Spurgeon, "It is another of those "songs in the night" of which the pen of David was so prolific. The thorn at the breast of the nightingale was said by the old naturalists to make it sing: David's griefs made him eloquent in holy psalmody. The main pleading of this Psalm is that the suppliant may not be confounded with the workers of iniquity for whom he expresses the utmost abhorrence; it may suit any slandered saint, who being misunderstood by men, and treated by them as an unworthy character, is anxious to stand aright before the bar of God. The Lord Jesus may be seen here pleading as the representative of his people."

1. PSALM 28 COMME

2. TARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
I quote many authors in this commentary. Some of them are old, but some are contemporary, and
it any do not wish their wisdom to be shared in this way, they can let me know, and I will remove
their contribution. My e-mail is glenn-p86@yahoo.com
I

3. TRODUCTIO

4. 1. Spurgeon, “PSALM 28 OVERVIEW
Title and Subject. Again, the title "A Psalm of David," is too general to give us any clue to the
occasion on which it was written. Its position, as following the twenty-seventh, seems to have been
designed, for it is a most suitable pendant and sequel to it. It is another of those "songs in the
night" of which the pen of David was so prolific. The thorn at the breast of the nightingale was
said by the old naturalists to make it sing: David's griefs made him eloquent in holy psalmody.
The main pleading of this Psalm is that the suppliant may not be confounded with the workers of
iniquity for whom he expresses the utmost abhorrence; it may suit any slandered saint, who being
misunderstood by men, and treated by them as an unworthy character, is anxious to stand aright
before the bar of God. The Lord Jesus may be seen here pleading as the representative of his
people.
Division. The first and second verses earnestly entreat audience of the Lord in a time of dire
emergency. From Psalms 28:2-5, the portion of the wicked is described and deprecated. In Psalms
28:6-8, praise is given for the Lord's mercy in hearing prayer, and the Psalm concludes with a
general petition for the whole host of militant believers.
2. Expositor's Bible, “THE unquestionable resemblances to Psalm xxvi. scarcely require that this
should be considered its companion. The differences are as obvious as the likenesses. While the
prayer " Draw me not away with the wicked " and the characterisation of these are alike in both,
the further emphatic prayer for retribution here and the closing half of this psalm have nothing
corresponding to them in the other. This psalm is built on the familiar plan of groups of two
verses each, with the exception that the prayer, which is its centre, runs over into three. The
course of thought is as familiar as the structure. Invocation is followed by petition, and that by
exultant anticipation of the answer as already given ; and all closes with wider petitions for
the whole people.
Of David.

5. 1 To you, LORD, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
1. Barnes, “Unto thee will I cry - That is, under the consciousness of the danger to which I am
exposed - the danger of being drawn away into the society of the wicked. In such circumstances
his reliance was not on his own strength; or on his own resolutions; on his own heart; or on his
fellowmen. He felt that he was safe only in God, and he appeals to Him, therefore, in this earnest
manner, to save him.
O Lord my rock - See the notes at Psa_18:2.
Be not silent to me - Margin, “from me.” So the Hebrew. The idea is that of one who will not
speak to us, or who will not attend to us. We pray, and we look for an “answer” to our prayers,
or, as it were, we expect God to “speak” to us; to utter words of kindness; to assure us of His
favor; to declare our sins forgiven.
Lest, if thou be silent to me - If thou dost not answer my supplications.
I become like unto them that go down into the pit - Like those who die; or, lest I be crushed by
anxiety and distress, and die. The word “pit” here refers to the grave. So it is used in Psa_30:3;
Psa_88:4; Isa_38:18; Isa_14:15, Isa_14:19. The meaning is, that if he did not obtain help from
God he despaired of life. His troubles would overwhelm and crush him. He could not bear up
under them.
1B. Gordon Churchyard, “"Rock" is a name for God. You will find it in Psalm 18:2 and in other
psalms. It means that God is a place where people can hide and be safe. Twice David says "from
me". He felt that God was looking away from him. This makes us think of Psalm 22:1, "My God,
why have you left me by myself? Why is my help far away?" David thinks that he will go down
into the pit. The pit is where the Jews believed that very bad people went when they died.
2. Clarke, “O Lord my rock - צורי 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

6. 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.
2B. “What David seems to be saying is not that he will be killed or die bu that spiritually
speaking he will be as good as dead unless God speaks to him. If God refuses to answer his
prayers, how will David differ from the dying godless who have no relationship with God
whatever?” — James Montgomery Boice, Psalms, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books,
1994), 1:247.
3. Gill, “Unto thee will I cry,.... This denotes the distress the psalmist was in, fervency and ardour
in prayer, resolution to continue in it, and singularity with respect to the object of it; determining
to cry to the Lord only; to which he was encouraged by what follows;
O Lord my rock; he being a strong tower and place of defence to him, in whom were all his
safety, and his trust and confidence, and in whom he had an interest;
be not silent to me; or "deaf" (q); persons that do not hear are silent, and make no answer; as the
Lord seems to be, when he returns no answer to the cries of his people; when he does not arise
and help them; when he seems not to take any notice of his and their enemies, but stands at a
distance from them, and as if he had forsaken them; see Psa_39:12; the words may be considered,
as they are by some, as an address to Christ his rock, his advocate and intercessor; that he would
not be silent, but speak for him, and present his supplications to God, with the much incense of
his mediation; see 1Sa_7:8;
lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit; either like such that fall
into a ditch, and cannot help themselves out, and they cry, and there is none to take them out
from thence; or like such that die in battle, and are cast into a pit, and there buried in common
with others; which David might fear would be his case, through Saul's violent pursuit after him;
or lest he should be like the dead, who are not regarded, and are remembered no more; or lest he
should really die by the hands of his enemies, and so be laid in the grave, the pit of corruption; or
be in such distress and despair as even the damned in hell be, the pit out of which there is no
deliverance.
4. Henry, “He prays that God would graciously hear and answer him, now that, in his distress, he
called upon him, Psa_28:1, Psa_28:2. Observe his faith in prayer: O Lord, my rock, denoting his
belief of God's power (he is a rock) and his dependence upon that power - “He is my rock, on
whom I build my hope.” Observe his fervency in prayer: “To thee will I cry, as one in earnest,
being ready to sink, unless thou come in with seasonable succour.” And observe how solicitous he
is to obtain an answer: “Be not silent to me, as one angry at my prayers, Psa_80:4. Lord, speak to
me, answer me with good words and comfortable words (Zec_1:13); though the thing I pray for has
not been given me, yet let God speak to me joy and gladness, and make me to hear them. Lord,
speak for me, in answer to my prayers, plead my cause, command deliverances for me, and thus
hear and answer the voice of my supplications.” Two things he pleads: - 1. The sad despair he
should be in if God slighted him: “If thou be silent to me, and I have not the tokens of thy favour,

7. I am like those that go down into the pit (that is, I am a dead man, lost and undone); if God be not
my friend, appear not to me and appear not for me, my hope and my help will have perished.”

8. othing can be so cutting, so killing, to a gracious soul, as the want of God's favour and the sense
of his displeasure. I shall be like those that go down to hell (so some understand it); for what is the
misery of the damned but this, that God is ever silent to them and deaf to their cry? Those are in
some measure qualified for God's favour, and may expect it, who are thus possessed with a dread
of his wrath, and to whom his frowns are worse than death
5. Jamison, “Psa_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.
my rock — (Psa_18:2, Psa_18:31).
be not silent to me — literally, “from me,” deaf or inattentive.
become like them, etc. — share their fate.
go down into the pit — or, “grave” (Psa_30:3).
6. K&D, “This first half of the Psalm (Psa_28:1) is supplicatory. The preposition מִן in connection
with the verbs חָרַשׁ , to be deaf, dumb, and חָשָׁה , to keep silence, is a pregnant form of expression
denoting an aversion or turning away which does not deign to give the suppliant an answer.
Jahve is his צוּר , his ground of confidence; but if He continues thus to keep silence, then he who
confides in Him will become like those who are going down (Psa_22:30), or are gone down
(Isa_14:19) to the pit. The participle of the past answers better to the situation of one already on
the brink of the abyss.
7. Calvin, “Unto thee, O Jehovah! will I cry. The Psalmist begins by declaring that he would
betake himself to the help of God alone, which shows both his faith and his sincerity. Although
men labor every where under a multitude of troubles, yet scarcely one in a hundred ever has
recourse to God. Almost all having their consciences burdened with guilt, and having never
experienced the power of divine grace which might lead them to betake themselves to it, either
proudly gnaw the bit or fill the air with unavailing complaints, or, giving way to desperation,
faint under their afflictions. By calling God his strength, David more fully shows that he confided
in God’s assistance, not only when he was in the shade and in peace, but also when he was
exposed to the severest temptations. In comparing himself to the dead, too, he intimates how
great his straits were, although his object was not merely to point out the magnitude of his
danger, but also to show that when he needed succor, he looked not here and there for it, but
relied on God alone, without whose favor there remained no hope for him. It is, therefore, as if he
had said, I am nothing if thou leavest me; if thou succourest me not, I perish. It is not enough for
one who is in such a state of affliction to be sensible of his misery, unless, convinced of his
inability to help himself, and renouncing all help from the world, he betake himself to God alone.
And as the Scriptures inform us that God answers true believers when he shows by his operations
that he regards their supplications, so the word silent is set in opposition to the sensible and
present experience of his aid, when he appears, as it were, not to hear their prayers.
8. Spurgeon, “Verse 1. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock. A cry is the natural expression of
sorrow, and is a suitable utterance when all other modes of appeal fail us; but the cry must be
alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to waste our entreaties upon the air. When we
consider the readiness of the Lord to hear, and his ability to aid, we shall see good reason for

9. directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation, and shall use language of firm
resolve like that in the text, "I will cry." The immutable Jehovah is our rock, the immovable
foundation of all our hopes and our refuge in time of trouble: we are fixed in our determination
to flee to him as our stronghold in every hour of danger. It will be in vain to call to the rocks in
the day of judgment, but our rock attends to our cries. Be not silent to me. Mere formalists may
be content without answers to their prayers, but genuine suppliants cannot; they are not satisfied
with the results of prayer itself in calming the mind and subduing the will -- they must go further
and obtain actual replies from heaven, or they cannot rest; and those replies they long to receive
at once, if possible; they dread even a little of God's silence. God's voice is often so terrible that it
shakes the wilderness; but his silence is equally full of awe to an eager suppliant. When God
seems to close his ear, we must not therefore close our mouths, but rather cry with more
earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and grief, he will not long deny us a
hearing. What a dreadful case should we be in if the Lord should become for ever silent to our
prayers! This thought suggested itself to David, and he turned it into a plea, thus teaching us to
argue and reason with God in our prayers. Lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that
go down into the pit. Deprived of the God who answers prayer, we should be in a more pitiable
plight than the dead in the grave, and should soon sink to the same level as the lost in hell. We
must have answers to prayer: ours is an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak
peace to our agitated minds, for he never can find it in his heart to permit his own elect to perish.
I HAVE no doubt that the first and most natural meaning of these words is this, that David
passed through such mental distress, such accumulated grief, that unless his prayer should bring
him consolation from heaven, he felt that he must despair, and so become like those who sink into
everlasting despair, going down into the pit of hell. I think it is a cry against his misery, which
vexed him; an earnest petition that he might not have to suffer so long as to drive into that same
despair which is the eternal inheritance of lost souls. But in reading the other day Masillon’s
Reflections of the Psalms, I noticed that that eminent French preacher gives quite another turn to
the passage, and he seems to regard this as being the prayer of David when he was exposed to the
association of the ungodly, fearful lest he should become in character like those that go down into
the pit, and even if that should not be the first meaning of the text, it seems to me to be a natural
inference from it, and if not, still the thought itself is one which contains so much of holy caution
about it, that I desire to commend it to all my brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus to-night, and
especially to such as are usually exposed to danger from ill-society.
A cry is the natural expression of sorrow, and a suitable utterance when all other modes of appeal
fail us; but the cry must be alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to waste our entreaties
upon the air. When we consider the readiness of the Lord to hear, and his ability to aid, we shall
see good reason for directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation. It will be in vain
to call to the rocks in the day of judgment, but our Rock attends to our cries.
“Be not silent to me.” Mere formalists may be content without answers to their prayers, but
genuine suppliants cannot; they are not satisfied with the results of prayer itself in calming the
mind and subduing the will—they must go further, and obtain actual replies from heaven, or they
cannot rest; and those replies they long to receive at once, they dread even a little of God’s
silence. God’s voice is often so terrible that it shakes the wilderness; but his silence is equally full
of awe to an eager suppliant. When God seems to close his ear, we must not therefore close our
mouths, but rather cry with more earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and
grief, he will not long deny us a hearing. What a dreadful case should we be in if the Lord should
become for ever silent to our prayers? “Lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go

10. down into the pit.” Deprived of the God who answers prayer, we should be in a more pitiable
plight than the dead in the grave, and should soon sink to the same level as the lost in hell. We
must have answers to prayer: ours is an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak
peace to our agitated minds, for he never can find it in his heart to permit his own elect to perish.
9. Expositor's Bible, “Vv. I, 2, are a prelude to the prayer proper, be speaking the Divine
acceptance of it, on the double ground of the psalmist s helplessness apart from God s help and of
his outstretched hands appealing to God enthroned above the mercy-seat. He is in such straits
that, unless his prayer brings an answer in act, he must sink into the pit of Sheol, and be made
like those that lie huddled there in its darkness. On the edge of the slippery slope, he stretches out
his hands toward the innermost sanctuary (for so the word rendered, by a mistaken etymology, "
oracle " means). He beseeches God to hear, and blends the two figures of deafness and silence as
both meaning the withholding of help. Jehovah seems deaf when prayer is unanswered, and is
silent when He does not speak in deliverance. This prelude of invocation throbs with earnestness,
and sets the pattern for suppliants, teaching them how to quicken their own desires as well as
how to appeal to God by breathing to Him their consciousness that only His hand can keep them
from sliding down into death.
10. Treasury of David, “Verse 1. Unto thee do I cry. It is of the utmost importance that we should
have a definite object on which to fix our thoughts. Man, at the best of times, has but little power
for realising abstractions; but least of all in his time of sorrow. Then he is helpless; then he needs
every possible aid; and if his mind wander in vacancy, it will soon weary, and sink down
exhausted. God has graciously taken care that this need not be done. He has so manifested
himself to man in his word, that the afflicted one can fix his mind's eye on him, as the definite
object of his faith, and hope, and prayer. "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee
great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3. This was what the psalmist
did; and the definiteness of God, as the object of his trust in prayer, is very clearly marked. And
specially great is the privilege of the Christian in this matter. He can fix his eye on Jesus; he,
without any very great stretch of the imagination, can picture that Holy One looking down upon
him; listening to him; feeling for him; preparing to answer him. Dear reader, in the time of your
trouble, do not roam; do not send out your sighs into vacancy; do not let your thoughts wander,
as though they were looking for some one on whom to fix; for some one to whom you could tell
the story of your heart's need and desolation. Fix your heart as the psalmist did, and say, "Unto
thee will I cry." ... Oh! happy is that man, who feels and knows that when trouble comes, he
cannot be bewildered and confused by the stroke, no matter how heavy it may be. Sorrow
stricken he will be, but he has his resource, and he knows it, and will avail himself of it. His is no
vague theory of the general sympathy of God for man; his is a knowledge of God, as a personal
and feeling God; he says with the psalmist, "Unto thee will I cry." Philip Bennett Power.
Verse 1. My rock. One day a female friend called on the Rev. William Evans, a pious minister in
England, and asked how he felt himself. "I am weakness itself," he replied; "but I am on the
Rock. I do not experience those transports which some have expressed in the view of death; but
my dependence is on the mercy of God in Christ. Here my religion began, and here it must end."
Verse 1. My rock. The Rev, John Rees, of Crownstreet, Soho, London, was visited on his deathbed
by the Rev. John Leifchild, who very seriously asked him to describe the state of his mind. This
appeal to the honour of his religion roused him, and so freshened his dying lamp, that raising
himself up in his bed, he looked his friend in the face, and with great deliberation, energy, and
dignity, uttered the following words: -- "Christ in his person, Christ in the love of his heart, and

11. Christ in the power of his arm, is the Rock on which I rest; and now (reclining his head gently on
the pillow), Death, strike!" K. Arvine.
Verse 1. Be not silent to me. Let us next observe what the heart desires from God. It is that he
would speak. Be not silent to me. Under these circumstances, when we make our prayer, we
desire that God would let us know that he hears us, and that he would appear for us, and that he
would say, he is our Father. And what do we desire God to say? We want him to let us know that
he hears us; we want to hear him speak as distinctly to us, as we feel that we have spoken to him.
We want to know, not only by faith that we have been heard, but by God's having spoken to us on
the very subject whereupon we have spoken to him. When we feel thus assured that God has
heard us, we can with the deepest confidence leave the whole matter about which we have been
praying, in his hands. Perhaps an answer cannot come for a long time; perhaps things,
meanwhile, seem working in a contrary way; it may be, that there is no direct appearance at all
of God upon the scene; still faith will hold up and be strong; and there will be comfort in the
heart, from the felt consciousness that God has heard our cry about the matter, and that he has
told us so. We shall say to ourselves, "God knows all about it; God has in point of fact told me so;
therefore I am in peace." And let it be enough for us that God tells us this, when he will perhaps
tell us no more; let us not want to try and induce him to speak much, when it is his will to speak
but little: the best answer we can have at certain times is simply the statement that "he hears;"
by this answer to our prayer he at once encourages and exercises our faith. "It is said," saith
Rutherford, speaking of the Saviour's delay in responding to the request of the Syrophenician
woman, "he answered not a word," but it is not said, he heard not a word. These two differ
much. Christ often heareth when he doth not answer -- his not answering is an answer, and
speaks thus -- "pray on, go on and cry, for the Lord holdeth his door fast bolted, not to keep you
out, but that you may knock, and knock, and it shall be opened." Philip Bennett Power.
Verse 1. Lest ... I become like them that go down into the pit. Thou seest, great God, my sad
situation.

