EXPOSITION OF PSALM 27
A Psalm of David

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We may divide this psalm into two parts: 1. the saint's prayer (vv.1-5), and 2. the saint's praise (vv.6-9)

I. The saint's prayer in time of trouble (vv.1-5). Note three things regarding this prayer: its vehemence (v.1a), its object (v.2b), and its content (vv.1c-5). Note also the three requests made in this prayer: an audience with God (vv.1c-2), deliverance from the wicked (v.3), and justice to the wicked (vv.4f).

28:1 "To You I will cry, ..." Saints sometimes pray silently, as when "Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard" (1 Samuel 1:13). Sometimes their prayers are "groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). But in times of deep distress, the saints cries out in prayer loud enough to be heard in the highest heaven (e.g., Psalm 18:6; 77:1f) - even "from the end of the earth" (61:1f). Such was the prayer of Christ "in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death" (Hebrews 5:7).

"... O LORD my Rock: ..." The object of the saint's prayer is always Jehovah: not himself (as in Luke 18:11), nor a vain idol (as in 1 Kings 18:26-28), nor Mary or other saints (as in Romanism). Jehovah is acknowledged as a "Rock", but not in the sense of heathens who consider their idols of stone as rocks. The saint acknowledges Jehovah as "myRock" because He is "the Rock of Israel" (2 Samuel 23:3) of whom Israel confesses, "He only is my rock" (Psalm 62:2, 6). The saint rightly distinguishes his Rock from that of heathens in acknowledging that "their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges" (Deuteronomy 32:31; cp. v.37).

This is true for many reasons: 1. Jehovah is the perfect Rock (Deuteronomy 32:4): "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He." 2. Jehovah is the saving Rock, for He is "the Rock of salvation" (Deuteronomy 32:15). 3. Jehovah is the regenerating Rock, for He is to all who trust in Him for salvation "the Rock who begot you, ... the God who fathered you" (Deuteronomy 32:18). 4. Jehovah is the incomparable Rock, for "No one is holy like the LORD, ... nor is there any rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2). 5. Jehovah is the preserving Rock, for He is "my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me" (Psalm 31:2). 6. Jehovah is the eternal and immutable Rock, for He is "The Rock of Ages" (Isaiah 26:4, margin). 7. Jehovah is the ever-accompanying and thoroughly-refreshing Rock, "For [Israel in the wilderness] drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Yes, saints confess Jesus Christ as "O LORD my Rock"! Do not because of your unbelief, and to the final damnation of your soul, find Him to be instead "a stumbling stone and rock of offense" (Isaiah 8:13-15; Romans 9:30-33).

"... Do not be silent to me, ..." The formalist may not mind if God does not answer his prayer. After all, he may be merely counting beads on his rosary or reciting a prayer he has memorized so he can say he has prayed. Not so with the saint:

"... Lest, if You are silent to me, / I become like those who go down to the pit." To be ignored by God would be the greatest evil a saint could face. To be deprived of an answer to his prayer would make him no better off than the dead man in his grave, or even in Hades itself. Happily, Jehovah assures the saint that this will never occur (Psalm 91:15): "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him."

28:2 "Hear the voice of my supplications / When I cry to You, ..." The prayers of saints in trouble are plural, both in types and number. He who cries to Jehovah in times of great need does not lift up his voice in prayer but once (e.g., 2 Corinthians 12:8), nor in merely one way.

"... When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary." To "lift up my hands" in prayer may involve the physical hands of my body. But it most certainly will involve the spiritual hands of my soul. The hands are lifted first to offer to God the prayer, and even the soul itself (25:1), but otherwise they must be empty. The hands then remain lifted to receive from God the answer. They are lifted "toward Your holy sanctuary" ("oracle" in KJV). The Hebrew word means "inmost recess", and refers to the Holy of Holies in the temple (as in 1 Kings 6:5, 16, 19-23, 31). This is where God dwells, and whence He speaks (Exodus 25:8, 22). The earthly tabernacle and temple were shadows of God's heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 9:11).

28:3 "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." Here is a three-fold description of those with whom the saint never desires to be gathered. They are wicked in their inward nature and "endeavors" (v.4a), workers of iniquity in their outward practice and "the work of their hands" (v.4b), and deceitful hypocrites to others. Here are especially false preachers who are condemned by Jehovah when He says, "They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace!' when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14f / 8:11f).

28:4 "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." The saint may pray for God's grace to such people in this present life (e.g., Romans 10:1). But he prays for God's justice to those who remain obstinate against God until death.

28:5 "Because they do not regard the works of the LORD, / Nor the operation of His hands, ..." These include God's work of creation, through which he brought them into existence (139:14); His work of providence, through which He daily sustains their physical life and meets all their earthly needs (145:9, 15f); and His work of salvation, through which He delivers from wickedness and iniquity and deceit all who believe on the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Rock of Salvation. A two-fold punishment awaits such obstinate sinners:

"... He shall destroy them / And not build them up." God will not edify them in this present life, and will damn them in the second death. O friend, do not be taken away with such! O sinner, forsake your rock of idolatry and flee to the Rock of Salvation!

II. The saint's praise after deliverance (vv.6-9). Praise properly always follows prayer. Jehovah is here praised for three things: what He has done in the past (v.6), what He ever is in and of Himself (vv.7f), and what He will forever continue to do (v.9).

28:6 "Blessed be the LORD, / Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!" Blessed people are a blessing people. They who offer up their supplications to God (v.2) will afterward offer to Him their sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).

28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield; ..." This "strength" is inward might, and this "shield" is an outward protection. Jehovah gives both to His people by giving to them Christ. The recipient of Christ therefore acknowledges Him as "Jehovah my Strength and my Shield". The saint therefore confesses, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13), and that Christ is "the shield of Jehovah's salvation" (Psalm 18:35).

"... My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; ..." The religionist boasts, "God helped me because I first helped myself!" The saint, knowing better, confesses, "I could not help myself, but I trusted in Christ to be my help, and by faith in Him I am helped."

"... Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, / And with my song I will praise Him." The trusting heart becomes the helped heart (see immediately above), the helped heart becomes the rejoicing heart, and the tongue attached to it must sing praise to the Helper - "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34).

28:8 "The LORD is their strength, / And He is the saving refuge of His anointed." This was true with Jehovah's anointed Son, Christ (Psalm 2:2). Jehovah was Christ's strength in the days of His humiliation (Psalm 89:19-25). And Christ confessed Him as "my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation" (v.26). Jehovah is to His anointed people what He was to His anointed Son. The psalmist now desires four blessings for them:

28:9 "Save Your people, / And bless Your inheritance; / Shepherd them also, / And bear them up forever." Jehovah answers all four prayers through Christ. Christ is the Savior of Jehovah's people (Matthew 1:21), the Blessing of Jehovah's inheritance (Psalm 16:5), the Shepherd of Jehovah's flock (Psalm 23; John 10:11), and their Bearer through all eternity and from earth to glory (Isaiah 46:3f). Answer this prayer, O Lord!

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