Psalms 28

Psalms 28

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

Prayer Turned into Praise.

ANALYSIS

Stanza I., Psalms 28:1-2, Prayer Boldly Pleads the Feared Result of Refusal to Answer. Stanza II., Psalms 28:3-4 (with addition, Psalms 28:5), Depicts the Character of the Lawless, and Imprecates their Punishment. Stanza III., Psalms 28:6-8, Praise for Deliverance. Refrain, Psalms 28:9, Invokes Jehovah's Blessing on his People.

(Lm.) By David.

1

Unto thee I call my Rock[283]

[283] M.T. adds: Jehovah.

do not turn silently from me;

Lest if thou turn silently from me
I be likened with them who are going down to the pit.

2

Hear the voice of my supplication

as I cry for help unto thee,

As I lift up my hands (O my God)[284]

[284] Not in M.T.

unto thy holy shrine.[285]

[285] ChancelDr.

3

Do not drag me away with the lawless

and with workers of iniquity,[286]

[286] NaughtinessDr.

Who are speaking peace with their neighbours
while wrong is in their heart.

4

Give them according to their deed

and according to the evil of their doings;
According to the work of their hands give them
bring back their dealings to themselves.

5

Because they heed not the deeds of Jehovah

nor the work[287] of his hands[288]

[287] Some cod. (w. Aram., Sep., Vul.): works (pl.)Gn.

[288] Cp. Isaiah 5:12.

he will put them down and not build them.

6

Blessed be Jehovah

because he hath heard the voice of my supplication:

7

Jehovah my strength and my shield

in whom hath trusted my heart,

Since I have found help and my heart hath exulted
with my song will I thank him:

8

Jehovah a strength to his people[289]

[289] So it shd. beG. Intro., 143. And so it is in some cod. (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.). Cp. Psalms 29:11Gn.

and the all-saving stronghold[290] of his Anointed one is he!

[290] Ml.: the stronghold of the salvations (=great salvation, pl. intensive).

9

Oh save thy people and bless thine inheritance,

and shepherd them and carry them unto the ages![291]

[291] Ml.: unto the age: Heb. -adh-ha -olam.

(Nm.)

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 28

I plead with You to help me, Lord, for You are my Rock of safety. If you refuse to answer me, I might as well give up and die.
2 Lord, I lift my hands to heaven[292] and implore Your help. Oh, listen to my cry.

[292] Literally, Your innermost shrine, i.e., the Holy of Holies within the tabernacle.

3 Don-'t punish me with all the wicked ones who speak so sweetly to their neighbors while planning to murder them.
4 Give them the punishment they so richly deserve! Measure it out to them in proportion to their wickedness; pay them back for all their evil deeds.
5 They care nothing for God or what He has done or what He has made; therefore God will dismantle them like old buildings, never to be rebuilt again.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

6 Oh, praise the Lord, for He has listened to my pleadings!
7 He is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trusted in Him, and He helped me! Joy rises in my heart until I burst out in songs of praise to Him.
8 The Lord protects His people and gives victory to His anointed king.
9 Defend Your people, Lord; defend and bless Your chosen ones. Lead them like a shepherd and carry them forever in Your arms.

EXPOSITION

In this psalm prayer is prolonged; but praise, when it comes, is pronounced. The prayer is prompted by some unnamed peril, the continuance of which, it is feared, will cause death. We are struck with the terms in which the prayer is couched. God is so addressed by the term Rock as to make of this word a proper name, inasmuch as the figure of a rock as such disappears, since an entreaty to a rock to turn or not to turn is incongruous: thus showing that the application of the term to Jehovah has become so familiar that the appropriate imagery is forgotten. The Becoming One (= Jehovah) is the Abiding One, the Changeless One (the Rock): the conception of immutability being retained, all else is let go. The Changeless in nature, is thought of as changing in attitude: turning towards in favour, ready to answer prayer; or turning away in silence, leaving the suppliant's mind in painful suspense. The feeling for the personality of Jehovah is intense; and the sense of nearness to him is so vivid as to induce great boldness in supplication. The impression of this made by the first stanza is deep. Before leaving this stanza, we may recall the fact that the name Rock, is a favourite name for Jehovah, is found in Psalms closely bound up with David's name; e.g. Psalms 18:2; Psalms 18:31; Psalms 18:46; Debir for shrine, as used of the holy of holies, is more closely associated with the Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:5 and onwards) than with the holy tent of David's own day; but as names are often carried backwards it would be trifling to make of this an argument against the Davidic joint-authorship of this psalm. It is wonderful, however, to note how much Hezekiah found in David suited to his own case; and then further how brightly the image of Hezekiah himself is wont to shine out in the close of the psalms. There is, indeed, nothing in the third stanza (Psalms 28:6-8) which David could not have used; but a sense of enhanced fitness greets a reference to the unparalleled experience of the later monarch. At Psalms 28:6 Hezekiah adds his experience (cp. Isaiah 38:10-20)Thirtle, O.T.P., 316.

With the reference to the lawless in Psalms 28:3, Psalms 9:17 and the note on lawless in Psalms 1:1 may be usefully compared.

The imprecations of Psalms 28:4-5 may serve to remind us of the instinctive passion with which injured human nature turns to the vindicatory righteousness of God (Intro., Chap. III., Righteousness); and that it is only in the strength of the highest manifestation of the Messianic Spirit that we can hope victoriously to exclaim, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. At the same time all persecutors would do well to beware of the Divine indignation which may necessarily alight on them in order that Jehovah may save his people, bless his inheritanceshepherd them also and carry them unto the ages.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

The Lord is our rockspecify two or three comparisons of Jehovah to a rock.

2.

If God is a loving Father, why is it necessary to plead with Him to do what we know He must do? Discuss.

3.

Vindictiveness seems to be a part of this psalmand of several othershow shall we understand this? There is an explanationDiscuss.

4.

Read these eight points of thought by W. G. Scroggie on the subject of The Imprecatory Psalms(p. 317 in PSALMS).

IMPRECATION is the invoking of evil upon others. Imprecations are found in a number of brief utterances, as in Psalms 40:14-16; Psalms 63:9; Psalms 104:35;Psalms 143:12; but statements of some length are found in Psalms 35:1-8; Psalms 35:26; Psalms 59:11-15; 59:22-28; Psalms 109:6-20; and Psalms 139:19-22. These anathemas constitute a major moral problem, and, obviously, are contrary to the spirit of the New Testament (Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60). Such imprecations cannot be regarded

1

as referring, not to individuals, but to the moral enemies of the soul.(ARNOLD).

2

as predictions of a future yet to come, when all the unrepentant wicked shall be punished.(HORNE).

3

as curses, not of the Psalmist, but of his enemies; by supplying, for example, the word saying at the end of Psalms 109:5.

Towards an understanding of this problem the following points should be considered.

1

The writers lived in the dispensation of Law and not of Grace (John 1:17).

2

The intense provocation to which the sufferers were subjected.

3

The utterances need not be regarded as expressions of personal vindictiveness.

4

The belief that Israel's enemies were God's enemies (Psalms 139:21-22).

5

The sharp distinction which we draw between the sinner and his sin, was not recognized by the Hebrews; they regarded them as identical.

6

The imprecations disclose a zeal for righteousness.

7

The unit of old was the family, not the individual, so that a man's fate was the fate of his family (Psalms 109:9-13).

8

The belief that the righteous must be rewarded and the wicked punished in this life, for there was then no revelation of a final Judgment.