12. othing to me is great or desirable upon this earth but the felicity of serving thee, and
yet the misery of my destiny, and the duties of my state, bring me into connection with men who
regard all godliness as a thing to be censured and derided. With secret horror I daily hear them
blaspheming the ineffable gifts of thy grace, and ridiculing the faith and fervour of the godly as
mere imbecility of mind. Exposed to such impiety, all my consolation, O my God, is to make my
cries of distress ascend to the foot of thy throne. Although for the present, these sacrilegious
blasphemies only awaken in my soul emotions of horror and pity, yet I fear that at last they may
enfeeble me and seduce me into a crooked course of policy, unworthy of thy glory, and of the
gratitude which I owe to thee. I fear that insensibly I may become such a coward as to blush at
thy name, such a sinner as to resist the impulses of thy grace, such a traitor as to withhold my
testimony against sin, such a self deceiver as to disguise my criminal timidity by the name of
prudence. Already I feel that this poison is insinuating itself into my heart, for while I would not
have my conduct resemble that of the wicked who surround me, yet I am too much biased by the
fear of giving them offence. I dare not imitate them, but I am almost as much afraid of irritating
them. I know that it is impossible both to please a corrupt world and a holy God, and yet I so far
lose sight of this truth, that instead of sustaining me in decision, it only serves to render my
vacillation the more inexcusable. What remains for me but to implore thy help! Strengthen me, O
Lord, against these declensions so injurious to thy glory, so fatal to the fidelity which is due to
thee. Cause me to hear thy strengthening and encouraging voice. If the voice of thy grace be not
lifted up in my spirit, reanimating my feeble faith, I feel that there is but a step between me and
despair. I am on the brink of the precipice, I am ready to fall into a criminal complicity with
those who would fain drag me down with them into the pit. Jean Baptiste Massillon, 1663-1742,
freely translated by C.H.S.

13. 11. K. B.

14. apier, “Even when filled with fear David knows Who is his help. Of this he has no
doubt. This is seen in his very clear statement: “Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock”! David
does not have trust in others, or even in himself, but only in God. This is because God is God,
Lord of lords, Creator and sustainer of life. God is his ‘rock’, where he can stand firmly without
doubt.
Because God is his rock, and because God has made promises to him and to his forefathers,
David can confidently call upon God to help him. “Be not silent to me.”, chashah. That is, do not
be inactive or still, but respond to me. He makes a valid point – if God will not respond to him,
then he will be just like any other person who is without God, who will enter the grave (and, by
implication, hell).
Without God we have nothing; no-one can help us. From this we may deduce, by reversal, that
those who are unsaved have no help from God and their prayers will be unanswered. It also tells
us that believers can expect God to answer their genuine pleas.
So, David says: hear my pleas when I cry to you. He says he lifts up his “hands toward thy holy
oracle”. This is reference to the Holy of Holies, the most holy room in the Temple in which the
high priest offers up his sacrifice and prayers to God. God spoke from the Ark in the room, so
dabar is an apt word, meaning to speak, e.g. an oracle. The picture is of David alone with God,
seeking God’s face and help with sincere and deeply-felt words.
This is akin to the command of Christ, for us to pray to God alone in our closet or room. (There is
no command to pray corporately, except in rare circumstances of one-mind, one-heart and one-aim.
See my article). It means we need not be in a Temple or church, but must be sincere in an
holy way. Then God hears us.
12. Todd Bishop, “I am not sure about all of you, but I know that there have been some times in
my life where I have cried out to God … asking Him for some kind of answer … and

15. OTHI

16. G!

17. O response!

18. O answer! Just absolutely

19. OTHI

20. G!
SILE

21. CE!!!
I have, at times, felt so let down … so hurt that I have prayed similar prayers to what David
prayed in the verses we read!
I have cried, “God, where are you?”
I remember one night about 2 months after I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart … I got a call
at about midnight from a high school friend of mine … she was in tears on the other end of the
phone … she said these dreaded words, “There was an accident … they are all dead except Bill
and he may not make it through the night.” I was in shock … you see, 2 weeks early I tried to
witness to my good friend Bill Daly … he did not take me seriously … he honestly thought I was
‘tripping on something’ (his exact words) … That night I cried out to God … “Please, God, spare
Bill … don’t let him die until he gives his life to you.”
Do you know what I heard?

22. othing … except at about 6 am I received a phone call … “Bill just
died.”

23. I was crushed … my faith was shaken … that was the 1st time I felt the SILE

24. CE OF GOD!!!
I heard the deafening sound of THE SILE

25. CE OF GOD for the second time … about 7 months
after the 1st time … I just finished my first semester at Central Bible College … I was coming
home for Christmas … about a week had passed and I received a call from the same friend of
mine … I was really believing that she became the ‘angel of death’ … but she had told me that
Brian Riniolo had committed suicide … he was a star quarterback in W

26. Y … had a baseball
scholarship to Canesius College … you see, about 5 months before this happened … Brian, Matt,
and I used to jam together at Brian’s house in the bedroom where Brian took his own life … the
last time we played together … Matt and I began to talk to Brian about the Lord … he said,
“That’s awesome … I am going to really think about it.” When I heard the voice on the other end
of the phone tell me that Brian killed himself I WAS CRUSHED FOR THE SECO

27. D TIME!
I asked God, “WHY?” And do you know what I heard … “SILE

28. CE.”
DID ALL THE PRAYERS OF THE GODLY ME

29. I

30. THE BIBLE GET A

31. SWERED?
Moses begged God to let him lead his people into the Promised Land. Moses died on

32. ebo’s peak,
his request refused.
Paul prayed three times for the removal of that "thorn in the flesh." Instead, he was compelled to
make the best of it for the rest of his life … God did not answer!
Even Jesus himself in the garden cried out for release from the cross. Instead he had to suffer the
pain of it.
David was a man after the heart of God, but he even felt the SILE

33. CE OF GOD!
But it did not mean that David had abandoned the Lord … it did not mean that David failed
God!
Young person, when you feel the SILE

34. CE OF GOD … do not beat yourself up … do not let the
enemy lie to you and say that you are a wicked person … “You are God’s chosen person … He
loves you!”
… but most often God responds to us through His Word!
John 1 teaches us that “The Word became human, and lived here on earth among us” (1:14).
That means … that I

35. Jesus are the answers! And where is Jesus revealed? I

36. The Word!
When is seems as though you are faced with THE SILE

37. CE OF GOD … read the Word and you
may just discover THE A

38. SWER!
Hebrews 1:1-2 reads, “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors
through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son …”
God’s Son is The Word (John 1:1) … and if this is true, then God speaks to us through The
Word!

39. 2 Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.
1. Barnes, “Hear the voice of my supplications - It was not mental prayer which he offered; it was
a petition uttered audibly.
When I lift up my hands - To lift up the hands denotes supplication, as this was a common
attitude in prayer. See the notes at 1Ti_2:8.
Toward thy holy oracle - Margin, as in Hebrew, “toward the oracle of thy holiness.” The word
“oracle” as used here denotes the place where the answer to prayer is given. The Hebrew word -
דביר debı̂yr - means properly the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle or the temple, the place where
God was supposed to reside, and where He gave responses to the prayers of His people: the same
place which is elsewhere called the holy of holies. See the notes at Heb_9:3-14. The Hebrew word
is found only here and in 1Ki_6:5, 1Ki_6:16, 1Ki_6:19-23, 1Ki_6:31; 1Ki_7:49; 1Ki_8:6, 1Ki_8:8;
2Ch_3:16; 2Ch_4:20; 2Ch_5:7, 2Ch_5:9. The idea here is that he who prayed stretched out his
hands toward that sacred place where God was supposed to dwell. So we stretch out our hands
toward heaven - the sacred dwelling-place of God. Compare the notes at Psa_5:7. The Hebrew
word is probably derived from the verb to “speak;” and, according to this derivation, the idea is
that God spoke to His people; that he “communed” with them; that He answered their prayers
from that sacred recess - His special dwelling-place. See Exo_25:22;

40. um_7:89.
2. Clarke, “Toward thy holy oracle - דביר קדשך 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.
3. Gill, “ Hear the voice of my supplications,.... Which proceed from the Spirit of grace and of
supplication, and are put up in an humble manner, under a sense of wants and unworthiness, and
on the foot of grace and mercy, and not merit;
when I cry unto thee; as he now did, and determined he would, and continue so doing, until he
was heard;
when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle: the holy of holies, in the tabernacle and in the
temple, which was sometimes so called, 1Ki_6:23; compared with 2Ch_3:10; where were the ark,
the mercy seat, and cherubim, between which the Lord dwelt, and gave responses to his people;

41. or heaven itself, which the holy of holies was a figure of; where is the throne of God, and from
whence he hears the prayers of his people directed to him; or else Christ himself, who is the most
Holy, and the "Debir", or Oracle, who speaks to the Lord for his people; and by whom the Lord
speaks to them again, and communes with them. The oracle had its name, "debir", from
speaking. Lifting up of the hands is a prayer gesture, and here designs the performance of that
duty to God in heaven, through Christ; see Lam_3:41; it was frequently used, even by the
Heathens, as a prayer gesture (r); see Psa_141:2.
4. Henry, “The good hopes he had that God would favour him: I lift up my hands towards thy holy
oracle, which denotes, not only an earnest desire, but an earnest expectation, thence to receive an
answer of peace. 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
spoke to his people,

42. um_7:89. That 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
(Heb_9:24); and from God as our Father in heaven we are taught to expect an answer to our
prayers. The scriptures are called the oracles of God, and to them we must have an eye in our
prayers and expectations. There is the word on which God hath caused and encouraged us to
hope.
5. Jamison, “lift up my hands — a gesture of prayer (Psa_63:4; Psa_141:2).
oracle — place of speaking (Exo_25:22;

43. um_7:89), where God answered His people (compare
Psa_5:7).
6. Calvin, “Hear the voice of my prayers when I cry to thee. This repetition is a sign of a heart in
anguish. David’s ardor and vehemence in prayer are also intimated by the noun signifying voice,
and the verb signifying to cry. He means that he was so stricken with anxiety and fear, that he
prayed not coldly, but with burning, vehement desire, like those who, under the pressure of grief,
vehemently cry out. In the second clause of the verse, by synecdoche, the thing signified is
indicated by the sign. It has been a common practice in all ages for men to lift up their hands in
prayer.

