Psalm 28

Pray requests and Praise reports

Guatamala

Intro:

These last few weeks you may not have noticed an ongoing theme through our studies in the Psalms since March.

A big thing we’re going to see in is something we’ve seen in , , , and something that we will continue to see until we make it to .

It is: “dwelling in the house of the Lord”

The emphasis on the “house” or “dwelling” of Yahweh is noted where the psalmists hope to find protection and security.

For example, , where David concludes on his Host’s provision, when David speaks of who may stand in the presence of God in , David crying out for the intervention of God in 25:16-21, the expression of love for Yahweh’s dwelling place in 26:8, the psalmist’s earnest seeking to dwell in the house of Yahweh in 27:4–5, the lifting up of one’s hands toward Yahweh’s “holy place” in 28:2, the acknowledgement of all who are in the temple of Yahweh’s glorious kingship in 29:9, and finally the heading linking to the “dedication of the temple.”

This constellation of recurring themes in so many adjacent psalms can hardly be coincidence and must be explored as each psalm is considered.

Read passage:

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Psalm 28

1 To You, O LORD, I call;

My rock, do not be deaf to me,

For if You are silent to me,

I will become like those who go down to the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help,

When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

3 Do not drag me away with the wicked

And with those who work iniquity,

Who speak peace with their neighbors,

While evil is in their hearts.

4 Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;

Requite them according to the deeds of their hands;

Repay them their recompense.

5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD

Nor the deeds of His hands,

He will tear them down and not build them up.

6 Blessed be the LORD,

Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,

And with my song I shall thank Him.

8 The LORD is their strength,

And He is a bsaving defense to His anointed.

9 Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;

Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

P1. The Call for Help (v. 1-4)

Observe David’s introduction.

Turn focus to the type of enemies David is dealing with.

“In our psalm, it is interesting to note the kinds of “work” for which the psalmist’s enemies are condemned. It is not that these are murderers or thieves—there is no indication of physical assault or robbery. Instead, they are described as “two-faced” or deceptive in their relations with others. They “speak peace” to their neighbors—expressing a concern for others’ well-being—while actually harboring resentments and “malice” toward those they address. This is an interior attitude of self-focus and self-concern that is not visible to those around about. Yet lack of integrity in inner thought and outer expression is one of the sinful attitudes commonly addressed in the psalms.”

“Not only do the enemies “do evil,” allowing their true nature to work itself out in their deeds; they also have no respect for what God is about. This is hardly surprising since what God desires and works for is the ultimate restoration of right relationship human to human and all humans with their God. God’s work is most often diametrically opposed to the deceptive practices of the enemies. The holy God takes care to make himself fully known to his creatures, both in his deeds and in the explicit revelation of his innermost character. God is holy, hating evil and desiring only good for his creatures. God is compassionate, just, merciful, and forgiving to those who acknowledge their dependence on him. God desires an intimate relationship grounded in integrity and sharing of the interior life. God shares himself and expects the same in return.”

Wilson, G. H. (2002). Psalms (Vol. 1, p. 499). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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Wilson, G. H. (2002). Psalms (Vol. 1, p. 500). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Those faithful innocents in exile had a choice: to understand their suffering among the wicked as happenstance (i.e., the accidental results of the vagaries of existence outside the control of an uncaring or unjust God), as evidence of deserved punishment for some sin hidden from themselves, or as evidence of a divine calling for the righteous few to suffer vicariously for the sins of the wicked many. The message of Job comes across clearly here. The righteous do suffer, but not for any hidden sin unknown even to themselves. God is still to be acknowledged as just and compassionate while the suffering faithful continue to rely wholly on him.

The suffering servant of Isaiah—whom Jesus took as the foundational model for his own ministry of suffering and death for the sins of his people—was first and foremost a call to the faithful few to adopt the role of vicarious sufferers for the sins of the many. In so doing, they were to act redemptively for the forgiveness and redemption of the people as a whole. It was only because they were ultimately unable (or unwilling) to fulfill this role completely that God himself, incarnate in Jesus, accomplished the vicarious and redemptive suffering for all humanity that made possible the restoration of God’s original creation intention.

I said this view of vicarious suffering was a choice. The exilic faithful could have (and I suppose many did so) wallowed in their self-pity, refusing to accept any solidarity with their suffering community and demanding divine explanation for an essentially unjust act. They could also have looked inward, accusing themselves of imaginary sin to explain their suffering.

We have to admit if we are honest that we have the same choices when confronted with suffering and brokenness today. God’s purpose in calling his church “out” of the world is not to escape its brokenness and pain. He has called us out in order to experience a new wholeness and to experience the world’s brokenness for what it really is: a direct contradiction of God’s intention for humanity and his whole creation. Armed with this knowledge and with the power of his Spirit sustained within the fellowship of believers, we have been sent back to the world—with the “mind of Christ Jesus”—to make its suffering our own and so to redeem it.

