we went through the entire book of Psalms to develop a comprehensive profile of what the wicked believe/say/do and the effect and prominence that they are able to have by actively being so.
  
• It takes more than just one characteristic in the profile to be "wicked". In this psalm alone we see them speaking peace, intending mischief, not regarding the works of the LORD, destruction following them. However this man up to this point could just be a fool or an addict. No, I would say that there has to be more than just these four characteristics, the hatred of God and HIS anointed really takes center stage, the willingness to make his angst against church and saint a blood sport, the likely assembly of like minded wicked, the secrecy and stealth and surrounding; these are all frequented characteristics that the psalmists plural have profiled.
  
• David perhaps knew this profile best being not only a king of a fledgling nation, but a known and openly faithful saint anointed by Jehovah. Holding the central position he held, David was a target of these secretive confederacies. He experienced their many and various coordinated assaults perhaps daily.
  


• It is their deeds that are the important thing to consider.
  
• Words only carry so far, they can be used to mask, they can be used to inflame, they can be used to distract.
  
• Deeds on the other hand have tangible/identifiable results, unavoidable evidences of intent and ability, the ability to begin, the ability to sustain, the ability to coalesce, the ability to advance forward against opposition, the value of such gauged and either valued and reinvested or disregarded.
  
• The deeds of the wicked are very good at tearing down something that already exits, not so good at building anything of its own back up. So too are the workers of iniquity (literally the workers of vain exertion/panting).
  
• It is fairly easy for the saint to begin with, to look for who is trying to building up and improve upon versus who is trying to tear down wholesale and replace vaguely. There you would have your first insights into who is who and what it wickedness.
  


• "according to the wickedness of their endeavours"
  
• Not all deeds show their hand at first. It took triumphant neighbors months after the Soviet Revolution before beginning to see what was up Lennon's sleeve. Then came Stalin. 60 million deaths and millions more imprisonments latter the neighbors had a pretty good idea that all this amounted to wickedness. Not even the tag-along workers of this iniquity were immune, many of them were the next to be planted six feet under as well. People even today can remain impressed by the flowery impassioned speech of the movement, to do so however they have to overlook the actual deeds.
  
• Could a saint then have known that it would all come to that? Yes, there was a pretty good indication when the flowery speech threw an angry fist at Jehovah. Look at China, the death toll there was even greater; much greater.
  



EDIT: MARK
EDIT: SCRAP BUFFER


5. Section 2: "Neighbours" kjv@Psalms:28:3
   
• It might help us in identifying who these wicked are by determining who their neighbors would be first.
  
• Have you ever had a neighbor that you would label wicked? One who spoke peace to but intended mischief? Pesky/cantankerous neighbors probably yes, inconsiderate or bad neighbors no doubt; wicked? probably not. (The few I can think of were speaking trash not peace). If David had such a rotten neighbor, why wouldn't David just go to the counsel and have that neighbor removed, or else move to a better neighborhood?
  
• David must have meant something different by this, someone in close proximity philosophically/politically/religiously, someone his other associates might well trust and see as an associate as well, has the appearance of unity and peace within the group. David somehow knows something much different about this person.
  
• Now the question is: are the neighbors that this person is speaking to David's neighbors (philosophically/politically/religiously) as well? Some might be, some might not. The importance is their proximity to the one planning mischief. It is the group of them together, the collective that is causing David great concern. Are the neighbors wicked? Doesn't say so. Could they potentially be used by the wicked to carry out his mischief? Most certainly.
  
• Now if the neighbors of this man knew that the man was intending to go about causing them mischief, they would simply stop listening to the man, he would have the same peaceful influence over them, they wouldn't be as likely to aid and assist the man in doing his worst. Not unless they were of the same ilk as well.
  


• Illustrations:
  
• Two professors can be in the same Philosophy Department and simply not see eye to eye on certain key points of philosophy, speak peace and mean peace within their neighboring peers and department. It is not until the one speaks of peace while at the same time is planting false and subtle accusations of his rival having inappropriate relations with a student that the peace is a guise for mischief.
  
• Peace can be in the form of compromise, the two sides meeting in the middle without there being mischief, except in the case where the one side has so far exaggerated the practical demands of their constituency that the settlement lands right where the one side started.
  
• Peace can be based on an outright deception. "We are not going to be able to come to peace as a nation until we get this joker out of office". No what you man to say is that you will not be able to come to peace until you are in control and that you are willing to disrupt the the peace of everyone else up until the time that you are. You could have come to peace at anytime had you been willing to accept not being in complete control.
  
• Opponents can be neighbors, they can be civil with no malice or malcontent. Opponent need not mean wicked or iniquitous. It is when opponents seek to confederate neighbors under the guise of peace for mischievous and hidden ulterior purposes that the wickedness or iniquity occurs. Either opponent and their immediate neighbors can be tempted or guilty of doing this.
  
• Such opponents almost always have to have willing else pacifist neighbors to help them carry these plans forward.
  