44. ature has extorted this gesture even from heathen idolaters, to show by a visible sign
that their minds were directed to God alone. The greater part, it is true, contented with this
ceremony, busy themselves to no effect with their own inventions; but the very lifting up of the
hands, when there is no hypocrisy and deceit, is a help to devout and zealous prayer. David,
however, does not say here that he lifted his hands to heaven, but to the sanctuary, that, aided by
its help, he might ascend the more easily to heaven. He was not so gross, or so superstitiously tied
to the outward sanctuary, as not to know that God must be sought spiritually, and that men then
only approach to him when, leaving the world, they penetrate by faith to celestial glory. But
remembering that he was a man, he would not neglect this aid afforded to his infirmity. As the
sanctuary was the pledge or token of the covenant of God, David beheld the presence of God’s
promised grace there, as if it had been represented in a mirror; just as the faithful now, if they
wish to have a sense of God’s nearness to them, should immediately direct their faith to Christ,
who came down to us in his incarnation, that he might lift us up to the Father. Let us understand,
then, that David clung to the sanctuary with no other view than that by the help of God’s promise
he might rise above the elements of the world, which he used, however, according to the
appointment of the Law. The Hebrew word דביר , debir, which we have rendered sanctuary, ,דביר
debir, is derived from דבר , dabar, to speak. signifies the inner-room of the tabernacle or temple, or
the most holy place, where the ark of the covenant was contained, and it is so called from the

45. answers or oracles which God gave forth from thence, to testify to his people the presence of his
favor among them.
7. Spurgeon, “Verse 2. This is much to the same effect as the first verse, only that it refers to
future as well as present pleadings. Hear me! Hear me! Hear the voice of my supplications! This
is the burden of both verses. We cannot be put off with a refusal when we are in the spirit of
prayer; we labour, use importunity, and agonize in supplications until a hearing is granted us.
The word "supplications," in the plural, shows the number, continuance, and variety of a good
man's prayers, while the expression "hear the voice," seems to hint that there is an inner
meaning, or heart voice, about which spiritual men are far more concerned than for their
outward and audible utterances. A silent prayer may have a louder voice than the cries of those
priests who sought to awaken Baal with their shouts. When I lift up my hands toward thy holy
oracle: which holy place was the type of our Lord Jesus; and if we would gain acceptance, we
must turn ourselves evermore to the blood besprinkled mercy seat of his atonement. Uplifted
hands have ever been a form of devout posture, and are intended to signify a reaching upward
towards God, a readiness, an eagerness to receive the blessing sought after. We stretch out empty
hands, for we are beggars; we lift them up, for we seek heavenly supplies; we lift them towards
the mercy seat of Jesus, for there our expectation dwells. O that whenever we use devout gestures,
we may possess contrite hearts, and so speed well with God
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 2. I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Called (rybd), debhir,
because there hence God spake and gave answer. Toward this (a type of Christ, the Word
essential), David lifteth up his hands, that it might be as a ladder, whereby his prayer might get
up to heaven. John Trapp.
9. Warren Wiersbe, “When I was in grade school, each day the teacher would walk up and down
the aisles and make us hold out our hands: first, with the palms up to make sure our hands were
clean and then with the palms down to make sure our fingernails were clean. Of course, none of
us liked this, because little kids would much rather have dirty hands.
Psalm 28 talks a great deal about hands. The psalmist lifted up his hands. The enemies were
doing evil work with their hands. But God had His hand at work as well. "Give to them [the
enemies] according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors; give to
them according to the work of their hands" (v. 4). There are wicked people in this world, and
they have dirty hands. Some people defile everything they touch. This grieves us, especially when
they want to touch our lives and defile us.
What did David do? He saw his enemies' evil hands, and he lifted up his hands. "Hear the voice
of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary" (v.
2). When an Old Testament Jew prayed, he didn't fold his hands. He lifted them up to God in
praise and in expectancy that He was going to do something. When you see the evil hands of
Satan's crowd doing their defiling work, don't put your hands on their hands. You'll be defiled.
Instead, lift your holy hands to the Lord and trust Him to work. "Because they [the enemies] do
not regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not
build them up" (v. 5).
God's hand is at work today, and the result of this is praise (v. 7). Do you need help today? Lift
up your hands to the Lord in supplication and in expectation, and soon you will lift up your
hands in jubilation and celebration.
Unfortunately, many people fail to keep their hands clean. Their evil hands sometimes do dirty

46. work that hurts you. When that happens, you can trust God to take care of evil hands. Keep your
hands clean. Look to God, lift your hands to Him and let His hand work for you.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.
1. Barnes, “Draw me not away with the wicked - See the notes at Psa_26:9. The prayer here, as
well as the prayer in Psa_26:9, expresses a strong desire not to be united with wicked people in
feeling or in destiny - in life or in death - on earth or in the future world. The reason of the prayer
seems to have been that the psalmist, being at this time under a strong temptation to associate
with wicked persons, and feeling the force of the temptation, was apprehensive that he should be
left to “yield” to it, and to become associated with them. Deeply conscious of this danger, he
earnestly prays that he may not be left to yield to the power of the temptation, and fall into sin.
So the Saviour Mat_6:13 has taught us to pray, “And lead us not into temptation.”

47. one who
desire to serve God can be insensible to the propriety of this prayer. The temptations of the world
are so strong; the amusements in which the world indulges are so brilliant and fascinating; they
who invite us to partake of their pleasures are often so elevated in their social position, so refined
in their manners, and so cultivated by education; the propensities of our hearts for such
indulgences are so strong by nature; habits formed before our conversion are still so powerful;
and the prospect of worldly advantages from compliance with the customs of those around us are
often so great - that we cannot but feel that it is proper for us to go to the throne of grace, and to
plead earnestly with God that he will keep us and not suffer us to fall into the snare.
Especially is this true of those who before they were converted had indulged in habits of
intemperance, or in sensual pleasures of any kind, and who are invited by their old companions
in sin again to unite with them in their pursuits. Here all the power of the former habit returns;
here often there is a most fierce struggle between conscience and the old habit for victory; here
especially those who are thus tempted need the grace of God to keep them; here there is special
appropriateness in the prayer, “Draw me not away with the wicked.”
And with the workers of iniquity - In any form. With those who do evil.
Which speak peace to their neighbours - Who speak words of friendliness. Who “seem” to be
persuading you to do that which is for your good. Who put on plausible pretexts. They appear to
be your friends; they profess to be so. They use flattering words while they tempt you to go
astray.
But mischief is in their hearts - They are secretly plotting your ruin. They wish to lead you into
such courses of life in order that you may fall into sin; that you may dishonor religion; that you
may disgrace your profession; or that they may in some way profit by your compliance with their
counsels. So the wicked, under plausible pretences, would allure the good; so the corrupt would

48. seduce the innocent; so the enemies of God would entice his friends, that they may bring shame
and reproach upon the cause of religion.
2. Clarke, “Draw file not away - Let me not be involved in the punishment of the wicked.
3. Gill, “ Draw me not away with the wicked,.... That is, with those who are notoriously wicked;
who are inwardly and outwardly wicked; whose inward part is very wickedness, and who sell
themselves and give up themselves to work wickedness: the sense is, that God would not suffer
him to be drawn away, or drawn aside by wicked men, but that he would deliver him from
temptation; or that he would not give him up into their hands, to be at their mercy; who he knew
would not spare him, if they had him in their power; or that he might not die the death of the
wicked, and perish with them; see Psa_26:9;
and with the workers of iniquity; who make it the trade and business of their lives to commit sin;
and which may be applied, not only to profane sinners, but to professors of religion, Mat_7:23;
since it follows,
which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts; hypocrites, double minded
men, who have a form of godliness, but deny the power of it; pretend to religion, and have none;
and speak fair to the face, but design mischief and ruin; as Saul and his servants did to David,
1Sa_18:17.
4. Henry, “He deprecates the doom of wicked people, as before (Psa_26:9, “Gather not my soul
with sinners): Lord, I attend thy holy oracle, draw me not away from that with the wicked, and
with the workers of iniquity,” Psa_28:3. 1. “Save me from being entangled in the snares they have
laid for me. They flatter and cajole me, and speak peace to me; but they have a design upon me,
for mischief is in their heart; they aim to disturb me, nay, to destroy me. Lord, suffer me not to be
drawn away and ruined by their cursed plots; for they have, can have, no power, no success,
against me, except it be given them from above.” 2. “Save me from being infected with their sins
and from doing as they do. Let me not be drawn away by their fallacious arguments, or their
allurements, from the holy oracle (where I desire to dwell all the days of my life), to practise any
wicked works;” see Psa_141:4. “Lord, never leave me to myself, to use such arts of deceit and
treachery for my safety as they use to my ruin. Let no event of Providence be an invincible
temptation to me, to draw me either into the imitation or into the interest of wicked people.”
Good men dread the way of sinners; the best are sensible of the danger they are in of being
drawn aside into it; and therefore we should all pray earnestly to God for his grace to keep us in
our integrity. 3. “Save me from being involved in their doom; let me not be led forth with the
workers of iniquity, for I am not one of those that speak peace while war is in their hearts.”

