PSALM 28

This is definitely a psalm of mixed genre with diverse elements of pleas to God for help, thanksgiving, praise, and cursing. This may be one of the reasons that there is no real consensus as to the way this psalm is organized. For example, M'Caw and Motyer see two basic parts to the psalm: vv. 1-5 (plea) and vv. 6-8 (confident praise). “Both parts of the poem have a personal and a corporate section.” In contrast, Jacobson divides it into an appeal for help (vv. 1-4), an oracle of salvation (v. 5), and a song of thanksgiving (vv. 6-9). He recognizes both individual (vv. 6-7) and corporate (vv. 8-9) aspects of the second half of the psalm but not in the first half. And NRSV divides it into four stanzas: verses 1-2; 3-5; 6-7; and 8-9.

My own structural analysis yields the following results:

    A. Plea for God to listen (vv.1-2)

        B. Concerning the wicked (vv. 3-5)

    A'. Thanksgiving for God having responded (vv. 6-7)

        B'. Concerning God's people (vv. 8-9)

Thus, there is a purposeful contrast going from A to A' and from B to B'.

Psalm 28:1-3 “The place to which the dead go is generally portrayed as a dark pit, a place to which the wicked go prematurely as a consequence of their evil deeds.” (S. Meier)

Psalm 28:1 “The expressed fear that God might be deaf and silent does not arise from any lack of faith, but rather indicates that self-depreciating reverence, which is our only proper attitude towards God, and also our recognition that His and our sense of timing may not coincide...” (M'Caw and Motyer)

“The 'silence of God' refers to his seeing inactivity on behalf of his people.” (Oswalt)

David calls God “my rock” nine times in the Psalms.

Psalm 28:2 “Prayers were directed to the heavenly palace (Ps 18:6), the innermost sanctuary (debir) and the chamber of God (Ps 28:2).” (Phua)

“Usually the posture in prayer was to kneel before the Lord...The kneeling was accompanied either by spreading out or lifting up of the hands.” (Verhoef)

“David is confident in Yahweh's mercy and grace and knows that only God can repair their damaged relationship.” (Rata)

“Several times the psalmist cries out to God to hear his or her prayer (e.g. Ps 27:7; 28:2), and correspondingly we have the cry of affirmation that the Lord has heard his/her voice (e.g. Ps 6:9; 18:7; 28:6).” (Martens)

Psalm 28:3 There are also a number of places in Proverbs where rea' (“neighbor”) is used “in ethical contexts referring to proper and improper treatment of one's fellow (Prov 3:29; 14:20,21; 16:29; 21:10; 22:11).” (Hess) And of course the concept also appears in the context of Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Psalm 28:4-5 These are among those verses edited out of the current Roman Catholic liturgy. As Holladay says, “parts of the Psalms that did not seem offensive to reciters who only half understood them in Latin are now to be omitted when the reciters hear what they really mean in their language.” He adds, “It is difficult to say whether it is legitimate for Christians to wish for commensurate hurt on their enemies, whether that hurt be exercised by the psalmist empowered by God or by God alone. Jesus' words in Matt. 5:38-39 would seem to exclude the possibility.”

Psalm 28:4 “Jesus' reference to judgment by works (Matthew 16:27b) echoes the teaching of numerous Old Testament texts (see esp. Ps. 28:4; 62:12; Prov. 24:12) (Blomberg)

“The fair judgments of God (28:4) is a principle rehearsed also in 2 Tim. 4:14, Rom. 2:6, and Rev. 2:23.” (Marshall)

Psalm 28:5 “Not to note or not to see God's actions is a sign of deep spiritual darkness.” (Dreytza) This is also seen in Isaiah 5:12.

Psalm 28:6 “The statement 'Blessed be the Lord' does not occur elsewhere as an anticipated thanksgiving, and the statements associated with the thanksgiving are so confident that it is difficult to regard them merely as anticipated.” (Clifford)

Psalm 28:7-8 Brueggermann explains that “the two nominal derivatives of the verb 'zz (“be strong”) define Yahweh as a powerful ally (Ps 28:7) or as an excellent defensive position (Ps 28:8).”

Phua explains, “the word refuge (ma'oz) is associated with a fortress/stronghold and indicates either a natural or any constructed place of shelter and protection.”

Psalm 28:7 Koptak: “Representative parts of the body can stand for human thoughts, feelings, and actions. The psalms speak of the steadfast heart that leaps for joy.” Psalm 51:7 provides another example of this. But the expression “the heart trusts” only appears again in Psalm 112:7.

Moberly's words are also worth quoting: “It is striking that the language of trust is frequently joined with language of confidence in God's vindication or deliverance...The Psalms do not specify the form in which the deliverance should take place...But they are all clear about the theological connection between trust and deliverance.”

Grisanti notes, “In the Psalter Yahweh's character provides the ground for jubilation 4x.” The other occasions are 68:5; 96:12; and 149:5.”

The Hebrew word for song denotes a song of thanksgiving here; in the heading of Psalm 18; and in Psalm 69:31. (L.C. Allen)

Psalm 28:8 Holladay points out that within the psalms, the only third-person mentions of a king appear in this verse, 61:6-7, and 63:11.

“Outside of the Torah anointing refers to the ritual used to consecrate a king. Nearly all these references are associated with the king's role as protector and vanquisher of Israel's enemies.” (Longman)

In discussing Acts 2:31, Marshall states that “by the time the psalms were collected and effectively canonized, the references in them were understood, where appropriate, as messianic.” One such passage was Ps. 28:8.

Other places where there is a request for God to be near include Psalms 42:2-3; 63:1,8; and 73:23-28.

Psalm 28:9 “God saves as the shepherd who will guide his people through life.” (S. McKnight)

Although “God is represented as committed to doing good to or blessing his elect people...this does not lead the Old Testament writers to take such benevolence for granted, and it is a constant prayer on their lips that God act in accordance with his revealed character.” (J. Davies)

Many OT passages speak of God's people as His flock besides this verse. And then in the NT we have verses such as Luke 12:32 and John 10:1.