“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.”
The psalmist petitions God to distinguish him from the wicked, who speak falsely of peace while harboring destruction in their hearts. The verb "drag me away" suggests the wicked's attempt to pull the psalmist into their destructive sphere. The phrase "who speak peace with their neighbors but evil is in their hearts" describes a particularly insidious form of wickedness: the use of false speech to conceal malicious intent. This verse reflects wisdom tradition's concern with deceptive speech and corruption of language. The plea for divine discernment acknowledges that humans often cannot perceive the true nature of those who hide malice beneath pleasant words.
Church Fathers on Psalms 28:3
Of David himself. 1. It is the Voice of the Mediator Himself, strong of hand in the conflict of the Passion. Now what He seems to wish for against His enemies, is not the wish of malevolence, but the declaration of their punishment; as in the Gospel, Matthew 11:20-24 with the cities, in which though He had performed miracles, yet they had not believed on Him, He does not wish in any evil will what He says, but predicts what is impending over them. 2. “Unto You, O Lord, have…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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