49. ote,
Those that are careful not to partake with sinners in their sins have reason to hope that they shall
not partake with them in their plagues, Rev_18:4.
5. Jamison, “Draw me not away — implies punishment as well as death (compare Psa_26:9).
Hypocrisy is the special wickedness mentioned.
6. Calvin, “Draw me not away with wicked men. The meaning is, that in circumstances so

50. dissimilar, God should not mingle the righteous with the wicked in the same indiscriminate
destruction.The verb משך , mashak, here rendered draw, “signifies,” as Hammond observes, “both
to draw and apprehend,” and may “be best rendered here, Seize not on me, as he that seizeth on
any to carry or drag him to execution. The Septuagint, after having literally rendered the Hebrew
by Μὴ συνελκύσὟς την ψυχήν μου, draw not my soul together with, etc., adds Κίαν μὴ
συναπολέσὟς με etc., and destroy me not together with, etc. Calvin here evidently takes the same
view; though he does not express it in the form of criticism. Undoubtedly, too, in speaking of his
enemies, he indirectly asserts his own integrity. But he did not pray in this manner, because he
thought that God was indiscriminately and unreasonably angry with men; he reasons rather
from the nature of God, that he ought to cherish good hope, because it was God’s prerogative to
distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, and to give every one his due reward. By the
workers of iniquity, he means man wholly addicted to wickedness. The children of God sometimes
fall, commit errors, and act amiss in one way or other, but they take no pleasure in their evil
doings; the fear of God, on the contrary, stirs them up to repentance. David afterwards defines
and enlarges upon the wickedness of those whom he describes; for, under pretense of friendship
they perfidiously deceived good men, professing one thing with their tongue, while they
entertained a very different thing in their hearts. Open depravity is easier to be borne with than
this craftiness of the fox, when persons put on fair appearances in order to find opportunity of
doing mischief. This truth, accordingly, admonishes us that those are most detestable in God’s
sight, who attack the simple and unwary with fair speeches as with poison.
7. Spurgeon, “Verse 3. Draw me not away with the wicked. They shall be dragged off to hell like
felons of old drawn on a hurdle to Tyburn, like logs drawn to the fire, like fagots to the oven.
David fears lest he should be bound up in their bundle, drawn to their doom; and the fear is an
appropriate one for every godly man. The best of the wicked are dangerous company in time, and
would make terrible companions for eternity; we must avoid them in their pleasures, if we would
not be confounded with them in their miseries. And with the workers of iniquity. These are
overtly sinful, and their judgment will be sure; Lord, do not make us to drink of their cup.
Activity is found with the wicked even if it be lacking to the righteous. Oh! to be "workers" for
the Lord. Which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. They have
learned the manners of the place to which they are going: the doom of liars is their portion for
ever, and lying is their conversation on the road. Soft words, oily with pretended love, are the
deceitful meshes of the infernal net in which Satan catches the precious life; many of his children
are learned in his abominable craft, and fish with their father's nets, almost as cunningly as he
himself could do it. It is a sure sign of baseness when the tongue and the heart do not ring to the
same note. Deceitful men are more to be dreaded than wild beasts: it were better to be shut up in
a pit with serpents than to be compelled to live with liars. He who cries "peace" too loudly, means
to sell it if he can get his price. "Good wine need no bush:" if he were so very peaceful he would
not need to say so; he means mischief, make sure of that.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 3. Draw me not away with the wicked ... which speak peace to their
neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. The godly man abhors dissimulation towards men; his
heart goes along with his tongue, he cannot flatter and hate, commend and censure. "Let love be
without dissimulation." Romans 12:9. Dissembled love is worse than hatred; counterfeiting of
friendship is no better than a lie Psalms 78:36, for there is a pretence of that which is not. Many
are like Joab: "He took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, and smote him with his sword in the
fifth rib, that he died." There is a river in Spain, where the fish seem to be of a golden colour, but
take them out of the water, and they are like other fish. All is not gold that glitters; there are some
pretend much kindness, but they are like great veins which have little blood; if you lean upon

51. them they are as a leg out of joint. For my part, I much question his truth towards God, that will
flatter and lie to his friend. "He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander
is a fool." Proverbs 10:18. Thomas Watson.
Verse 3. Draw me not out with. An allusion, I conceive, to a shepherd selecting out a certain
portion of his flock. "Reckon me not among." Professor Lee.
Verse 3. Draw me not away. (ynkfmtÄla) from ($fm); that signifies, both to draw and apprehend,
will be best rendered here, seize not on me, as he that seizes on any to carry or drag him to
execution. Henry Hammond.
9. Expositor's Bible, “The prayer itself (vv. 3-5) touches lightly on the petition that the psalmist
may be delivered from the fate of the wicked, and then launches out into indignant description of
their practices and solemn invocation of retribution upon them. " Drag away " is parallel with,
but stronger than, " Gather not " in xxvi. 9. Commentators quote Job xxiv. 22, where the word is
used of God s dragging the mighty out of life by His power, as a struggling criminal is haled to
the scaffold. The shuddering recoil from the fate of the wicked is accompanied with vehement
loathing of their practices. A man who keeps his heart in touch with God cannot but shrink, as
from a pestilence, from complicity with evil, and the depth of his hearty hatred of it is the
measure of his right to ask that he may not share in the ruin it must bring, since God is righteous.
One type of evil-doers is the object of the psalmist s special abhorrence : false friends with
smooth tongues and daggers in their sleeves, the " dissemblers " of Psalm xxvi.; but he passes to
the more general characterisation of the class, in his terrible prayer for retribution, in vv. 4, 5-
The sin of sins, from which all specific acts of evil flow, is blindness to God s " deeds " and to
" the work of His hands," His acts both of mercy and of judgment. Practical atheism, the
indifference which looks upon nature, history, and self, and sees no signs of a mighty hand tender,
pure, and strong, ever active in them all, will surely lead the purblind " Agnostics " to do " works
of their hands " which, for lack of reference to Him, fail to conform to the highest ideal and draw
down righteous judgment. But the blindness to God s work here meant is that of an averted will
rather than that of mistaken understanding, and from the stem of such a thorn the grapes of holy
living cannot be gathered. Therefore the psalmist is but putting into words the necessary result of
such lives when from suppliant he becomes prophet, and declares that " He shall cast them down,
and not build them up." The stern tone of this prayer marks it as belonging to the older type of
religion, and its dissimilarity to the

52. ew Testament teaching is not to be slurred over.

53. o doubt
the element of personal enmity is all but absent, but it is not the prayer which those who have
heard " Father, forgive them," are to copy. Yet, on the other hand, the wholesome abhorrence of
evil, the solemn certitude that sin is death, the desire that it may cease from the world, and the
lowly petition that it may not drag us into fatal associations are all to be preserved in Christian
feeling, while softened by the light that falls from Calvary.
4 Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.

54. 1. Barnes, “Give them according to their deeds - Deal righteously with them. Recompense them
as they deserve.
And according to the wickedness of their endeavours - Their designs; their works; their plans.
Give them after the work of their hands - Reward them according to what they do.
Render to them their desert - A just recompense. This whole verse is a prayer that God would
deal “justly” with them. There is no evidence that there is anything of vindictiveness or malice in
the prayer. In itself considered, there is no impropriety in praying that “justice” may be done to
the violators of law. See the general introduction, section 6.
2. Clarke, “Give them - Is the same as thou wilt give them; a prophetic declaration of what their
lot will be.
3. Gill, “Give them according to their deeds,.... According to the demerit of them, which is death,
even death eternal;
and according to the wickedness of their endeavours; for though wicked men do not always
succeed; yet their want of success does not excuse their wickedness;
give them after the work of their hands; see 2Ti_4:14;
render to them their desert; what their iniquities, in thought, word, and deed, deserve: such
petitions are not contrary to that Christian charity which the Gospel recommends; nor do they
savour of a spirit of revenge, which is condemned by the word of God; for it should be observed,
that these things are said with respect to men given up to a reprobate mind; and that the psalmist
does not seek to avenge himself, nor to gratify his own mind; but he sought the glory of God, and
moreover spoke by a prophetic spirit, knowing what was the will of God in this case; see
Psa_28:5; and therefore these petitions of his are not to be drawn into an example in common
and ordinary cases.
4. Henry, “He imprecates the just judgments of God upon the workers of iniquity (Psa_28:4):
Give them according to their deeds. This is not the language of passion or revenge, nor is it
inconsistent with the duty of praying for our enemies. But, 1. Thus he would show how far he was
from complying with the workers of iniquity, and with what good reason he had begged not to be
drawn away with them, because he was convinced that they could not be made more miserable
then to be dealt with according to their deeds. 2. Thus he would express his zeal for the honour of
God's justice in the governing world. “Lord, they think all well that they do, and justify
themselves in their wicked practices. Lord, give them after the work of their hands, and so
undeceive those about them, who think there is no harm in what they do because it goes
unpunished,” Psa_94:1, Psa_94:2. 3. This prayer is a prophecy that God will, sooner or later,
render to all impenitent sinners according to their deserts. If what has been done amiss be not
undone by repentance, there will certainly come a reckoning day, when God will render to every
man who persists in his evil deeds according to them. It is a prophecy particularly of the
destruction of destroyers: “They speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts;
Lord, give them according to their deeds, let the spoilers be spoiled, and let those be treacherously

