Psalms 28:1

A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer

1

A psalm of David.

1 To you, O Yahweh, I call. O my rock, do not be deaf to me. Or else, if you are silent to me, then I will become like those descending to [the] pit.

Psalms 28:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 28:1

Unto thee will I cry
This denotes the distress the psalmist was in, fervency and ardour in prayer, resolution to continue in it, and singularity with respect to the object of it; determining to cry to the Lord only; to which he was encouraged by what follows;

O Lord my rock;
he being a strong tower and place of defence to him, in whom were all his safety, and his trust and confidence, and in whom he had an interest;

be not silent to me;
or "deaf" ^F17; persons that do not hear are silent, and make no answer; as the Lord seems to be, when he returns no answer to the cries of his people; when he does not arise and help them; when he seems not to take any notice of his and their enemies, but stands at a distance from them, and as if he had forsaken them; see ( Psalms 39:12 ) ( Psalms 35:22 Psalms 35:23 ) ( Psalms 50:3 Psalms 50:21 ) ( Isaiah 65:6 ) ; the words may be considered, as they are by some, as an address to Christ his rock, his advocate and intercessor; that he would not be silent, but speak for him, and present his supplications to God, with the much incense of his mediation; see ( 1 Samuel 7:8 ) ;

lest, [if] thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into
the pit;
either like such that fall into a ditch, and cannot help themselves out, and they cry, and there is none to take them out from thence; or like such that die in battle, and are cast into a pit, and there buried in common with others; which David might fear would be his case, through Saul's violent pursuit after him; or lest he should be like the dead, who are not regarded, and are remembered no more; or lest he should really die by the hands of his enemies, and so be laid in the grave, the pit of corruption; or be in such distress and despair as even the damned in hell be, the pit out of which there is no deliverance.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F17 (vrxt la) "ne obsurdescas", Vatablus, Tigurine version, Gejerus; so Ainsworth, Junius & Tremellius, Michaelis.

Psalms 28:1 In-Context

1 To you, O Yahweh, I call. O my rock, do not be deaf to me. Or else, if you are silent to me, then I will become like those descending to [the] pit.

2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your holy inner sanctuary.

3 Do not drag me away with [the] wicked or with [the] workers of evil, [who] speak of peace with their neighbors, while evil [is] in their heart.

4 Give to them according to their work, even according to the evil of their deeds. Give to them according to the work of their hands; repay them their rightful due.

5 Because they do not regard the works of Yahweh, nor the work of his hands, he will destroy them and not rebuild them.

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm