Psalms · Chapter 28

Verse 1. O Lord my rock] yrwx tsuri not only means my rock, but my fountain, and the origin of all the good I possess.

If thou be silent] If thou do not answer in such a way as to leave no doubt that thou hast heard me, I shall be as a dead man. It is a modern refinement in theology which teaches that no man can know when God hears and answers his prayers, but by an induction of particulars, and by an inference from his promises. And, on this ground, how can any man fairly presume that he is heard or answered at all? May not his inductions be no other than the common occurrences of providence? And may not providence be no more than the necessary occurrence of events? And is it not possible, on this skeptic ground, that there is no God to hear or answer? True religion knows nothing of these abominations; it teaches its votaries to pray to God, to expect an answer from him, and to look for the Holy Spirit to bear witness with their spirits that they are the sons and daughters of God.

Verse 1. Be not silent to me — Hebrew, ynmm vrjt la, al techeresh mimmenni, be not deaf to me, that is, to my prayers; do not act as if thou didst not hear, or didst disregard my prayers; lest, if thou be silent to me — And return no answer to my petitions; I become like them that go down to the pit — That is, lest I be in the same condition with them, a dead, lost, undone creature, as I certainly shall be if thou do not succour me. If God be not my friend, and appear not for me, my help and hope are perished. Nothing can be so distressing to a gracious soul as the want of God’s favour and the sense of his displeasure. Or, as some understand it, lest I be like those that go down to hell; for what is the misery of the damned but this, that God is for ever silent to them, and deaf to their cry?

1. My rock—My protection, defence, Deuteronomy 32:8. The Hebrew punctuation would make this the beginning of the second line thus:— Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call;

O my Rock, be not silent from me.

Silent to me—Silent from me; that is, do not turn from me in silence. Pit—The grave, as Proverbs 28:17; Isaiah 38:18.

V. 2. Towards-Towards the holy of holies, because there the ark was; from whence God gave oracular answers to his people.

Verse 2. Toward thy holy oracle.] Ëvdq rybd debir kodshecha; debir properly means that place in the holy of holies from which God gave oracular answers to the high priest. This is a presumptive proof that there was a temple now standing; and the custom of stretching out the hands in prayer towards the temple, when the Jews were at a distance from it, is here referred to.

Verse 2. When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle — Earnestly desiring and confidently expecting an answer of peace from thence. The most holy place within the veil is here, as elsewhere, called the oracle. There the ark and the mercy-seat were; there God was said to dwell between the cherubim, and thence he spake to his people, Numbers 7:89. This was a type of Christ, and it is to him that we must lift up our eyes and hands, for through him all good comes from God to us. It was also a figure of heaven, Hebrews 9:24. And from God, as our Father in heaven, we are taught to expect an answer to our prayers.

2. I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle—The “oracle” was the inner sanctuary, or “holy of holies.” 1 Kings 6:16 and 8:6. On praying with hands outspread towards the most holy place when exiled or absent, see Daniel 6:10.

V. 3. Draw not-Do not drag me; as thou dost these, to execution and destruction.

Verse 3. Draw me not away] Let me not be involved in the punishment of the wicked.

Verse 3. Draw me not away with the wicked — The sense is, either, 1st, Do not suffer me to be drawn away, by their counsel or example, to imitate them in their evil courses. For God is often said to do that which he doth not effect, but only permits. Or, 2d, Do not drag me, as thou dost or wilt these evil-doers, to execution and destruction. Let me not die the death of the wicked. This seems best to suit with the following context, wherein he foretels that destruction to be coming upon his enemies which he deprecates for himself. Mischief is in their heart — They are hypocritical and perfidious persons: while I, through thy grace, am sincere and upright before thee. Seeing, then, I am unlike them in disposition and practice, let me not be made like them in their ruin.

3. Draw me not away with the wicked—The same thought is conveyed in Psalm 26:9, where see note. David prays not to be involved in the punishment of the wicked, which in human eyes would seem to be done if he was subjected to their power, or to treatment similar to theirs. See Genesis 18:25; Ezekiel 22:20, 21.

Verse 4. Give them] Is the same as thou wilt give them; a prophetic declaration of what their lot will be.

Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds, &c. — It is fit that they should suffer as they have acted, and reap the fruit of their manifold wickedness. Give them after the work of their hands, &c. — Dispense a reward to them according to their works, and deal with them as they have dealt with others. This verse would be better translated in the future; Thou wilt give, &c. For this prayer is evidently a prophecy, that God will, sooner or later, render to all impenitent sinners according to their deserts: see the next verse, and note on Psalm 5:10.

4. Give them according to their deeds—The prayer of this verse is only that justice may obtain, not for purposes of private revenge, but of public safety. The character and designs of David’s enemies must be considered. The nation was in the tumult of rebellion and the whirl of revolution. He was the king and father of his people; and for their sakes, and for righteousness’ sake, he prays for that interposition of penal judgment which alone could save the nation.

V. 5. Regard not-The providential works of God towards his people.

Verse 5. They regard not the works of the Lord] They have no knowledge of the true God, either as to his nature, or as to his works. He shall destroy them, and not build them up.] This is a remarkable prophecy, and was literally fulfilled: the Babylonian empire was destroyed by Cyrus, and never built up again; for he founded the Persian empire on its ruins. Even the place where Babylon stood is now no longer known.

