_A.M. 2987. B.C. 1017._ This Psalm seems to have been composed on an occasion, if not the same with, yet similar to, that on which the preceding was made. It is mixed, as many of David's other Psalms are, of hopes and fears, prayers and praises. We have, (1,) _ A prayer for help, Psalms 28:1._ (2... [ Continue Reading ]
_Be not silent to me_ Hebrew, אל תחרשׁ ממני, _al techeresh mimmenni, be not deaf to me_, that is, to my prayers; do not act as if thou didst not hear, or didst disregard my prayers; _lest, if thou be silent to me_ And return no answer to my petitions; _I become like them that go down to the pit_ Tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle_ Earnestly desiring and confidently expecting an answer of peace from thence. The most holy place within the veil is here, as elsewhere, called the _oracle._ There the ark and the mercy-seat were; there God was said to dwell between the cherubim, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Draw me not away with the wicked_ The sense is, either, 1st, Do not suffer me to be drawn away, by their counsel or example, to imitate them in their evil courses. For God is often said to do that which he doth not effect, but only permits. Or, 2d, Do not drag me, as thou dost or wilt these evil-do... [ Continue Reading ]
_Give them according to their deeds_, &c. It is fit that they should suffer as they have acted, and reap the fruit of their manifold wickedness. _Give them after the work of their hands_, &c. Dispense a reward to them according to their works, and deal with them as they have dealt with others. This... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because they regard not the works of the Lord_ The providential works of God, both for and toward his church and people, by which works he manifests himself, declares his mind and will, and speaks to the children of men; and a serious observation of which would have made them afraid of opposing God... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed be the Lord_, &c. How soon are the sorrows of the saints turned into joy, and their prayers into praises! It was in faith David prayed, Psalms 28:2, _Hear the voice of my supplication_, and by the same faith he now gives thanks that God had _heard his voice_ They that pray in faith may rejo... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord is their strength_ That is, the strength of his people, mentioned in the next verse. _He is the saving strength_ Hebrews ישׁועות מעון, _the strength of the preservations, deliverances_, or _salvations; of his anointed_ Of me, whom he hath anointed to be king, and whom therefore he will def... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bless thine inheritance_ Israel, for whom he prays, not as his people, but as God's. Save _thy_ people: _thine_ inheritance. God's interest in them lay nearer his heart than his own. _Feed them also_ As a shepherd does his flock, as רעם, _regnem_, signifies. Bless them with all things needful for l... [ Continue Reading ]