55. dealt with who have thus dealt treacherously;” see Isa_33:1; Rev_18:6; Rev_13:10. Observe, He
foretels that God will reward them, not only according to their deed, but according to the
wickedness of their endeavours; for sinners shall be reckoned with, not only for the mischief they
have done, but for the mischief they would have done, which they designed, and did what they
could to effect. And, if God go by this rule in dealing with the wicked, surely he will do so in
dealing with the righteous, and will reward them, not only for the good they have done, but for
the good they have endeavoured to do, though they could not accomplish it.
5. Jamison, “The imprecation is justified in Psa_28:5. The force of the passage is greatly
enhanced by the accumulation of terms describing their sin.
endeavours — points out their deliberate sinfulness.
6. Calvin, “Give them according to their works. Having thus requested God to have a regard to his
innocence, the Psalmist thunders forth a curse against his enemies. And the accumulation of
words shows that he had groaned long and grievously under the burden before he broke forth to
desire such vengeance. He intimates that the wicked of whom he speaks had transgressed not
once, nor for a short time, nor in one way, but that they had proceeded so far in their constant
evil doings, that their audacity was no longer to be endured. We know how troublesome and
grievous a temptation it is to see the ungodly proceeding without measure or end, as if God
connived at their wickedness. David, therefore, wearied as it were with continual forbearing, and
fainting under the burden, implores God, at length, to restrain the wantonness of his enemies,
who of late ceased not to heap wickedness upon wickedness. Thus we perceive that there is
nothing superfluous in this verse, when to works he adds the wickedness of their doings, and the
work of their hands, and thrice petitions that they may receive the reward which they have
deserved. Add to this, that he at the same time bears testimony to his own faith, to which boasting
hypocrites often compel the children of God, while by their deceit and cavils, they impose upon
the judgments of the world. We see how men who are distinguished for wickedness, not content
with impunity themselves, cannot abstain from oppressing the innocent by false accusations, just
as the wolf, desirous of making a prey 597 597 “Voulant devorer les agneaux.” — Fr. of the
lambs, according to the common proverb, accused them of troubling the water. David is therefore
compelled by this exigency to call upon God for protection. Here again occurs the difficult
question about praying for vengeance, which, however, I shall despatch in few words, as I have
discussed it elsewhere. In the first place, then, it is unquestionable, that if the flesh move us to
seek revenge, the desire is wicked in the Sight of God. He not only forbids us to imprecate evil
upon our enemies in revenge for private injuries, but it cannot be otherwise than that all those
desires which spring from hatred must be disordered. David’s example, therefore, must not be
alleged by those who are driven by their own intemperate passion to seek vengeance. The holy
prophet is not inflamed here by his own private sorrow to devote his enemies to destruction; but
laying aside the desire of the flesh, he gives judgment concerning the matter itself. Before a man
can, therefore, denounce vengeance against the wicked, he must first shake himself free from all
improper feelings in his own mind. In the second place, prudence must be exercised, that the
heinousness of the evils which offend us drive us not to intemperate zeal, which happened even to
Christ’s disciples, when they desired that fire might be brought from heaven to consume those
who refused to entertain their Master, (Luke 9:54.) They pretended, it is true, to act according to
the example of Elias; but Christ severely rebuked them, and told them that they knew not by
what spirit they were actuated. In particular, we must observe this general rule, that we cordially
desire and labor for the welfare of the whole human race. Thus it will come to pass, that we shall

56. not only give way to the exercise of God’s mercy, but shall also wish the conversion of those who
seem obstinately to rush upon their own destruction. In short, David, being free from every evil
passion, and likewise endued with the spirit of discretion and judgment, pleads here not so much
his own cause as the cause of God. And by this prayer, he farther reminds both himself and the
faithful, that although the wicked may give themselves loose reins in the commission of every
species of vice with impunity for a time, they must at length stand before the judgment-seat of
God.
7. Spurgeon, “Verse 4. When we view the wicked simply as such, and not as our fellow men, our
indignation against sin leads us entirely to coincide with the acts of divine justice which punish
evil, and to wish that justice might use her power to restrain by her terrors the cruel and unjust;
but still the desires of the present verse, as our version renders it, are not readily made consistent
with the spirit of the Christian dispensation, which seeks rather the reformation than the
punishment of sinners. If we view the words before us as prophetic, or as in the future tense,
declaring a fact, we are probably nearer to the true meaning than that given in our version.
Ungodly reader, what will be your lot when the Lord deals with you according to your desert, and
weighs out to you his wrath, not only in proportion to what you have actually done, but according
to what you would have done if you could. Our endeavours are taken as facts; God takes the will
for the deed, and punishes or rewards accordingly.

57. ot in this life, but certainly in the next, God
will repay his enemies to their faces, and give them the wages of their sins.

58. ot according to their
fawning words, but after the measure of their mischievous deeds, will the Lord mete out
vengeance to them that know him not.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds, etc. Here, again, occurs the
difficult question about praying for vengeance, which, however, I shall despatch in a few words.
In the first place, then, it is unquestionable, that if the flesh move us to seek revenge, the desire is
wicked in the sight of God. He not only forbids us to imprecate evil upon our enemies in revenge
for private injuries, but it cannot be otherwise than that all those desires which spring from
hatred must be disordered. David's example, therefore, must not be alleged by those who are
driven by their own intemperate passion to seek vengeance. The holy prophet is not inflamed
here by his own private sorrow to devote his enemies to destruction; but laying aside the desire of
the flesh, he give judgment concerning the matter itself. Before a man can, therefore, denounce
vengeance against the wicked, he must first shake himself free from all improper feelings in his
own mind. In the second place, prudence must be exercised, that the heinousness of the evils
which offend us drive us not to intemperate zeal, which happened even to Christ's disciples, when
they desired that fire might be brought from heaven to consume those who refused to entertain
their Master. Luke 9:54. They pretended, it is true, to act according to the example of Elias, but
Christ severely rebuked them, and told them that they knew not by what spirit they were
actuated. In particular, we must observe this general rule, that we cordially desire and labour for
the welfare of the whole human race. Thus it will come to pass, that we shall not only give way to
the exercise of God's mercy, but shall also wish the conversion of those who seem obstinately to
rush upon their own destruction. In short, David, being free from every evil passion, and likewise
endued with the spirit of discretion and judgment, pleads here not so much his own cause as the
cause of God. And by this prayer, he further reminds both himself and the faithful, that although
the wicked may give themselves loose reins in the commission of every species of vice with
impunity for a time, they must at length stand before the judgment seat of God. John Calvin.
Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours.
Yes, great God, since thou hast from the beginning been only occupied in saving men, thou wilt
surely strike with an eternal malediction these children of iniquity who appear to have been born

59. only to be lost themselves, and to destroy others. The very benevolence towards mankind solicits
thy thunders against these corrupters of society. The more thou hast done for our race, the more
surely will the severity of thy justice reveal itself in destroying the wretches whose only study is to
counteract thy goodness towards mankind. They labour incessantly to put men far away from
thee, O my God, and in return thou wilt put them far away from thee for ever. They count it great
gain to make their fellows thine enemies, and they shall have the desperate consolation of being
such themselves to all eternity. What more fitting punishment for the wretches who desire to
make all hearts rebel against thine adorable Majesty, than to lie through the baseness of their
nature, under the eternal and frightful necessity of hating thee for ever. Jean Baptiste Massillon,
rendered very freely by C. H. S.
Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds. The Egyptians killed the Hebrew male children, and
God smote the firstborn of Egypt. Sisera, who thought to destroy Israel with his iron chariots,
was himself killed with an iron nail, stuck through his temples. Adonibezek, Judges 1:5-7. Gideon
slew forty elders of Succoth, and his sons were murdered by Abimelech. Abimelech slew seventy
sons of Gideon upon one stone, and his own head was broken by a piece of millstone thrown by a
woman. Samson fell by the "lust of the eye," and before death the Philistines put out his eyes.
Agag, 1 Samuel 20:33 . Saul slew the Gibeonites, and seven of his sons were hung up before the
Lord. 2 Samuel 21:1-9 . Ahab, after coveting

60. aboth's vineyard, 1 Kings 21:19 , fulfilled 2 Kings
9:24-26. Jeroboam, the same hand that was stretched forth against the altar was withered,
1 Kings 13:1-6 . Joab having killed Abner, Amasa, and Absalom, was put to death by Solomon.
Daniel's accusers thrown into the lion's den meant for Daniel. Haman hung upon the gallows
designed for Mordecai. Judas purchased the field of blood, and then went and hanged himself. So
in the history of later days, Bajazet was carried about by Tamerlane in an iron cage, as he
intended to have carried Tamerlane. Mazentius built a bridge to entrap Constantine, and was
overthrown himself of that very spot. Alexander
1. was poisoned by the wine he had prepared for another. Charles
2. made the streets of Paris to stream with Protestant blood, and soon after blood streamed
from all parts of his body in a bloody sweat. Cardinal Beaton condemned George Wishart
to death, and presently died a violent death himself. He was murdered in bed, and his
body was laid out in the same window from which he had looked upon Wishart's
execution. G. S. Bowes, in "Illustrative Gatherings."
Verse 4. Render to them their desert. Meditate on God's righteousness, that it is not only his will,
but his nature to punish sin; sin must damn thee without Christ, there is not only a possibility or
probability that sin may ruin, but without an interest in Christ it must do so; whet much upon
thy heart that must; God cannot but hate sin, because he is holy; and he cannot but punish sin,
because he is righteous. God must not forego his own nature to gratify our humours. Christopher
Fowler, in "Morning Exercises," 1676.
Verse 4. He prayeth against his enemies, not out of any private revenge, but being led by the
infallible spirit of prophecy, looking through these men to the enemies of Christ, and of his people
in all ages. David Dickson.
Verse 4-5. In these verses, as indeed in most of the imprecatory passages, the imperative and the
future are used promiscuously: Give them -- render them -- he shall destroy them. If therefore,
the verbs, in all such passages, were uniformly rendered in the "future," every objection against
the Scripture imprecations would vanish at once, and they would appear clearly to be what they
are, namely, prophecies of the divine judgments, which have been since executed against the
Jews, and which will be executed against all the enemies of Jehovah, and his Christ; whom
neither the "works" of creation, nor those of redemption, can lead to repentance. George Horne.

