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Psalm Twenty-eight
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 28
cf15I 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.
Psalm 28:1 To
You I will cry, O Lord
my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become
like those who go down to the pit.
YLT
1By David. Unto Thee, O
Jehovah, I call, My rock, be not silent to me! Lest Thou be silent to me, And I
have been compared With those going down to the pit.
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"F17אל תחרש "ne
obsurdescas", Vatablus, Tigurine version, Gejerus; so Ainsworth, Junius
& Tremellius, Michaelis. ; 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 Psalm 39:12; 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.
Psalm 28:2 2 Hear the voice of my
supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy
sanctuary.
YLT
2Hear the voice of my
supplications, In my crying unto Thee, In my lifting up my hands toward thy
holy oracle.
Hear the voice of my supplications,.... Which proceed from
the Spirit of grace and of supplication, and are put up in an humble manner,
under a sense of wants and unworthiness, and on the foot of grace and mercy,
and not merit;
when I cry unto thee; as he now did, and
determined he would, and continue so doing, until he was heard;
when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle: the holy of
holies, in the tabernacle and in the temple, which was sometimes so called, 1 Kings 6:23;
compared with 2 Chronicles 3:10;
where were the ark, the mercy seat, and cherubim, between which the Lord dwelt,
and gave responses to his people; or heaven itself, which the holy of holies
was a figure of; where is the throne of God, and from whence he hears the
prayers of his people directed to him; or else Christ himself, who is the most
Holy, and the "Debir", or Oracle, who speaks to the Lord for his
people; and by whom the Lord speaks to them again, and communes with them. The
oracle had its name, "debir", from speaking. Lifting up of the hands
is a prayer gesture, and here designs the performance of that duty to God in
heaven, through Christ; see Lamentations 3:41;
it was frequently used, even by the Heathens, as a prayer gestureF18"Duplices
manus ad sidera tendit--et paulo post--et ambas ad coelum tendit palmas",
Virgil. Aeneid. 10. vid. Aeneid. 2. "Ad coelum manibus sublatis",
Horat. Satyr. l. 2. satyr. 5. v. 97. "Coelo supines si tuleris
manus", ib. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 23. v. 1. "Et pandere palmas ante Deum
delubra", Lucretius l. 5. prope finem δη
χειρα ανασχων, Homer. Iliad. 5. v. 174. ; see Psalm 141:2.
Psalm 28:3 3 Do not take me away with
the wicked And with the workers of iniquity, Who speak peace to their
neighbors, But evil is in their hearts.
YLT
3Draw me not with the
wicked, And with workers of iniquity, Speaking peace with their neighbours, And
evil in their heart.
Draw me not away with the wicked,.... That is, with those
who are notoriously wicked; who are inwardly and outwardly wicked; whose inward
part is very wickedness, and who sell themselves and give up themselves to work
wickedness: the sense is, that God would not suffer him to be drawn away, or
drawn aside by wicked men, but that he would deliver him from temptation; or
that he would not give him up into their hands, to be at their mercy; who he
knew would not spare him, if they had him in their power; or that he might not
die the death of the wicked, and perish with them; see Psalm 26:9;
and with the workers of iniquity; who make it the trade
and business of their lives to commit sin; and which may be applied, not only
to profane sinners, but to professors of religion, Matthew 7:23; since
it follows,
which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in
their hearts; hypocrites, double minded men, who have a form of godliness, but
deny the power of it; pretend to religion, and have none; and speak fair to the
face, but design mischief and ruin; as Saul and his servants did to David, 1 Samuel 18:17.
Psalm 28:4 4 Give them according to
their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them
according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve.
YLT
4Give to them according to
their acting, And according to the evil of their doings. According to the work
of their hands give to them. Return their deed to them.
Give them according to their deeds,.... According to the
demerit of them, which is death, even death eternal;
and according to the wickedness of their endeavours; for though
wicked men do not always succeed; yet their want of success does not excuse
their wickedness;
give them after the work of their hands; see 2 Timothy 4:14;
render to them their desert; what their iniquities,
in thought, word, and deed, deserve: such petitions are not contrary to that
Christian charity which the Gospel recommends; nor do they savour of a spirit
of revenge, which is condemned by the word of God; for it should be observed,
that these things are said with respect to men given up to a reprobate mind;
and that the psalmist does not seek to avenge himself, nor to gratify his own mind;
but he sought the glory of God, and moreover spoke by a prophetic spirit,
knowing what was the will of God in this case; see Psalm 28:5; and
therefore these petitions of his are not to be drawn into an example in common
and ordinary cases.
Psalm 28:5 5 Because they do not regard
the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them And not build them up.
YLT
5For they attend not to the
doing of Jehovah, And unto the work of His hands. He throweth them down, And
doth not build them up.
Because they regard not the works of the Lord,.... Neither
the work of creation, as if there was no first cause of all things; nor the
work of Providence, taking no notice either of the judgments or of the mercies
of God; as though they believed that God had forsaken the earth, and would do
neither good nor evil; and still less the work of redemption, which in
covenant, promise, and prophecy, was appointed for the Messiah to work out; and
as for the work of the Spirit of God upon the soul, they had no notion of that,
of the nature and necessity of it; the things of the Spirit of God being
foolishness to them, and undiscernible by them; see Isaiah 5:12.