Whenever we love instead of hate, when we exchange self-protection for risky compassion, when we allow our hearts to be broken by the suffering of the world around us, we turn our own senseless suffering not into a cry of anger, but into a plea for unity and restoration. Then we are able to cry out with the psalmist in 28:6–7:

Praise be to the Lord,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

Wilson, G. H. (2002). Psalms (Vol. 1, pp. 500–501). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

P2. The Details for the Help (v. 5)

Address God’s response.

“Not only do the enemies “do evil,” allowing their true nature to work itself out in their deeds; they also have no respect for what God is about. This is hardly surprising since what God desires and works for is the ultimate restoration of right relationship human to human and all humans with their God. God’s work is most often diametrically opposed to the deceptive practices of the enemies. The holy God takes care to make himself fully known to his creatures, both in his deeds and in the explicit revelation of his innermost character. God is holy, hating evil and desiring only good for his creatures. God is compassionate, just, merciful, and forgiving to those who acknowledge their dependence on him. God desires an intimate relationship grounded in integrity and sharing of the interior life. God shares himself and expects the same in return.”

P3. The Song of Praise because of the Help(v. 6-9)

It’s interesting to note that there is unclarity regarding whether the transition between 5 and 6 is representing time passing and how the Psalmist shifts from himself to Israel.

V. 3 Suffering among the wicked. (Everything sort of unfolds from this point in calling to God for help) For exilic Israel the idea of the innocent being dragged off to suffer along with the wicked was a real experience. Too often we think of the nations of Israel and Judah as monolithic wholes who broke their covenant with Yahweh and deserved to be carted off into exile, far from all that was familiar and comforting. We forget that there remained within the nation a faithful remnant who believed the words of the prophets and entrusted themselves completely to God. During the Exile, these faithful few did not experience the deliverance hoped for but found themselves dragged away into captivity along with the sinful many, who had rejected Yahweh’s warnings. They experienced the same suffering—the dislocation and loss—that the faithless community as a whole deserved.

Those faithful innocents in exile had a choice: to understand their suffering among the wicked as:

happenstance (i.e., the accidental results of the vagaries of existence outside the control of an uncaring or unjust God),

as evidence of deserved punishment for some sin hidden from themselves, or

as evidence of a divine calling for the righteous few to suffer vicariously for the sins of the wicked many. The message of Job comes across clearly here. The righteous do suffer, but not for any hidden sin unknown even to themselves. God is still to be acknowledged as just and compassionate while the suffering faithful continue to rely wholly on him.

The suffering servant of Isaiah—whom Jesus took as the foundational model for his own ministry of suffering and death for the sins of his people—was first and foremost a call to the faithful few to adopt the role of vicarious sufferers for the sins of the many. In so doing, they were to act redemptively for the forgiveness and redemption of the people as a whole. It was only because they were ultimately unable (or unwilling) to fulfill this role completely that God himself, incarnate in Jesus, accomplished the vicarious and redemptive suffering for all humanity that made possible the restoration of God’s original creation intention.

I said this view of vicarious suffering was a choice. The exilic faithful could have (and I suppose many did so) wallowed in their self-pity, refusing to accept any solidarity with their suffering community and demanding divine explanation for an essentially unjust act. They could also have looked inward, accusing themselves of imaginary sin to explain their suffering.

We have to admit if we are honest that we have the same choices when confronted with suffering and brokenness today. God’s purpose in calling his church “out” of the world is not to escape its brokenness and pain. He has called us out in order to experience a new wholeness and to experience the world’s brokenness for what it really is: a direct contradiction of God’s intention for humanity and his whole creation. Armed with this knowledge and with the power of his Spirit sustained within the fellowship of believers, we have been sent back to the world—with the “mind of Christ Jesus”—to make its suffering our own and so to redeem it.

Whenever we love instead of hate, when we exchange self-protection for risky compassion, when we allow our hearts to be broken by the suffering of the world around us, we turn our own senseless suffering not into a cry of anger, but into a plea for unity and restoration. Then we are able to cry out with the psalmist in 28:6–7:

Praise be to the Lord,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

Wilson, G. H. (2002). Psalms (Vol. 1, p. 501). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

“Not only do the enemies “do evil,” allowing their true nature to work itself out in their deeds; they also have no respect for what God is about. This is hardly surprising since what God desires and works for is the ultimate restoration of right relationship human to human and all humans with their God. God’s work is most often diametrically opposed to the deceptive practices of the enemies. The holy God takes care to make himself fully known to his creatures, both in his deeds and in the explicit revelation of his innermost character. God is holy, hating evil and desiring only good for his creatures. God is compassionate, just, merciful, and forgiving to those who acknowledge their dependence on him. God desires an intimate relationship grounded in integrity and sharing of the interior life. God shares himself and expects the same in return.”

The NIV Application Commentary: Psalms, Volume 1 Contemporary Significance

Whenever we love instead of hate, when we exchange self-protection for risky compassion, when we allow our hearts to be broken by the suffering of the world around us, we turn our own senseless suffering not into a cry of anger, but into a plea for unity and restoration. Then we are able to cry out with the psalmist in 28:6–7:

Praise be to the LORD,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.