1 Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call: My rock, be not thou deaf unto me; Lest, if thou be silent unto me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
3 Draw me not away with the wicked, And with the workers of iniquity; That speak peace with their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts.
4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings: Give them after the operation of their hands; Render to them their desert.
5 Because they regard not the works of Jehovah, Nor the operation of his hands, He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be Jehovah, Because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7 Jehovah is my strength and my shield; My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise him.
8 Jehovah is their strength, And he is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: Be their shepherd also, and bear them up for ever. Psalm 29 A Psalm of David.
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Commentary on Psalms 28 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 28
Ps 28:1-9. An earnest cry for divine aid against his enemies, as being also those of God, is followed by the Psalmist's praise in assurance of a favorable answer, and a prayer for all God's people.
1. my rock—(Ps 18:2, 31).
be not silent to me—literally, "from me," deaf or inattentive.
become like them, &c.—share their fate.
go down into the pit—or, "grave" (Ps 30:3).
2. lift up my hands—a gesture of prayer (Ps 63:4; 141:2).
oracle—place of speaking (Ex 25:22; Nu 7:89), where God answered His people (compare Ps 5:7).
3. Draw me not away—implies punishment as well as death (compare Ps 26:9). Hypocrisy is the special wickedness mentioned.
4. The imprecation is justified in Ps 28:5. The force of the passage is greatly enhanced by the accumulation of terms describing their sin.
endeavours—points out their deliberate sinfulness.
5. Disregard of God's judgments brings a righteous punishment.
destroy … build … up—The positive strengthened by the negative form.
6. supplications—or, "cries for mercy."
7. The repetition of "heart" denotes his sincerity.
8. The distinction made between the people.
their strength—and the anointed—may indicate Absalom's rebellion as the occasion.
9. The special prayer for the people sustains this view.
feed them—as a shepherd (Ps 23:1, &c.).