Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Psalms 28
Psalm 28: a cry against the Lord's silence, answered with praise
General context
The speaker cries to the Lord his rock and asks him not to be silent, lest he become like those who go down into the pit. He asks the Lord to hear the voice of his supplications when he cries and lifts up his hands toward the holy oracle. He asks not to be drawn away with the wicked and the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbours while mischief is in their hearts, and asks that they be given according to their deeds, the wickedness of their endeavours and the work of their hands, and be rendered their desert. Because they do not regard the works of the Lord or the operation of his hands, the Lord will destroy them and not build them up. The speaker then blesses the Lord because he has heard the voice of his supplications. The Lord is his strength and shield; his heart trusted and he is helped, so his heart greatly rejoices and he will praise the Lord with his song. The Lord is their strength and the saving strength of his anointed. The psalm closes by asking the Lord to save his people, bless his inheritance, feed them and lift them up for ever.
Cited passages: Psalms 28:1, Psalms 28:2, Psalms 28:3, Psalms 28:4, Psalms 28:5, Psalms 28:6, Psalms 28:7, Psalms 28:8, Psalms 28:9
Psalms 28 (KJV)
1Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
3Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.
4Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
5Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
6Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
7The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
8The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
9Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The text as printed carries no heading, so no author, occasion or instrument is stated in this source. The speaker is a single "I", and "thy holy oracle" is the one place named, the direction in which hands are lifted, without further description. The wicked are marked by speech at odds with their hearts and by disregard of the Lord's works; they are not named, and nothing they have done to the speaker is stated. Verse 6 says the Lord "hath heard", but nothing between verse 5 and verse 6 reports an answer or an event. "His anointed" in verse 8 is not named, and "their strength" in the same verse refers to a group the verse does not identify; "thy people" and "thine inheritance" in verse 9 are the closing objects of prayer. The feared outcome, to "become like them that go down into the pit", is not explained further. There is no Selah.
Cited passages: Psalms 28:2, Psalms 28:3, Psalms 28:5, Psalms 28:6, Psalms 28:8, Psalms 28:9, Psalms 28:1
Literary context
The psalm turns on hearing. It opens with the fear of the Lord's silence, asks him to "Hear the voice of my supplications", and at verse 6 blesses him because "he hath heard the voice of my supplications", the same phrase repeated with the outcome changed. Hands recur: the speaker's hands lifted toward the oracle, the wicked's "work of their hands", and "the operation of his hands" that they ignore, so the plea that they be repaid matches deed to deed. Petition (verses 1-5) gives way to praise (6-7) and then to a wider prayer (8-9); the "I" of the opening becomes "his people" at the end. "Strength" is named three times in verses 7-8, for the speaker, for "their", and for "his anointed". The closing verbs, save, bless, feed, lift up, stand against the earlier "destroy" and "not build them up".
Cited passages: Psalms 28:1, Psalms 28:2, Psalms 28:6, Psalms 28:4, Psalms 28:5, Psalms 28:7, Psalms 28:8, Psalms 28:9
Key moments
- Be not silent (Psalms 28:1). The speaker cries to the Lord his rock and asks him not to be silent.
- Hands toward the oracle (Psalms 28:2). He lifts up his hands toward the holy oracle and asks to be heard.
- Peace spoken, mischief within (Psalms 28:3). He asks not to be drawn away with those who speak peace but hold mischief in their hearts.
- According to their deeds (Psalms 28:4). He asks that the wicked be repaid according to their deeds and the work of their hands.
- He hath heard (Psalms 28:6). He blesses the Lord because he has heard the voice of his supplications.
- Strength and shield (Psalms 28:7). The Lord is his strength and shield; his heart trusted and he is helped.
- Save thy people (Psalms 28:9). The psalm closes asking the Lord to save, bless, feed and lift up his people.
For reflection
The speaker fears that the Lord's silence would make him like those going down into the pit; what does the psalm treat as the difference between being unanswered and being lost?
