THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

XXVIII. Asking For God's Help While Struggling With The Fear Of His Rejection

(Psalm 28:1-9)

I. Introduction

A. Feeling insecure about one's relationship with God is a great fear that some believers face!

B. Psalm 28:1-9 directs God's people on how to ask God for His much-needed help when they struggle to believe that God accepts them or that He will even answer them, and it offers insight and application for us:

II. Asking For God's Help While Struggling With The Fear Of His Rejection, Psalm 28:1-9.

A. Part of verse one in this psalm comprises the introductory notes in the English Bible (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 997), so we stay with the numbering system in the English Bible for clarity for this lesson.

B. We thus translate Psalm 28:1-9 as follows:

1. "Unto You, O Jahweh, do I call; my Rock Cliff (sur, B. D. B., A Heb.-Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 849); do not be deaf (harash, Ibid., p. 361) to me, lest You be inactive [unresponsive] (hashah, Ibid., p. 364) to me and I become like (mashal, Ibid., p. 605; Niphal = passive) those who descend (yarad, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 432-434) into the pit [of the grave (in death)] (bor, Ibid., p. 91)," Psalm 28:1.

2. "Hear the voice of my supplication for mercy (tahanun, Ibid., p. 337) when I cry out for help (shawa', Ibid., p. 1002) to You, when I lift up my hands to Your innermost (debir, Ibid., p. 184) sanctuary (qedesh, Ibid., Kittel; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 873) [the Holiest of Holies of God's presence in the tabernacle]," Psa. 28:2.

3. "Do not drag me off [in judgment] with the wicked, and with those who work iniquity; who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts," Psalm 28:3.

4. "Give [repay] them according to their deeds and according to the evil of their work; according to what their hands have done give them; bring back on them their recompense (gemul, Ibid., p. 168)," Psalm 28:4.

5. "Because they do not consider, give heed to (bin, Ibid., p. 106) the deeds of Jahweh, nor the works of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up," Psalm 28:5.

6. "Blessed be (barak, Ibid., p. 138-139) Jahweh because He has heard the voice of my supplication for mercy (tahanun again, cf. v. 2a)," Psalm 28:6.

7. "Jahweh is my Strength and my personal hand-held Shield (magen, Ibid., p. 171; R. deVaux, Anc. Israel: V. 1 - Soc. Insts., 1961, p. 244f); my heart relies on (batah, Ibid., B. D. B., p. 105) Him and I am helped ('azar, Ibid., p. 740; Niphal = pass.), so my heart exults and I will give thanks to Him in song," Psa. 28:7.

8. "Jahweh is the Strength of His people, a Refuge (ma'oz, Ibid., p. 731-732) of salvation for His annointed one is He (emphatic pronoun)," Psalm 28:8.

9. "Oh, save Your people, and bless Your inheritance; shepherd (ra'ah, Ibid., p. 944-945) them and carry, bear (nasa', Ibid., p. 669-672; Piel stem = intensive) them forever ('ad-ha'olam, Ibid., Kittel)," Psa. 28:9.

C. Important observations about the psalm's content can be seen in the psalm, and we itemize them as follows:

1. The high degree of insecurity seen in David's expressed fear of being dragged off with the wicked in divine judgment (v. 3) and the dread of dying were God not to hear his petition (v. 1) mirror the fears typical of sheep, what David pictures the people of Israel to be in relation to God in his last petition (v. 9). David thus formed this psalm to help Israel's people handle the fear that God might not want to help them.

2. The cause of such fear is explained by the setting: Israel's pagan neighbors felt they were slaves to fickle gods in an unstable universe (B. K. Waltke, Creation and Chaos, 1974, p. 47-65), a belief caused by errant tales about the past cataclysmic Noahic Flood. Thus, opposite this fear in her neighbors, Israel needed constant reassurance that a trustworthy Almighty God ran a stable universe and would loyally aid her, Ibid.

3. The confidence David expressed that God will help is seen in the contrast in his life's actions with those of the wicked whom God judges (v. 3b-5), so God's people can be confident He will help them if they do not deceive other people to their harm nor disrespect God's deeds or works so as to disobey Him, v. 3, 5.

4. David closed, asking God reassuringly to shepherd or always carry Israel like a shepherd does a lamb, v. 9.

Lesson: Aware of deep insecurity about God in believers due to the fear of false gods in neighboring pagans, David taught Israel fully to rely on the Lord to help them in contrast to fickle pagan gods providing they do not take part in the deceptively harmful deeds of the wicked, but consider God's deeds and works so as to revere and obey Him.

Application: May we heed Psalm 28 to offset deep fears we have about God's dedication to us that we trust Him.