Psalms 28 - Introduction

This psalm is entitled “A Psalm of David;” and there is no reason for doubting the correctness of the inscription. But, as in some of the previous psalms, neither the title nor the contents contain any intimation as to the time or the circumstances of its composition.

It has, in some respects, a strong resemblance to Psalms 26:1. The leading idea in this, as in that, is the strong affection of the author for those who revered and loved God; his strong desire to be associated with them in character and destiny; his earnest wish that he might not be drawn away from them, and that his lot might not be with the wicked. It would seem from the psalm itself, especially from Psalms 28:3, that it was composed when its author was under some powerful temptation from the wicked, or when there were strong allurements offered by them which tended to lead him into the society of those who were strangers to God; and, under this temptation, he urges this earnest prayer, and seeks to bring before his own mind considerations why he should not yield to these influences.

The contents of the psalm, therefore, may be presented in the following analysis:

I. The consciousness of danger so pressing upon him as to lead him to break out in an earnest cry to God, Psalms 28:1.

II. The source of his anxiety or his danger; and his earnest prayer that he might not be left to the powerful temptation, and be drawn into the society of the wicked, Psalms 28:3.

III. Considerations which occurred to the mind of the psalmist himself why he should not yield to the temptation, or why he should not be associated with the wicked. These considerations are stated in Psalms 28:3. They are drawn from the character and the certain destiny of the wicked.

IV. A sense of relief, or a feeling that God had answered his prayer, and that he was safe from the danger, Psalms 28:6.

The psalm is especially appropriate to those who are in danger of being led away by the acts of the ungodly - or who are under strong temptations to be associated with the frivolous, the sensual, and the worldly - or to whom strong inducements are offered to mingle in their pleasures, their vices, and their follies. They who before their conversion were the companions of the ungodly; they who were devoted to guilty pleasures but have been rescued from them; they who have contracted habits of intemperance or sensuality in the society of the dissolute, and who feel the power of the habit returning upon them, and are invited by their former associates to join them again - are in the condition contemplated in the psalm, and will find its sentiments appropriate to their experience.