Psalms 28

Psalms 28:1-9

SECTION Psalms 26-31 IN the treatment of the chapters here named, we call attention to the unity of thought that binds them together. They are called, in the King James version, “Psalms of David”. The subject, however, of these Psalms is one and the same, namely, the Lord. That accounts for the fact that His Name appears in the first verse of each Psalms 26:1, “Judge me, O Lord”; Psalms 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation”; Psalms 28:1, “Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my Rock”; Psalms 29:1, “Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength”; Psalms 30:1, “I will extol Thee, O Lord”; Psalms 31:1, “In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust”.Paradoxical as it may sound, the appeal is to the Lord, and the prophetical element looks also to the same Lord.First, we have His Personal Integrity discussed, then His Perfect Trust, and finally, His Psalms of Praise.HIS The subject of these Psalms seeks God’s judgment.“Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.“Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.“For Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in Thy truth” (Psalms 26:1-3).But this could hardly be David, for this language is necessarily Messianic. If it referred to David, it would poorly comport with the 51st Psalm, for instance. Job, the righteous man as he was, when he faced God had to forfeit his egoism, and, facing his own sinfulness, say, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).There has lived but one Man who could truthfully utter the above sentences, for the Man of Nazareth is the only Man that ever walked in His “integrity”, fully trusting in the Lord, and did not slide; the only Man who could be proved and tried, and by keeping God’s loving kindness before His eyes, walk in God’s truth. Of all others, these statements, if applied at all, would have to be qualified.So the Psalmist anticipated the Christ, and spoke what the Spirit gave him concerning the coming One.He disfellowships sinners.“I have not sat with vain persons; neither will I go in with dissemblers. “I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. “I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord: “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works?” (Psalms 26:4-7). Here again it stands alone. If one remind us that Christ was the Friend of sinners, we answer yes, that He was with them, but we still insist that He never participated in their spirit nor indulged their thoughts or ways. That was not true of David, but it was true of David’s greater Son.He delighted in God’s house.“Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth. “Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: “In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. “But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. “My foot standeth in an even place: In the congregations will I bless the Lord” (Psalms 26:8-12). Here again is the truth of the Lord. How many times He was found in the sanctuary on the Sabbath! How sacredly did He esteem that place! What pleasure He took in it, and with what jealousy He guarded it! Who will ever forget the day when He scourged sinners from the synagogue, because in their hands was mischief and in their right hands bribes? And who can forget how, while His feet stood in that very place, He honored God before the congregation?Passing to the 27th chapter, noteHIS PERFECT TRUST He knew God’s sufficiency. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?“When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.“Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of’ my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple” (Psalms 27:1-4).Was this boast made good by Jesus? Did He never reveal any fear? Did He never quail before His foes? Did His confidence stand Him always instead? Did the face of the Father always shine for Him? There seems to have been a brief time of exception.

That was when on Calvary’s Cross, He cried, “My God; my God; why hast Thou forsaken Me”? That moment compared unfavorably with His courage in Gethsemane, when at the sight of His face, the enemies and foes stumbled, fell, and fled; unfavorably with His courage when He faced the host that had come out against Him; unfavorably with that same courage when they were effecting a farce of trial.We have a statement concerning the English language that “the exception proves the rule”. This exception, however, was not to that end, but rather that He might “taste death for every man”; that He might be “tried in all points as we are”; and as Joseph Parker put it, that for one brief moment He might know the meaning of infidelity and even atheism, and consequently how to sympathize with and succor those who should be badgered by unbelief.He trusted in God’s strength.“For in the time of trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.“And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I mil sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.“Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.“When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, mil I seek.“Hide not Thy face far from me; put not Thy servant away in anger: Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up” (Psalms 27:5-10).There is a clear indication in this text that David foresaw the Lord whose time of trouble should come; whose hour of darkness should hang with heaviness; whose anguish cry, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?’? would necessitate mercy toward even the sinless one; so that the face hidden from Him because the sins of man rested upon Him, should not continue to be clouded, but brighten again, and prove that the Father had not forsaken Him; and that when all earthly friends and even the relatives of the flesh had fled or become the subjects of infidelity, then the Lord would take Him up.In all of these respects, the Saviour has marked the path for the saint. It is not probable that His people will pass through life without times of trouble, without the sight of multiplied enemies; without the necessity of mercy; without the blindness of momentary or even more prolonged unbelief; without the sense of desertion on the part of friends and kindred. How good to know that, in it all, He has been before!He asks for assistance.“Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and had me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. “Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. “Unto 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 neighbors, 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 27:11 to Psalms 28:9). It was Christ who said that man ought always to pray and not to faint. His example and His precept are always in accord. It was Christ who prayed often. How sacred an example! If He, who knew all things, looked to the Father for all needful help, how wicked and unwise is the prayerlessness of man and how inexcusable the intermittent appeals of professed saints! It is little wonder that we fall into the power of enemies; that we are defamed by false witnesses; that we are breathed upon by cruelty; that we faint in the way; that we go down into the pit; that we are drawn away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity. When we forget the great truth that the Lord hears the voice of supplication and is our strength, our shield, our help, how much we need to pray again even in the language of the text itself, “Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever” (Psalms 28:9).