1 > To you, Yahweh, I call. My rock, don't be deaf to me; Lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you, When I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
3 Don't draw me away with the wicked, With the workers of iniquity who 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 according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve.
5 Because they don't regard the works of Yahweh, Nor the operation of his hands, He will break them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be Yahweh, Because he has heard the voice of my petitions.
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.
8 Yahweh is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people, And bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also, And bear them up forever.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 28
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.).