Daily in the Psalms : Psalm 28
psalms 28THE DEEP FEELINGS OF THE HEARTUnto 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. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Give 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. Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The 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. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever. Psalms 28:1-9 In want and in danger, when burdened with sorrow, when bowed under the load of sin, and in the fear of death, the soul instinctively turns to God for help and relief. This is the natural response of man, especially when all other sources of help have failed. It does not take long for man to find that the help of other men will always fail in our deepest trouble or sorrow. But the true child of God understands that God is not the last resort. He understands the readiness of God to hear and His ability to help and he knows that his firm resolve must be to cry out to God. The Psalmist cries out to The Rock, the immovable foundation of all our hopes, our refuge in time of trouble, the One upon whom our eyes are fixed. God has what it takes to meet the needs of His people. In our weakness, He is our everlasting strength. As everything around us constantly changes, He is the One that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. There are no sweeter words to the fainting soul as “My Rock!” He is our confidence in life and in death. As the Christian faces the sorrows and trials of this life, we cling to the Excellency of His Person, we trust in the faithfulness of His love, we lean on the power of His arm, He is the Rock upon which we rest. The Psalmist cries out for God to hear because he sees God’s silence as something he cannot bear. I pity those that only participate in mere formalism when they pray; they don’t really expect those prayers to be heard. The Psalmist was not so, he feared the silence of God, it left him without hope, it was as though the darkness of the grave was closing in on him. God not hearing his prayer was unthinkable, so with his most passionate voice he cries out for God to hear. How could we claim fellowship with God if we were not confident that He heard us? The word “Supplications” is plural here to show us that this is continuing prayer. The sincere heart of the child of God that silently cries out to Him may actually be louder than the formalistic priests that try to awaken their false gods with their loud chanting. These religious phonies have their consciences burdened down with guilt, they have never experienced the grace of God, so they faint under the load of their troubles. The Psalmist pleads with the Lord to be not silent. In other words, He desires the Lord to speak. To speak to him with good, comfortable, and joyful words and to speak for him to plead his cause and give an answer to his enemies. The lifting up of the hands is the quiet demonstration of expectation. It is the symbol of the humble heart reaching forth to God. While the earnestness of our prayer can be measured by the greatness of our need, it is also measured by the faith that cleaves only to God, knowing that our help is only in Him. This cry is a matter of life and death; it is constant and persistent. This is a cry for God’s mercy. The reference to God’s Holy Oracle is a Hebrew reference to the place where Jehovah spoke to man. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. Exodus 25:22 The Old Testament Saints looked to this place as we now look to Christ. We stretch out our empty hands as beggars, we lift them up, seeking Heavenly supply, we lift them toward the Mercy Seat of Christ where our expectation dwells. It is that sweet fellowship with God that brings life and joy to the soul. Our desire is not as much for what He can give as it is for His presence. When we know He is near, it is enough!
There is a material more precious than gold,
By His design sorrow comes with its frown.
It is our desire to walk in Heaven’s bright rays,
Solomon said, “In sorrow we find great value,”
Others may not know or possibly understand, DANNY BEZET CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S JUSTICE Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Give 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. Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Psalms 28:3-5 The world is not left to chance or blind fate; it is governed by the will and power of God. We need not lose faith for God never loses control. The Psalmist is not afraid that the Lord will allow him to drop off into Hell, but he fears that he will be drawn into wickedness. He uses terms such as “The wicked, the workers of iniquity, and the mischief in their hearts.” They were evil worker and deceivers. The child of God does not want to be in their company and he will appeal to God to direct his path away from them. The just have no place with the unjust. Not only does he want to be separated from them, he prays that God will give them what they deserve. God’s people must never forget that evil doers make for terrible company and if we are drawn near to them, we may become accustomed to them and their deeds and those that follow us will sadly discover that not only to they make terrible companions here, they make terrible companions for eternity. The Psalmist knows that they will get what they deserve and he does not want to drink from their cup. These deceivers may speak peace with their neighbors, but there is filthy wickedness in their hearts. God help Christians to have such understanding today and God help America to wake up to this truth before it is too late. Doom is their portion, lying is their conversation, hate is their motivation, deceit is their weapon, and destruction is their end. There may be a delay in their fate, but there can be no escape. The reason for their sure destruction is not because of the way they treated the Psalmist, but because of their utter disregard for God. The wicked question the existence or the attributes of God because they disregard the works of His hands which declare His glory. They forget God and live without Him and in rebellion to Him because they do not believe Him. When we see the wicked for what they truly are, our hate for their sin rises to the point that we agree with and call for the wrath of God to restrain and punish their evil. GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S GOODNESS Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The 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. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever. Psalms 28:6-9 The Psalmist’s prayer turns into praise and his sorrow into songs. I don’t know if his previous request was granted or if God did something far beyond what he asked. All I know is, the goodness of God must be acknowledged by those that benefit from it. We are blessed people and we ought to be blessing people. Prayer and praise are the two expressions of the soul. We save our best and most sincere blessing for God. The Lord was what he needed internally, his strength, and He was what he needed externally, his shield. The Lord can do the internal work we need to give His grace to enlighten, renew, and sanctify. He can also do the external work we need to help and defend us from every foe. He is truly all we need! Dependence upon the invisible God gives us a great independence of spirit, giving us a confidence that is beyond human comprehension. The Lord is faithful to employ His power on our behalf and infuses His strength into our weakness. No wonder the Psalmist said, “My heart trusted in Him.” The trusting heart will be a rejoicing heart. That rejoicing was manifested in a song of praise. To enjoy the blessing of God without giving praise in return is robbing Him of His due. The Psalmist recalls the saving strength of God upon those in the past and proclaims that what God does for one He is able to do for all. May the Lord remind us today that He is the same God that delivered David out of His trouble. We need the same grace, we need the same love, and we need the same deliverance and praise God we shall have it. God sent His Son to be The Deliverance for every sinner. May we be joyful in the strength of our Redeemer! This is the loving nature of our God, He desires to save us, bless us, feed us, and lift us up. These verses expresses the confidence in the complete victory God promises to every believer. We can look to the future with hope and face it with joy and gladness. The promise that God gives to us are blessing, peace, plenty, prosperity, and happiness. Forever He promises to make His dearly purchased possession to look forward to their precious heritage. God was not looking out for His own welfare, but for the welfare of His people. God’s people are His inheritance, dear to Him, and precious in His eyes. What glory He has waiting for us.
So Glad To Be So Saved
Danny "Preacher" Bezet |