<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Irresistibly Fish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://brettfish.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[brettfish]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://brettfish.wordpress.com/author/brettfish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[psalmthing to chew on: psalm&nbsp;28]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>ooh, i&#8217;m not sure i like this psalm, or maybe more importantly where my reading of it took me&#8230;</p>
<p>cos it&#8217;s david again, being a self-righteous plonker:</p>
<p><strong><em>&#8216;Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil,<br />
 who speak cordially with their neighbors but harbor malice in their hearts.<br />
 Repay them for their deeds and for their evil work;<br />
 repay them for what their hands have done and bring back on them what they deserve.&#8217;<br />
 Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord and what His hands have done,<br />
 He will tear them down and never build them up again.&#8217; [vs. 3-5]</em></strong></p>
<p>starts off with a distancing of himself from &#8216;the wicked, those who do evil&#8217; [which again makes me think this has to be a pre-Bathsheba break-most-of-the-commands-in-the-Book written psalm] and then lists all the nasty things he would like God to do to them&#8230; GET THEM, LORD!</p>
<p>and as i sat there reading and meditating on the psalm, thinking what a hypocrite david is, the silent voice [oh, you know the One] came to me with a bit of a &#8220;so you&#8217;re better than him, right?&#8221; and i knew i was in trouble. cos that&#8217;s just it. how david writes this psalm is so often how i live my life &#8211; my stuff is not so bad as your stuff &#8211; it&#8217;s arrogant, it&#8217;s self-righteous and more often than not it&#8217;s probably just a blatant downright lie.</p>
<p>God, have mercy on me a sinner.</p>
<p>but maybe once i have realised that, and gone to God in repentance [which means turning away from, not just uttering the word &#8216;sorry&#8217; with nothing attached to it] and chosen to try and see the world through different eyes, His&#8230; maybe there is still hope for me:</p>
<p><strong><em>&#8216;Praise be to the Lord, for He has heard my cry for mercy.<br />
 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.<br />
 My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.</p>
<p> The Lord is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one.<br />
 Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.&#8217; [vs 6-9]</em></strong></p>
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