Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19960526.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm Twenty-Eight: Responding Constructively To Destructive Deceivers
(Psalm 28:1-9)
  1. Introduction
    1. Sometimes it is a cultic group that has a hold on an associate and we seem powerless to persuade the associate to counter the error he's being fed. At other times it is the deceptive , destructive politics among associates that can ruin relationships with innuendoes and outright misstatements. The problem is this: How can I handle a destructive deceiver since he doesn't play by the rules so I cannot win no matter what?
    2. Psalm 28:1-9 is a lesson in what to do to do to respond constructively to this challenge:
  2. Responding Constructively To Destructive Deceivers, Psalm 28:1-9.
    1. Since David is the author of this psalm on handling destructive deceivers, we draw from his experience in 2 Samuel 15:12,31 on what NOT to do as well as what TO do in facing them:
      1. When David's intelligent counselor, Ahithophel sided with Absalom in his strife against David (2 Sam. 15:21), upon discovering the matter, and perceiving the dangerous clout of intelligent Ahithophel, David immediately prayed to God to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness, 2 Sam. 15:31.
      2. This was not a problem David could handle by physically attacking Ahithophel. That would have made matters worse between David and Absalom. All he did do, all he could have done, was to pray!
    2. Accordingly, Psalm 28:1-9 is a prayer by David to ask God to handle destructive deceivers, and it shows us how to pray this way, and why prayer is the route to take (as follows):
      1. Realizing the very quick destructiveness and long-term damage destructive deceivers could do, David asked for God's immediate intervention in prayer or even life itself would be at stake, Ps. 28:1-2.
      2. In prayer, David got right to the point, stating that the problem was opponents who spoke peace with their neighbors while evil was in their hearts, Ps. 28:3b. They were destructive deceivers, and David named them as such directly in prayer to the Lord.
      3. In prayer, David made the following specific requests, implying reasons why he prayed this prayer:
        1. First, David requested personal deliverance from the judgment and hence the sin leading to its judgment of these destructive deceivers, Ps. 28:3b. The implication was that David himself could have been sucked into a man-on-man battle of words and manipulations to counter these deceivers where David himself could have fallen into the trap of doing what they had done!
        2. Second, David revealed that one cannot fight on even ground with destructive deceivers, for they do not recognize God's authority or respect His judgment, becoming almost conscienceless in their mean ways of stirring up trouble, Ps. 28:5. Accordingly, David asked that these destructive deceivers be stopped by tripping over their own plots and efforts to destroy and deceive, Ps. 28:4!
        3. Third, David asked God to rescue other innocent, naive people from these wicked deceivers and then to shepherd them into the truth as opposed to their lies, Ps. 28:9!
      4. David then expressed personal trust in God to resolve the crises of confronting destructive deceivers:
        1. He trusted that God would answer his prayer regarding the need, Ps. 28:6.
        2. He trusted God's strength to take on the unrestrained destructive deceiver, Ps. 28:7a.
        3. He trusted God to protect himself from the machinations of the destructive deceivers, Ps. 28:7b.
        4. He then rejoiced in God's help to that end, Ps. 28:7c-8.
Lesson: (1) Since destructive deceivers, be they cultists or politicking associates, do their work (a) quickly, (b) ruinously (regarding relationships and reputations), (c) with long-term damages, (d) and since we can get sucked into their ev il ourselves by initiating confrontations with them, (e) and since they play by their own rules independent of real respect for divine or other authorities, we should not initiate a confrontation with them, but view them as dangerous and simply P RAY! (2) If directly confronted BY them, (a) let the Holy Spirit lead as to WHAT to say (Mtt. 10:16-20) and (b) be gentle and harmless (Mtt. 10:16), non-argumentive (2 Tim. 2:24a) and sticking to BASIC facts (Prov. 10:19) in HOW we respond to them. (c) Then, we must pray as David did, laying out the facts candidly to the Lord, asking for His intervention to let their plots be their own downfall. This way they can be checked and God's people can be shepherded by the Lord into the truth.