61. 9. Douglas James Wilson, “The fourth verse of this psalm provides us with a good example of an
Old Testament sentiment that tends to rub our

62. ew Testament fur the wrong way. Some of this is
the result of our sentimentalism—but not all of it. There really is a tension here that needs
resolution. How are we to reconcile this with the

63. ew Testament teaching to “honor all men,” and
to “love our enemies,” for just two examples.
Remember first that the Psalms are preeminently the songbook of the Christ. To the extent that
we sing and pray these psalms ourselves, we may only do so in Him. This means that the psalter
may never be used as a voodoo doll for you to settle scores with your personal enemies.
Second, God has established a glorious way for His enemies to be destroyed. He destroys them in
the death of Jesus so that He might raise them to life again. This is what He has done for us, and
this is what we desire in the first place for those who oppose themselves to the gospel.
Third, if in the plan of God it is not His purpose to do this, then we want to pray in line with His
will. This is not an “Old Testament thing.” Hell is strict justice, and our gospel declares that God
will judge all men according to their works (Rom. 2:3-10). Some men have received the grace of
performing their works in Christ (by grace through faith), but others are outside Christ. This is
the plan of God, and as we labor for His kingdom to come, His will to be done, it includes this. It
therefore follows that praying the psalms of imprecation under the new covenant is not contrary
to the spirit of the gospel. The apostle requires us to sing psalms (Eph. 5:19), and that includes
this one.
When Saul was ravaging the churches, it was fully appropriate for the Christians to pray this
way concerning him. But when God destroyed that persecutor on the Damascus road, the
response of the Christians to this would identify them as a Jonah or as a Stephen.
5 Because they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.
1. Barnes, “Because they regard not the works of the Lord - What the Lord does in creation; in
his providence; through His commands and laws; and by His Spirit. They do not find pleasure in
His works; they do not give heed to the intimations of His will in His providential dealings; they
do not listen to His commands; they do not yield to the influences of His Spirit. “

64. or the
operation of his hands.” What He is now doing. The sense is essentially the same as in the former
member of the sentence.
He shall destroy them - He will pull them down, instead of building them up. They expose
themselves to His displeasure, and He will bring deserved punishment upon them.
And not build them up - He will not favor them; He will not give them prosperity. Health,
happiness, salvation are to be found only in conformity with the laws which God has ordained.

65. either can be found in violating those laws, or in any other method than that which He has

66. ordained. Sooner or later the violation of law, in regard to these things, and in regard to
everything, must lead to calamity and ruin.
1B. Gordon Churchyard, “Here we read of "the work of his hands". This means the good things
that God did. The word "God" is not in Psalm 28. David uses the word "LORD". That is the
word that the people of God use for him. It means that they are his servants. And they love him
and they obey him. It also means that they have begun to understand God. The godless do not
understand God. It means that they do not love him or obey him. In the end God will destroy
what they do ("the works of their hands").
2. Clarke, “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. haven the place where Babylon stood is now no longer
known.
3. Gill, “ Because they regard not the works of the Lord,....

67. either the work of creation, as if
there was no first cause of all things; nor the work of Providence, taking no notice either of the
judgments or of the mercies of God; as though they believed that God had forsaken the earth,
and would do neither good nor evil; and still less the work of redemption, which in covenant,
promise, and prophecy, was appointed for the Messiah to work out; and as for the work of the
Spirit of God upon the soul, they had no notion of that, of the nature and necessity of it; the
things of the Spirit of God being foolishness to them, and undiscernible by them; see Isa_5:12.
Perhaps the psalmist may have some regard to his being anointed by Samuel, according to the
will of God, and to the victory which he obtained over Goliath, and over others, which justly
gained him great esteem among some, and created envy in others; and also the wonderful
protection of him from time to time; the Chaldee paraphrase is, "because they do not understand
the law of the Lord". It follows,
nor the operation of his hands; in which his hand was so very apparent, that nothing less could be
said than that this was the finger of God; wherefore,
he shall destroy them, and not build them up; that is, they shall be irrecoverably lost; they shall
be punished with everlasting destruction; there will be no help or remedy for them: some (s)
understand this as a prayer, that God would destroy them in such a manner, and render it, "let
him destroy them", &c. (t).
4. Henry, “He foretels their destruction for their contempt of God and his hand (Psa_28:5):
“Because they regard not the works of the Lord and the operations of his hands, by which he
manifests himself and speaks to the children of men, he will destroy them in this world and in the
other, and not build them up.”

68. ote, A stupid regardlessness of the works of God is the cause of
their ruin. Why do men question the being or attributes of God, but because they do not duly
regard his handiworks, which declare his glory, and in which the invisible things of him are
clearly seen? Why do men forget God, and live without him, nay, affront God, and live in

69. 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 Isa_5:12.
In singing this we must arm ourselves against all temptations to join with the workers of
iniquity, and animate ourselves against all the troubles we may be threatened with by the
workers of iniquity.
5. Jamison, “Disregard of God’s judgments brings a righteous punishment.
destroy ... build ... up — The positive strengthened by the negative form.
6. K&D, “In Psa_28:5, the prominent thought in David's mind is, that they shamefully fail to
recognise how gloriously and graciously God has again and again acknowledged him as His
anointed one. He has (2 Sam 7) received the promise, that God would build him a house, i.e.,
grant perpetual continuance to his kingship. The Absolomites are in the act of rebellion against
this divine appointment. Hence they shall experience the very reverse of the divine promise given
to David: Jahve will pull them down and not build them up, He will destroy, at its very
commencement, this dynasty set up in opposition to God.
7. Calvin, “Because they regard not the doings of Jehovah. In this verse he lays open the root of
impiety, declaring that the ungodly are so bold to do mischief, because, while they are thus
indulging their hatred, and perpetrating every species of wickedness, they think that they have
nothing to do with God. And when conscience stings them, they soothe themselves with false
hopes, and at last stubbornly harden themselves into insensibility. First, being intoxicated with
prosperity, they flatter themselves that God is their friend, while he has no regard for those good
men who are overwhelmed with so many afflictions; and, next, they persuade themselves that the
world is governed by chance, thus blinding themselves in the midst of the clear light of day. In
this manner, David’s adversaries, willingly ignorant that God had appointed him to be king,
emboldened themselves to persecute him. He therefore complains of their gross ignorance of this,
just as Isaiah (Isaiah 5:20) brings the same complaint, in general terms, against all the ungodly of
his days. This doctrine, then, has a twofold use. First, it is no small consolation to the children of
God to be persuaded, while they are unrighteously vexed, that by the providence of God they are
thus profitably exercised to patience; and that while the affairs of this world are all in a state of
disturbance and confusion, God nevertheless sits supreme in heaven conducting and governing
all things. 598 598 “Conduisant et gouvernant toutes choses.” — Fr. In the second place, this is a
very proper curb to subdue the passions of our flesh, that we may not, like the Andabates, 599 599
“C’estoyent certains peuples ou escrimeurs qui souloyent ainsi comme etre. Voyez les Chiliades
d’Erasme.” — 5ote, Fr. marg. “These were certain people or fencers, who were wont to fight in
this manner. See the Chiliades of Erasmus.” contend in the dark, and with shut eyes, as if God
saw not and cared not about what is done here below. Let us, therefore, learn carefully to
consider that the judgments which God executes are just so many proofs of his righteousness in
governing mankind, and that although all things should be huddled together in confusion, the eye
of faith should be directed to heaven, to consider God’s secret judgments. And as God never

