Psalm 28, penned by David, is a heartfelt cry to God, a blend of desperation, trust, and triumphant praise. In the New King James Version, it reads:
Psalm 28
To You I Will Cry, O Lord
A Psalm of David.
1 To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
3 Do not take me away with the wicked And with the workers of iniquity, Who speak peace to their neighbors, But evil is in their hearts. 4 Give them according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, Nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them And not build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.
8 The Lord is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed. 9 Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.
David likely wrote this psalm during a time of personal or national crisis, possibly when pursued by enemies or facing betrayal, as was common in his life as a warrior-king. Historically, the “pit” in verse 1 refers to Sheol, the Hebrew concept of the grave or the realm of the dead, a place of hopelessness. David’s plea for God not to be silent reflects the ancient Israelite fear of divine abandonment, where God’s silence meant vulnerability to enemies or despair. The “holy sanctuary” in verse 2 points to the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God’s presence, where David symbolically lifts his hands in prayer. The psalm’s shift from lament to praise mirrors the cultural practice of Israelites offering thanksgiving after God’s deliverance, a pattern seen in many psalms.
But Psalm 28 is more than a historical artifact; it unveils deeper truths for all people. David’s cry reveals a universal human longing for connection with the divine, for assurance that we are heard. He calls God “my Rock,” a metaphor for stability in a world of chaos, reminding us that God is the Author of truth and reality, the unshakable foundation beneath our fleeting lives. Yet, David also confronts the reality of evil—those who “speak peace” but harbor “evil in their hearts” (verse 3). This hypocrisy is a timeless warning: outward piety can mask inner deception. David’s plea for justice in verses 4-5 isn’t mere vengeance; it’s a recognition that those who reject God’s works—His creation, His miracles, His moral order—choose darkness over light. They live in a self-imposed deception, blind to the reality of God’s hand in the world. This resonates with Jesus’ words in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Those who ignore God’s truth stumble in a world of misunderstanding, cut off from the life Jesus offers.
Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 28’s deepest cries. David’s plea for God to hear him finds its ultimate answer in Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Through Jesus, God is never silent; He speaks through the Word made flesh, offering salvation to all who call on Him. The “saving refuge” for the “anointed” in verse 8 points to Christ, the ultimate Anointed One (Messiah), who shields His people from eternal destruction. David’s trust in God as “my strength and my shield” (verse 7) echoes in Jesus’ promise to be our protector, as seen in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” This shepherd imagery connects directly to verse 9, where God is asked to “shepherd” His people, a role Jesus embodies perfectly, guiding us through the valley of darkness into eternal life.
The psalm’s themes also connect to Jesus’ parables, particularly the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43). In this parable, Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as a field where wheat (the righteous) grows alongside tares (the wicked), sown by an enemy. At the harvest, the tares are gathered and burned, while the wheat is saved. The NKJV text of Matthew 13:41-43 reads: “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This mirrors Psalm 28’s plea for the wicked to face justice (verses 4-5) and for God’s people to be saved (verse 9). The “workers of iniquity” in the psalm are like the tares, living in deception, unaware of the coming judgment, while the righteous, like David, trust in God’s deliverance.
Another connection lies in the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8), which teaches perseverance in prayer. The NKJV text of Luke 18:7-8 states: “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” David’s persistent cry in Psalm 28, lifting his hands toward God’s sanctuary, embodies this relentless faith, trusting that God hears and acts. Jesus assures us that God responds to such prayers, reinforcing the psalm’s shift from despair to rejoicing (verses 6-7).
The wisdom of Psalm 28 speaks to all, believer or not. It reveals a world divided between those who see God’s truth and those who dwell in darkness. To live in darkness is to embrace deception—whether through hypocrisy, as the wicked do, or through ignorance of God’s reality. Jesus, as the Truth, pierces this darkness, offering a path to life. Yet, many remain blind, as Jesus laments in John 3:19: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” As followers of Christ, we are called to carry this light, to deliver understanding to those lost in deception. Like David, we must cry out to God, trust in His strength, and then proclaim His truth through our lives and words, inviting others to see the God who hears.
Psalm 28 ends with a call to be God’s people, His “inheritance” (verse 9), shepherded forever. This is an invitation to become children of Truth, not children of darkness. To choose Truth is to trust in Jesus, to rejoice in His salvation, and to live as lights in a deceived world. So, let us lift our hands, not just in prayer, but in action—reaching out to those still in darkness. Be a child of Truth. Reject the shadows of deception. Cry out to the Rock, and let your heart rejoice in the God who always hears.