The Rock: Psalm 28

My Rock
Psalm 28

INTRODUCTION:
My dad use to conclude his prayers with these words: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” It was a long time before I realized that Dad was quoting Psalm 19:14.

There are times when we need help; there are times when we need help that only God can give. We have relationship issues, financial issues, mental issues - there are things that trouble us and the only thing we can do is to pray. The only thing we can do is to rely on the Rock who sustains our faith.

Let’s study Psalm 28, the second psalm we’ll consider this year…

GOD IS OUR ROCK - 28:1-2:
“To call” is used 56 times in the book of Psalms.

“Rock” - Moses especially uses “Rock” to refer to God in his song in Deuteronomy: 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31, 37. The psalmists refer to God as “Rock” 18 times!

What does it mean that God is a “rock”? He means He is stable and He does not change. “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19).

The prophet Samuel said to King Saul: “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” (1 Sam. 15:29).

God’s nature does not change. God is not capricious. He does not do things frivolously. When words come out of His mouth, unless He says they are conditional or implies they are conditional, then we can trust His word to be true and unchanging.

“Pit” here probably refers to Sheol, the place of the dead. In other words, David does not want to end up dead.

“Hear” is an imperative addressed to God. He wants God to hear his “supplications.” He uses the word again in verse 6. This is another word for “cry of help.” This word is a poetic word, used 21 times, mostly in the books of poetry: Job, Psalms, and a few times in the prophets.

This word for “sanctuary” is only used in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles (and here). It probably referred to the holiest of holies where the ark of the covenant was located.

This section pictures God’s unchangeableness (immutability), God’s love, and God’s holiness.

THERE IS GUILT BY ASSOCIATION - 28:3-5:
Observe the three words for “sin” used in this verse: “wicked (used 263 times), iniquity (77 times), and evil (315 times).”

The word translated “requite” is the simple Hebrew word “to give.” “Give to them according to their work, according to the evil of their practices. Give them according to the deeds of their hands.” Finally, David uses a synonym: “Repay them their recompense.” “Repay” means to “turn” or to “return.”

The reason David wants God to “requite” and to “repay” is because (ver. 6) they do not regard the works of the Lord, nor the deeds of His hands.

The repayment He will give is “He will tear them down and not build them up.”

The key text on allowing God to implement justice is Romans 12:17-20: “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

This paragraph of the psalm pictures God’s justice, which flows from His holiness, and God’s wrath. We also observe here that God is not inactive. He is defined by “works” and “deeds.” God is an active God.

GOD IS OUR STRENGTH AND SHIELD - 28:6-8:
David goes from crying out to God in verses 1-2 to singing to God here, because David trusts in the Lord! Again, our fundamental response to God is to trust Him!

The word “strength” is only used 17 times in the OT, mostly in Psalms. In Exodus 15:2, Moses led Israel to sing: “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him.” Then the word is used 13 times in Psalms and twice in Isaiah and once in Jeremiah.

Consider the whole Isaiah 12 where several of these words from Psalm 28 are used by the prophet, who was experiencing the Assyrian siege:

“Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, O Lord; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation. And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

“Shield” is used 60 times in the OT. It is used first at Genesis 15:1 where God speaks to Abraham: “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” As you might expect, God is referred to as “shield” many times in Psalms, 16 times if I have counted correctly.

The word “trust” is used frequently in the OT: 116 times. That has always been a fundamental response of man to God. “Help” is used 81 times in the OT; 13 times in Psalms the word refers to God.

The word “exult” means to “rejoice.” This word is found 7 times in Psalms.

The word “song” is used 77 times in the OT. Many psalms are songs. The word is used 42 times in Psalms. Isn’t it wonderful that God has allowed us, even commanded us, to praise Him in song?

The verb “to give thanks” is often translated “to praise” and it is the verb from which “Judah” gets his name. Leah named her fourth son “Judah” which means “I will praise Jehovah.” As you might expect, “to give thanks” or “to praise” is actually used quite frequently in Psalms: 67 times!

Finally, David again states that God is his strength, and that He is a “saving defense” to His anointed. The word “saving” is the word for “salvation.” Here is how you pronounce the Hebrew word: “Yoshua.” Sounds like “Joshua” doesn’t it? That is the origin of Joshua’s name and, of course, you know that “Jesus” is the Greek translation of “Joshua.” “Salvation” is found 45 times in Psalms. The psalmists love to sing about salvation!

Here, David is talking about “saving defense.” In the prior psalm, David sang, “The Lord is the defense of my life” (Psa. 27:1). In other places, like Psalm 31:2, 4; 37:39; 43:2 the word is translated in the NASV as “strength.” In 52:7, it is translated “refuge.” In Psalm 60:7 and 108:8, the word is translated “helmet.” Isaiah likes to use the word too, 9 times.

“Anointed” here refers to the king. Let me say the Hebrew word and you’ll recognize it: “meshiah.” Messiah. David was the anointed king of God and Isaiah anticipated the coming Messiah to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. Daniel predicted the Messiah was going to take care of the problem of sin. God takes care of those who are His. The apostle John pictures Christians as being “anointed” in 1 John 2:27. We are anointed, not by the Holy Spirit as Jesus was, but we are anointed because we are in Jesus, the Anointed One. We have everything we need in Jesus Christ.

This paragraph pictures God’s relationship with His people and His concern for them. God is trustworthy.

GOD IS OUR SHEPHERD - 28:9:
“Save” is the second imperative we have in the text. It is related to the noun “salvation” I just talked about. The verb is used a lot in Judges, 18 times. It is used 53 times in Psalms.

“Bless” is also an imperative; a strong biblical word, used 327 times in the OT. It is used in Genesis 72 times, in Psalms 74 times. “Inheritance” is a word that is used to describe the nation of Israel and specifically to denote the idea that Israel was to receive something from God. The word most often refers to the land which Israel was to inherit. The word is used in Numbers 46 times; Deut, 25 times, and Joshua, 50 times.

“Shepherd” is one of the oldest designations for Jehovah God, going all the way back to Genesis 48:15, when Jacob says, “The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.” He says something similar in the next chapter, 49:24, where he refers to God as “the Mighty One of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.” Of course, Jesus is our “Good Shepherd,” the “Shepherd and Guardian of our Souls” (1 Peter 2:25). All that has been said about God in this psalm certainly applies to Christ for the Christian.

Again, in this paragraph (verse), God is good (He “saves”); God has a people (His “inheritance”); God guides (He is a “shepherd”); God is strong (He “carries” His people) forever. Indeed, God is a rock.

CONCLUSION:
Take home message: Because God is our rock, we do not need to be tempted to associate with the evil, wicked people of the world. God is our strength, our shield, our shepherd. He will provide for us; let’s trust and be faithful.