Verse 5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord — The providential works of God, both for and toward his church and people, by which works he manifests himself, declares his mind and will, and speaks to the children of men; and a serious observation of which would have made them afraid of opposing God’s people, or of attempting to obstruct God’s designs in their favour. It is justly observed by Henry here, that “a stupid regardlessness of the works of God is the cause of the sin of sinners, and so becomes the cause of their ruin.” Why do men question the being and attributes of God, but because they do not duly regard the operations of his hands, which declare his glory, and in which the invisible things of him are clearly seen? Why do men forget him, and live without him; nay, affront him, and live in rebellion against him, but because they consider not the instances of that wrath of his which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men? Why do the enemies of God’s people hate and persecute them, and devise mischief against them, but because they regard not the works God has wrought for his church, by which he has made it appear how dear it is to him? See Isaiah 5:12.

Verse 5. He shall destroy them, and not build them up. David often foresaw that Saul’s army and party would perish in war. This prayer, ver. 4, 5, is in unison with the forms of prayer used in christian churches for their sovereigns in times of war and danger; “giving him the victory over all his enemies.” Yet we are not allowed to pray against but for our opposers.

5. Because they regard not—Here is given the cause or reason of his prayer, (verse 4,) and of what follows. He shall destroy them—The form of the verb is here declarative, not imperative, as in verse 4, which shows that it is for the fulfilment of the divine purpose that he prays, not for the gratification of private ends. See on Psalm 109.

Verses 6, 7. Blessed be the Lord, &c. — How soon are the sorrows of the saints turned into joy, and their prayers into praises! It was in faith David prayed, verse 2, Hear the voice of my supplication, and by the same faith he now gives thanks that God had heard his voice — They that pray in faith may rejoice in hope. My heart trusteth in him, and I am helped — God had in part heard and answered him already; and, it seems, had assured him by his Spirit that he would more fully answer and grant his requests.

6. Blessed be the Lord—The psalm suddenly turns from prayer to praise. Because he hath heard—The answer of prayer is the ground of David’s rejoicing. Some sudden turn of affairs, or the uprising of a new power of faith, gives assurance of his restoration to his throne and the sanctuary. Probably he wrote the former part of the psalm before, and the latter after, the battle and victory. 2 Samuel 18. This agrees with the preterites of verse 7: “My heart trusted, and I have been helped,” etc.

V. 7. I am helped-He speaks of it as past, because God assured him by his spirit, that he had heard and accepted his prayers.

Verse 7. The Lord is my strength] I have the fullest persuasion that he hears, will answer, and will save me.

Verses 6, 7. Blessed be the Lord, &c. — How soon are the sorrows of the saints turned into joy, and their prayers into praises! It was in faith David prayed, verse 2, Hear the voice of my supplication, and by the same faith he now gives thanks that God had heard his voice — They that pray in faith may rejoice in hope. My heart trusteth in him, and I am helped — God had in part heard and answered him already; and, it seems, had assured him by his Spirit that he would more fully answer and grant his requests.

Verse 8. The Lord is their strength] Instead of wml lamo, to them, eight MSS. of Kennicott and Deuteronomy Rossi have לעמו leammo, to his people; and this reading is confirmed by the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Æthiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. This makes the passage more precise and intelligible; and of the truth of the reading there can be no reasonable doubt. “The Lord is the strength of his PEOPLE, and the saving strength of his anointed.” Both king and people are protected, upheld, and saved by him.

Verse 8. The Lord is their strength — That is, the strength of his people, mentioned in the next verse. He is the saving strength — Hebrews ˆw[m tw[wvy, the strength of the preservations, deliverances, or salvations; of his anointed — Of me, whom he hath anointed to be king, and whom therefore he will defend. He signifies that it was by God’s strength alone that his victories, deliverances, and preservations were wrought.

Ver. 8. The Lord is their strength. The LXX, the strength of his people.

8. Their strength—The pronoun, which may be either singular or plural, should be here rendered singular, as it corresponds with anointed (that is, the king) in the parallel line, which should read:— “Jehovah is his strength;

Even the strength of the salvations of his Anointed is he.”

Verse 9. Save thy people] Continue to preserve them from all their enemies; from idolatry, and from sin of every kind.

Bless thine inheritance] They have taken thee for their God; thou hast taken them for thy people.

Feed them] רעה raah signifies both to feed and to govern. Feed them, as a shepherd does his flock; rule them, as a father does his children. Lift them up for ever.] Maintain thy true Church; let no enemy prevail against it. Preserve and magnify them for ever. Lift them up: as hell is the bottomless pit in which damned spirits sink down for ever; or, as Chaucer says, downe all downe; so heaven is an endless height of glory, in which there is an eternal rising or exaltation. Down, all down; up, all up; for ever and ever.

Verse 9. Bless thine inheritance — Israel, for whom he prays, not as his people, but as God’s. Save thy people: thine inheritance. God’s interest in them lay nearer his heart than his own. Feed them also — As a shepherd does his flock, as µ[r, regnem, signifies. Bless them with all things needful for life and for godliness. Or, rule them, as the margin renders it. Direct their counsels and actions aright, and overrule their affairs for good. Set pastors over them that shall feed and rule them with wisdom and understanding, Jeremiah 3:15. And lift them up for ever — Raise them out of their low and afflicted condition, and advance them to a state of safety and honour, and that not for a season only, but with constancy and perpetuity. Lift them up to thy glorious and heavenly kingdom. There, and there only, will the saints be lifted up for ever, never more to sink or be depressed. Observe well, reader, only those whom God feeds and rules, who are willing to be taught, guided, and governed by him, shall be saved, and blessed, and lifted up for ever.

9. Save thy people—The burden of his soul was for God’s people. From this standpoint we must judge of all his utterances in prayer and praise. Psalm 3, 19, close in a similar way.