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 respect 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. A Psalm by David.
This psalm is entitled "A Psalm of David;" and there is no reason for doubting the correctness of the inscription. But, as in some of the previous psalms, neither the title nor the contents contain any intimation as to the time or the circumstances of its composition.
It has, in some respects, a strong resemblance to Psalm 26:1-12. The leading idea in this, as in that, is the strong affection of the author for those who revered and loved God; his strong desire to be associated with them in character and destiny; his earnest wish that he might not be drawn away from them, and that his lot might not be with the wicked. It would seem from the psalm itself, especially from Psalm 28:3, that it was composed when its author was under some powerful temptation from the wicked, or when there were strong allurements offered by them which tended to lead him into the society of those who were strangers to God; and, under this temptation, he urges this earnest prayer, and seeks to bring before his own mind considerations why he should not yield to these influences.
The contents of the psalm, therefore, may be presented in the following analysis:
I. The consciousness of danger so pressing upon him as to lead him to break out in an earnest cry to God, Psalm 28:1-2.
II. The source of his anxiety or his danger; and his earnest prayer that he might not be left to the powerful temptation, and be drawn into the society of the wicked, Psalm 28:3.
III. Considerations which occurred to the mind of the psalmist himself why he should not yield to the temptation, or why he should not be associated with the wicked. These considerations are stated in Psalm 28:3-5. They are drawn from the character and the certain destiny of the wicked.
IV. A sense of relief, or a feeling that God had answered his prayer, and that he was safe from the danger, Psalm 28:6-7.
The psalm is especially appropriate to those who are in danger of being led away by the acts of the ungodly - or who are under strong temptations to be associated with the frivolous, the sensual, and the worldly - or to whom strong inducements are offered to mingle in their pleasures, their vices, and their follies. They who before their conversion were the companions of the ungodly; they who were devoted to guilty pleasures but have been rescued from them; they who have contracted habits of intemperance or sensuality in the society of the dissolute, and who feel the power of the habit returning upon them, and are invited by their former associates to join them again - are in the condition contemplated in the psalm, and will find its sentiments appropriate to their experience.
A righteous man in affliction makes supplication to God, and complains of the malice of his enemies, Psalm 28:1-4; whom he describes as impious, and whose destruction he predicts, Psalm 28:5. He blesses God for hearing his prayers, and for filling him with consolation, Psalm 28:6, Psalm 28:7; then prays for God's people, Psalm 28:8, Psalm 28:9.
This Psalm is of the same complexion with the two preceding; and belongs most probably to the times of the captivity, though some have referred it to David in his persecutions. In the five first verses the author prays for support against his enemies, who appear to have acted treacherously against him. In the sixth and seventh he is supposed to have gained the victory, and returns with songs of triumph. The eighth is a chorus of the people sung to their conquering king. The ninth is the prayer of the king for his people.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 28
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 28:1-5) A prayer in distress.
(Psalm 28:6-9) Thanksgiving for deliverance.
Cry for Help and Thanksgiving, in a Time of Rebellion
To Psalm 26:1-12 and Psalm 27:1-14 a third Psalm is here added, belonging to the time of the persecution by Absolom. In this Psalm, also, the drawing towards the sanctuary of God cannot be lost sight of; and in addition thereto we have the intercession of the anointed one, when personally imperilled, on behalf of the people who are equally in need of help, - an intercession which can only be rightly estimated in connection with the circumstances of that time. Like Psalm 27:1-14 this, its neighbour, also divides into two parts; these parts, however, though their lines are of a different order, nevertheless bear a similar poetic impress. Both are composed of verses consisting of two and three lines. There are many points of contact between this Psalm and Psalm 27:1-14; e.g., in the epithet applied to God, מעוז; but compare also Psalm 28:3 with Psalm 26:9; Psalm 28:2 with Psalm 31:23; Psalm 28:9 with Psalm 29:11. The echoes of this Psalm in Isaiah are very many, and also in Jeremiah.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.