Psalms 28

1 To you, O LORD, I call; ¹my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you ²be silent to me, I become like those who ³go down to the pit.

2 ⁴Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I ⁵lift up my hands ⁶toward your most holy sanctuary.^[a]

3 Do not ⁷drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, ⁸who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts.

4 ⁹Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; ¹⁰render them their due reward.

5 Because they ¹¹do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.

6 Blessed be the LORD! For he has ¹²heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

7 The LORD is my strength and ¹³my shield; in him my heart ¹⁴trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my ¹⁵song I give thanks to him.

8 The LORD is the strength of his people;^[b] he is ¹⁶the saving refuge of his anointed.

9 Oh, save your people and bless ¹⁷your heritage! ¹⁸Be their shepherd and ¹⁹carry them forever.

Psalms 28 Commentary

Chapter 28

A prayer in distress. (1-5) Thanksgiving for deliverance. (6-9)

Verses 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. Verse 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.

Verses 6-9 Has God heard our supplications? Let us then bless his name. The Lord is my strength, to support me, and carry me on through all my services and sufferings. The heart that truly believes, shall in due time greatly rejoice: we are to expect joy and peace in believing. God shall have the praise of it: thus must we express our gratitude. The saints rejoice in others' comfort as well as their own: we have the less benefit from the light of the sun, nor from the light of God's countenance, for others' sharing therein. The psalmist concludes with a short, but comprehensive prayer. God's people are his inheritance, and precious in his eyes. He prays that God would save them; that he would bless them with all good, especially the plenty of his ordinances, which are food to the soul. And direct their actions and overrule their affairs for good. Also, lift them up for ever; not only those of that age, but his people in every age to come; lift them up as high as heaven. There, and there only, will saints be lifted up for ever, never more to sink, or be depressed. Save us, Lord Jesus, from our sins; bless us, thou Son of Abraham, with the blessing of righteousness; feed us, thou good Shepherd of the sheep, and lift us up for ever from the dust, O thou, who art the Resurrection and the Life.

Cross References

• 1. See Psalms 18:2
• 2. Psalms 35:22; Psalms 39:12; Psalms 83:1; Psalms 109:1
• 3. Psalms 88:4; Psalms 143:7
• 4. Psalms 140:6
• 5. Psalms 134:2; Psalms 141:2; Lamentations 2:19; 1 Timothy 2:8; [Psalms 119:48]
• 6. Psalms 5:7; Psalms 138:2; [1 Kings 8:29]
• 7. [Psalms 26:9; Ezekiel 32:20]
• 8. Jeremiah 9:8; [Psalms 5:9; Psalms 12:2; Psalms 55:21; Psalms 62:4]
• 9. Jeremiah 50:15, 29; Revelation 18:6; [2 Timothy 4:14]
• 10. [Psalms 137:8]
• 11. Isaiah 5:12; [Job 34:27]
• 12. ver. 2
• 13. See Psalms 3:3
• 14. See Psalms 11:1
• 15. Psalms 69:30
• 16. Psalms 140:7; [Psalms 20:6]
• 17. Deuteronomy 9:29; Deuteronomy 32:9
• 18. Psalms 78:71, 72
• 19. Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 46:3; Isaiah 63:9

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew your innermost sanctuary
• [b]. Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts is their strength

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 28

\\<<[A Psalm] of David>>\\. This psalm, Aben Ezra says, David either composed himself, or one of the singers for him; the former seems most likely; and it might be made by him when he was persecuted by Saul, or when delivered from him; or at least when he had faith and hope that he should be delivered: the psalm consists of two parts, petitions and thanksgivings.