• What else can be said about these neighbors?
  
• Neighbors do speak of course, but that is not the perception of what is happening in this psalm; it is the the neighbors being spoken to (they are the ones listening/the wicked have their ear). What is it that has your ear my friend? Whose voice are you listening to? Whose voice is your nearest neighbors listening to?
  
• I know of neighbors that are only listening to the voices on the far right. I know of neighbors that are only listening to the voices on the left. I know of neighbors that are only listening to the voices of conspiracy and or critical race theory. I know of neighbors that are listening no other voices than the few voices they have time for on Twitter and Facebook. I know of neighbors who only listen to the voice inside their own unchallenged head, the voice of what is right in their own eye.
  
• How is it that an opponent could navigate and steer his neighbors in his particular direction when there are so many various voices being listened to out there? It is not all that difficult don't you see. He only needs enough people willing to repeat what he has been saying, because each of those neighbors has their own neighbors just as well, within a viral post or two the message is spread across the world.
  


• It is said that social media has made us all neighbors like no other time in human history. (I do believe this)
  
• Perhaps that explain why such neighbors can be at such polar opposites.
  
• The primary voices being heard and being echoed are the voices "speaking peace" ah "but mischief is in their hearts"
  







6. Section 3: "According to the Wickedness of Their Endeavours" kjv@Psalms:28:4
   
• How can something that has been sold to us as peace turn out to be such wickedness?
  
• First, let me say that not everybody is going to see this as wickedness, nor does a majority have to see it as wicked for it to be so. The primary importance is that God see it as such. I could be convinced that this particular endeavor is wicked and in God's I it could be none of the such. I could see it as peace and God see it it as exactly opposite. Funny thing about wickedness is who other than God is to tell?
  
• I could choose sides, convince myself that the political left is wicked, entrench myself in support of the political right. Does God choose between left and right? No, God chooses by certain behavioral and moral traits. Hatred, anger, deceit, treachery, falsehood, false testimony, irrational pride, arrogance/ignorance, placing one's self above others, murder, character assassination, theft, rumor, slander, innuendo, etc.... These are human traits that certainly have no party affiliation. The moral conscience should be enraged at each and every occurrence of these regardless of where such occurrences came.
  
• Above all perhaps is the occurrence of hypocrisy (which Jesus warned repeatedly about), where there is license for me to do these things but not for you (after all you are wicked and I am not). We live in an age of hypocrisy (hyper-extended hypocrisy(?)) where whatever it takes to win or take control is perfectly justified and part of the game.
  
• There is very little difference between the hypocrisy of the non-religious (having no account to God for his actions) and the religious (doing all in the name of God and presuming to have God's complete blessing regardless of what or how). In fact, the hypocrisy of the religious may be a few degrees much worse. The Church at times has been rewarded according to the wickedness of its own hands.
  
• If God does not see things right and left, why then should we?
  


• So then we look to see the evidences of these behavioral and moral traits ourselves.
  
• Not just the accusation. One side is painted with a broad stroke racist and bigoted and uncompassionate and self righteous, the other is called elitist and communist/seeking to destroy America and the Constitution/take away our individual rights and liberties in favor of the collective. That is the accusation. What of it? How much of that mud slinging actually sticks? Do not both sides exhibit questionable behaviors and moralities.
  
• Not just the appearances. Take the voting public. There's this notion that they are the innocent ones here, their hands are clean while the politicians are greasy dirty. There is also this competing notion that they are nothing but the simple minded, uneducated, duplicitous, unruly, can't escape a wet paper bag without someone leading them back out, sheepish, only out for themselves. Somewhere in the middle likely is the closest truth in these regards. It could be said that politics is the silk screen the masses hide behind so that their own wickedness is not found out.
  
• We look for the evidences across the board, the big picture, by the smaller behavioral and moral details occurring; especially in our own heart; especially in the hearts those speaking who have our ear. Yes, the speaker has an obvious passion for the message he is delivering, he would not have our ear if it were not so, but how much further than this message is his passion willing to go if he does not convince us? Yes, his message stirs us into a passion, a passion to join along or a passion to resist, but how much further than that reaction is our passion willing to go? As far as anything God would see sir as wickedness?
  
• This is what I mean to look at the evidences, not the accusation or appearance, but the actualities/the plans/the significance/the consequences.
  


• Perhaps this is what David sees as being different, we requires him as a king and a saint to be concerned about.
  
• The wicked speak peace... who is though that is listening... what neighbors are preparing to take action... what action are they preparing for?
  
• Better yet? Who now is not listening to God's righteousness? What has turned them? How few of the righteous are there left to sustain this battle?
  
• Now the saint has a clearer more poignant form of supplication. When he cries: "Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours" now he sees them in the bigger picture. He knows not to get drawn down into this like the many others and knows he must depend solely upon his God to help him manage that.
  






7. Section 4: ""
   
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8. Section 5: ""
   
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