70. ceases, even in the midst of the greatest darkness, to give some tokens of his providence, it is
inexcusable indolence not to attend to them. This perverseness the prophet aggravates, by
repeating again, the works of God’s hands He thus intimates, that the ungodly, by recklessly
pursuing their course, trample under foot whatever of God’s works they may meet with to check
their madness.
Let him destroy them, and not build them up. Some are of opinion that the first part of this verse is
the nominative in the room of a substantive to the verbs in the last clause; as if David had said,
This brutal madness shall destroy them; but the name of God should rather be supplied, and
then the context will run excellently. As the verbs, however, in the Hebrew are in the future tense
“He will destroy them, and not build them up.” the sentence may be explained as meaning that
David now assures himself of the destruction of the reprobates for which he had lately prayed. I
do not reject this interpretation; but, in my opinion, the words are just a continuance of his
petitions. In this way, he prays that the wicked may be overthrown, so as not to rise again, or
recover their former state. The expression, Let him destroy them, and not build them up, is a
common figure of speech among the Hebrews, according to what Malachi says concerning Edom,
“Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, They shall build, but I shall throw down,” (Malachi 1:4.) Lest we
should be struck, therefore, with an incurable plague, let us learn to awake our minds to the
consideration of God’s works, that we may be taught to fear him, to persevere in patience, and to
advance in godliness.
8. Spurgeon, “Verse 5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his
hands. God works in creation -- nature teems with proofs of his wisdom and goodness, yet
purblind atheists refuse to see him: he works in providence, ruling and overruling, and his hand
is very manifest in human history, yet the infidel will not discern him: he works in grace --
remarkable conversions are still met with on all hands, yet the ungodly refuse to see the
operations of the Lord. Where angels wonder, carnal men despise. God condescends to teach, and
man refuses to learn. He shall destroy them: he will make them "behold, and wonder, and
perish." If they would not see the hand of judgment upon others, they shall feel it upon
themselves. Both soul and body shall be overwhelmed with utter destruction for ever and ever.
And not build them up. God's cure is positive and negative; his sword has two edges, and cuts
right and left. Their heritage of evil shall prevent the ungodly receiving any good; the ephah shall
be too full of wrath to contain a grain of hope. They have become like old, rotten, decayed houses
of timber, useless to the owner, and harbouring all manner of evil, and, therefore, the Great
Builder will demolish them utterly. Incorrigible offenders may expect speedy destruction: they
who will not mend, shall be thrown away as worthless. Let us be very attentive to all the lessons
of God's word and work, lest being found disobedient to the divine will, we be made to suffer the
divine wrath.
9. Treasury of David, “Verse 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 28:4" for further information. In these
verses, as indeed in most of the imprecatory passages, the imperative and the future are used
promiscuously: Give them -- render them -- he shall destroy them. If therefore, the verbs, in all
such passages, were uniformly rendered in the "future," every objection against the Scripture
imprecations would vanish at once, and they would appear clearly to be what they are, namely,
prophecies of the divine judgments, which have been since executed against the Jews, and which
will be executed against all the enemies of Jehovah, and his Christ; whom neither the "works" of
creation, nor those of redemption, can lead to repentance. George Horne.

71. 6 Praise be to the LORD,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
1. Barnes, “Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications - This is one
of those passages which frequently occur in the Psalms, when there has been an earnest and
anxious prayer offered to God, and when the answer to the prayer seems to be immediate. The
mind of the anxious and troubled pleader becomes calm; the promises of God are brought
directly to the soul; the peace which was sought is obtained; and he who began the psalm with
deep anxiety and trouble of mind, rejoices at the close of it in the evidences of the divine favor
and love. What thus happened to the psalmist frequently occurs now. The answer to prayer, so
far as giving calmness and assurance to the mind is concerned, is often immediate. The troubled
spirit becomes calm; and whatever may be the result in other respects, the heart is made peaceful
and confiding, and feels the assurance that all will be well. It is sufficient for us to feel that God
hears us, for if this is so, we have the assurance that all is right. In this sense, certainly, it is right
to look for an immediate answer to our prayers. See Isa_65:24, note; Dan_9:21, note.
1B. Expositor's Bible, “As in many psalms, the faith which prays passes at once into the faith
which possesses. This man, when he " stood praying, believed that he had what he asked," and,
so believing, had it. There was no change in circumstances, but he was changed. There is no
fear of going down into the pit now, and the rabble of evil-doers have disappeared. This is the
blessing which every true suppliant may bear away from the throne, the peace which passeth
understanding, the sure pledge of the Divine act which answers prayer. It is the first gentle ripple
of the incoming tide ; high water is sure to come at the due hour. So the psalmist is exuberant
and happily tautological in telling how his trusting heart has become a leaping heart, and help
has been flashed back from heaven as swiftly as his prayer had traveled thither.
2. Gill, “Blessed be the Lord,.... Which must be understood, not as invoking nor as conferring a
blessing on him, neither of which can be done by a creature; nor does he stand in need of any, he
being Elshaddai, God all sufficient, God over all, blessed for ever; but as ascribing all blessedness
to him, congratulating his greatness and happiness, and giving him praise and glory for mercies
received; and particularly for the following:
because he hath heard the voice of my supplications; what he had prayed for, Psa_28:2; an
answer was quickly returned, even while he was speaking, Isa_65:24; though this may be an
expression of faith, being fully persuaded and assured that he was heard, and would be answered,
and may be said by a prophetic spirit; knowing that what he had humbly asked for would be
granted; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi understand it in a way of prophecy.
4. Henry, “ David gives God thanks for the audience of his prayers as affectionately as a few

72. verses before he had begged it: Blessed be the Lord, Psa_28:6. How soon are the saints' sorrows
turned into songs and their prayers into praises! It was in faith that David prayed (Psa_28:2),
Hear the voice of my supplications; and by the same faith he gives thanks (Psa_28:6) that God has
heard the voice of his supplications.

73. ote, 1. Those that pray in faith may rejoice in hope. “He
hath heard me (graciously accepted me) and I am as sure of a real answer as if I had it already.”
2. What we win by prayer we must wear by praise. Has God heard our supplications? Let us then
bless his name.
5. K&D, “The first half of the Psalm prayed for deliverance and for judgment; this second half
gives thanks for both. If the poet wrote the Psalm at one sitting then at this point the certainty of
being answered dawns upon him. But it is even possible that he added this second part later on,
as a memorial of the answer he experienced to his prayer (Hitzig, Ewald). It sounds, at all events,
like the record of something that has actually taken place. Jahve is his defence and shield.
6. Calvin, “Blessed be Jehovah, who hath heard. This is the second part of the psalm in which the
prophet begins to give thanks to God. We have already seen how he employed himself in prayer
in the midst of his dangers; and now by this thanksgiving he teaches us that his prayers were not
in vain. Thus he confirms by his own example, that God is ready to bring help to his people
whenever they seek him in truth and sincerity. He declares the same truth more fully in the next
verse, calling God his strength and his shield; for he was persuaded that God had heard him from
this, that he had been wonderfully preserved. He adds, that he had been helped in respect of his
confidence and hope; for it often comes to pass, that those who call upon God, notwithstanding
come short of his grace through their own unbelief. Thirdly, he says that he will add to his joy a
testimony of his gratitude. Wicked men and hypocrites flee to God when they are overwhelmed
with difficulties, but as soon as they escape from them, forgetting their deliverer, they rejoice with
frantic mirth. In short, David trusted not in vain, since he truly found by experience that God
possesses ever present power to preserve his servants; and that this was matter of true and solid
joy to him, that he found God ever favorable to him. On this account, likewise, he promises that
he would be mindful of God, and grateful to him. And undoubtedly, when God spreads
cheerfulness through our hearts, it is to open our mouths to sing his praises.
7. Spurgeon, “Verse 6. Blessed be the Lord. Saints are full of benedictions; they are a blessed
people, and a blessing people; but they give their best blessings, the fat of their sacrifices, to their
glorious Lord. Our Psalm was prayer up to this point, and now it turns to praise. They who pray
well, will soon praise well: prayer and praise are the two lips of the soul; two bells to ring out
sweet and acceptable music in the ears of God; two angels to climb Jacob's ladder: two altars
smoking with incense; two of Solomon's lilies dropping sweet smelling myrrh; they are two young
roes that are twins, feeding upon the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. Because he
hath heard the voice of my supplications. Real praise is established upon sufficient and
constraining reasons; it is not irrational emotion, but rises, like a pure spring, from the deeps of
experience. Answered prayers should be acknowledged. Do we not often fail in this duty? Would
it not greatly encourage others, and strengthen ourselves, if we faithfully recorded divine
goodness, and made a point of extolling it with our tongue? God's mercy is not such an
inconsiderable thing that we may safely venture to receive it without so much as thanks. We
should shun ingratitude, and live daily in the heavenly atmosphere of thankful love.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 6. He hath heard. Prayer is the best remedy in a calamity. This is
indeed a true catholicum, a general remedy for every malady.

74. ot like the empiric's catholicum,

75. which sometimes may work, but for the most part fails: but that which upon assured evidence
and constant experience hath its probatum est; being that which the most wise, learned, honest,
and skilful Physician that ever was, or can be, hath prescribed -- even he that teacheth us how to
bear what is to be borne, or how to heal and help what hath been borne. William Gouge.
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.
1. Barnes, “The Lord is my strength - See the notes at Psa_18:1.
And my shield - See the notes at Psa_3:3. Compare Psa_33:20; Psa_59:11; Psa_84:9;
Psa_89:18; Gen_15:1.
My heart trusted in him - I trusted or confided in him. See Psa_13:5.
And I am helped - I have found the assistance which I desired.
Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth - I greatly rejoice. I am happy. He had found the
assurance of the divine favor which he desired, and his heart was glad.
And with my song will I praise him - I will sing praises to Him. Compare Psa_22:25.
2. Clarke, “The Lord is my strength - I have the fullest persuasion that he hears, will answer, and
will save me.
3. Gill, “The Lord is my strength,.... That is, the author both of natural and spiritual strength;
that gave him strength of body, and fortitude of mind, to bear up under all the exercises he was
tried with; the strength of his life, spiritual and temporal, and of his salvation; the strength of his
heart under present distresses, and who he knew would be so in the hour of death, when his heart
and strength would fail;
and my shield; to protect and defend him; as were the love, power, and faithfulness of God, and
the Lord Jesus Christ, his power and fulness, his blood, righteousness, and salvation;
my heart trusted in him; in the Lord as his strength and shield; not in any creature, nor in his
own strength and righteousness; but in the Lord God, in whom are righteousness and strength:
and it is plain he did not trust in his own heart, since his heart trusted in the Lord; and which
shows that his trust was an hearty one, his faith was a faith unfeigned, he believed with the heart
unto righteousness;