Psalms 28:3

28:1-5 David is very earnest in prayer. Observe his faith in prayer; God is my rock, on whom I build my hope. Believers should not rest till they have received some token that their prayers are heard. He prays that he may not be numbered with the wicked. Save me from being entangled in the snares they have laid for me. Save me from being infected with their sins, and from doing as they do. Lord, never leave me to use such arts of deceit and treachery for my safety, as they use for my ruin. Believers dread the way of sinners; the best are sensible of the danger they are in of being drawn aside: we should all pray earnestly to God for his grace to keep us. Those who are careful not to partake with sinners in their sins, have reason to hope that they shall not receive their plagues. He speaks of the just judgments of the Lord on the workers of iniquity, ver. 4. This is not the language of passion or revenge. It is a prophecy that there will certainly come a day, when God will punish every man who persists in his evil deeds. Sinners shall be reckoned with, not only for the mischief they have done, but for the mischief they designed, and did what they could to effect. Disregard of the works of the Lord, is the cause of the sin of sinners, and becomes the cause of their ruin.

Psalm 28:3 . Draw me not away with the wicked — The sense is, either, 1st, Do not suffer me to be drawn away, by their counsel or example, to imitate them in their evil courses. For God is often said to do that which he doth not effect, but only permits. Or, 2d, Do not drag me, as thou dost or wilt these evil-doers, to execution and destruction. Let me not die the death of the wicked. This seems best to suit with the following context, wherein he foretels that destruction to be coming upon his enemies which he deprecates for himself. Mischief is in their heart — They are hypocritical and perfidious persons: while I, through thy grace, am sincere and upright before thee. Seeing, then, I am unlike them in disposition and practice, let me not be made like them in their ruin.

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. Psalm 28:3 "Draw me not away with the wicked." - They shall be dragged off to hell like felons of old drawn on a hurdle to Tyburn, like logs drawn to the fire, like fagots to the oven. David fears lest he should be bound up in their bundle, drawn to their doom; and the fear is an appropriate one for every godly man. The best of the wicked are dangerous company in time, and would make terrible companions for eternity; we must avoid them in their pleasures, if we would not be confounded with them in their miseries. "And with the workers of iniquity." These are overtly sinful, and their judgment will be sure; Lord, do not make us to drink of their cup. Activity is found with the wicked even if it be lacking to the righteous. Oh! to be "workers" for the Lord. "Which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts." They have learned the manners of the place to which they are going: the doom of liars is their portion for ever, and lying is their conversation on the road.

Soft words, oily with pretended love, are the deceitful meshes of the infernal net in which Satan catches the precious life; many of his children are learned in his abominable craft, and fish with their father's nets, almost as cunningly as he himself could do it. It is a sure sign of baseness when the tongue and the heart do not ring to the same note. Deceitful men are more to be dreaded than wild beasts: it were better to be shut up in a pit with serpents than to be compelled to live with liars. He who cries "peace" too loudly, means to sell it if he can get his price. "Good wine needs no bush:" if he were so very peaceful he would not need to say so; he means mischief, make sure of that. Psalm 28:4 When we view the wicked simply as such, and not as our fellow-men, our indignation against sin leads us entirely to coincide with the acts of divine justice which punish evil, and to wish that justice might use her power to restrain by her terrors the cruel and unjust; but still the desires of the present verse, as our version renders it, are not readily made consistent with the spirit of the Christian dispensation, which seeks rather the reformation than the punishment of sinners. If we view the words before us as prophetic, or as in the future tense, declaring a fact, we are probably nearer to the true meaning than that given in our version.

(3) Draw me not. —Better, Drag me not. In Ezekiel 32:18 seq., we have a magnificent vision of judgment, in which the wicked nations are represented as being dragged to death and destruction. In the person of the poet, Israel prays not to be involved in such a punishment. The words “which speak peace “may refer to some overture of alliance from such, or it may be generally those who “hide hatred with lying lips” ( Proverbs 10:18 ).

Verse 3. - Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity (comp. Psalm 26:9 ). The metaphor implied in "draw me not away "is that of a hunter, drawing prey of all kinds to him enclosed within a net. The psalmist prays that he may not share the fate of the workers of iniquity, over whom he seems to see some terrible judgment impending. Which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. (For extreme instances of this kind of wickedness, see 2 Samuel 3:27 ; 2 Samuel 20:9, 10 ; and for the wide prevalence of such treacherous dealing, comp. Psalm 55:20, 21 ; Jeremiah 9:8 .) Psalm 28:3

Draw me not away with the wicked: the sense is, either, 1. Do not suffer me to be drawn away by their counsel or example to imitate their evil courses. For God is oft said to do that which he doth not effect, but only permit and order, as 2 Samuel 12:12 . Or, 2. Do not draw me into the same snares and mischief with them; do not drag me, as thou dost or wilt do all these malefactors, to execution and destruction. Let me not die the death of the wicked. Compare Psalm 26:9 . Thus drawing is used for drawing to death, Job 21:33 Ezekiel 32:20 . This seems best to suit with the following context, wherein he imprecateth and foretelleth that destruction upon his enemies which he deprecated for himself. Mischief is in their heart; which are hypocritical and perfidious persons, whilst I, through thy grace, am upright and sincere. Seeing then I am so unlike them in disposition and practice, let me not be made like them in their ruin.

3 . Draw me not away ] Cp. Psalm 26:9 . But the word here is stronger, suggesting the idea of criminals being dragged off to execution. He prays that he may not share the fate of the wicked in the judgment now being executed. which speak peace to &c.] Rather, as R.V., with. Double-hearted hypocrites; cp. Psalm 12:2 ; Jeremiah 9:8 ; and contrast Psalm 15:2 . 3–5 . The Psalmist’s prayer that he may be distinguished from the wicked, and that they may be judged as they deserve.