Perhaps the psalmist may have some regard to his being anointed by Samuel,
according to the will of God, and to the victory which he obtained over
Goliath, and over others, which justly gained him great esteem among some, and
created envy in others; and also the wonderful protection of him from time to
time; the Chaldee paraphrase is, "because they do not understand the law
of the Lord". It follows,
nor the operation of his hands; in which his hand was so
very apparent, that nothing less could be said than that this was the finger of
God; wherefore,
he shall destroy them, and not build them up; that is, they
shall be irrecoverably lost; they shall be punished with everlasting
destruction; there will be no help or remedy for them: someF19Kimchi
in loc. Vid. Aben Ezram in loc. understand this as a prayer, that God would
destroy them in such a manner, and render it, "let him destroy them",
&c.F20יהרסם "destruat eos",
Vatablus; so the Arabic version. .
Psalm 28:6 6 Blessed be the Lord, Because He
has heard the voice of my supplications!
YLT
6Blessed [is] Jehovah, For
He hath heard the voice of my supplications.
Blessed be the Lord,.... Which must be
understood, not as invoking nor as conferring a blessing on him, neither of
which can be done by a creature; nor does he stand in need of any, he being
Elshaddai, God all sufficient, God over all, blessed for ever; but as ascribing
all blessedness to him, congratulating his greatness and happiness, and giving
him praise and glory for mercies received; and particularly for the following:
because he hath heard the voice of my supplications; what he had
prayed for, Psalm 28:2; an
answer was quickly returned, even while he was speaking, Isaiah 65:24;
though this may be an expression of faith, being fully persuaded and assured
that he was heard, and would be answered, and may be said by a prophetic
spirit; knowing that what he had humbly asked for would be granted; so Aben
Ezra and Kimchi understand it in a way of prophecy.
Psalm 28:7 7 The Lord is my
strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my
heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.
YLT
7Jehovah [is] my strength,
and my shield, In Him my heart trusted, and I have been helped. And my heart
exulteth, And with my song I thank Him.
The Lord is my strength,.... That is, the author
both of natural and spiritual strength; that gave him strength of body, and
fortitude of mind, to bear up under all the exercises he was tried with; the
strength of his life, spiritual and temporal, and of his salvation; the
strength of his heart under present distresses, and who he knew would be so in
the hour of death, when his heart and strength would fail;
and my shield; to protect and defend him; as were the
love, power, and faithfulness of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his power and
fulness, his blood, righteousness, and salvation;
my heart trusted in him; in the Lord as his
strength and shield; not in any creature, nor in his own strength and
righteousness; but in the Lord God, in whom are righteousness and strength: and
it is plain he did not trust in his own heart, since his heart trusted in the
Lord; and which shows that his trust was an hearty one, his faith was a faith
unfeigned, he believed with the heart unto righteousness;
and I am helped: this was the fruit of his trust, even a
gracious experience of divine assistance: saints are helpless in themselves,
and are also as to the help of man; God is the only helper of them; he helps
them out of all their troubles; in whatsoever he calls them unto, and to what
they want; and the help he affords is sometimes quick, and always seasonable;
and sometimes by means, and sometimes without them;
therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; that is, in
the Lord, the ground of which was the help he had from him; and this joy was
very great, a joy unspeakable, and full of glory; it was not carnal, but
spiritual, a heart joy, joy in the Holy Ghost;
and with my song will I praise him; praise is due to God,
what glorifies him, and is acceptable to him; it becomes the saints, is comely
for them, and it is pleasant work to them, when grace is in exercise; see Psalm 69:30; this
may be understood of one of his songs, and one of the best of them, and of one
better than this, as a Jewish writerF21R. Moseh in Aben Ezra in loc.
observes.
Psalm 28:8 8 The Lord is
their strength,[a] And He is
the saving refuge of His anointed.
YLT
8Jehovah [is] strength to
him, Yea, the strength of the salvation of His anointed [is] He.
The Lord is their strength,.... The strength of his
people, mentioned in Psalm 28:9; not
only the strength of David in particular, but of all his people in general; see
Psalm 37:39;
and he is the saving strength of his anointed; meaning
either himself, as before, who was anointed by Samuel king of Israel, and
therefore had not invaded and thrust himself into an office he had no call and
right unto; or the Messiah, the Lord's Anointed, whom he heard, helped, and
strengthened in the day of salvation, and delivered him from the power of death
and the grave, and raised him from thence, and gave him glory; see Psalm 20:6.
Psalm 28:9 9 Save Your people, And
bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.
YLT
9Save Thy people, and bless
Thine inheritance, And feed them, and carry them to the age!
Save thy people,.... The psalmist begins the psalm with
petitions for himself, and closes it with prayers for the people of God; whom
God has chosen for his people, taken into covenant to be his people, and given
them to his son as such; these he has resolved to save, and has appointed
Christ, and sent him into the world, to be the Saviour of them; and to them he
makes known and applies the great salvation by his Spirit: so that this prayer
was a prayer of faith, as are also the following petitions;
and bless thine inheritance; the people whom the Lord
has chosen for his inheritance, and has given to Christ as his portion, and are
his peculiar possession; and these he blesses with all spiritual blessings,
with grace here, and glory hereafter, as is requested;
feed them also; as the shepherd does his flock, by leading
them into green pastures, by giving them the bread of life, by nourishing them
with the word and ordinances, by the means or his ministering servants, who are
under-shepherds appointed to feed the saints with knowledge and understanding;
and lift them up for ever; above their enemies, and
out of the reach of them; bear and carry them now, as the shepherd does his
lambs, in his arms and bosom; and raise them out of their graves, and give them
the dominion in the morning of the resurrection, and cause them to reign as
kings and priests with Christ, as they ever will.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)