Embrace the Word for Monday, February 23, 2026
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Psalm 28 is the fourth consecutive Psalm that shares the simple superscription, “Of David.” Psalm 28 shares several common terms with Psalm 27. Both use the terms “refuge” and “stronghold” (27:1; 28:8); as well as “rock” (27:5; 28:1) and “salvation” (27:1,9; 28:8-9). Each of these two Psalms emphasizes the LORD saving the king and his people (27:1,9; 28:8-9). Though different terms are used, both Psalms speak of the sanctuary (27:4-6; 28:2). Psalm 27 ends with David’s resolve to “wait for the LORD,” while Psalm 28 with its opening plea, shows David must have waited so long it felt like God would not answer. Psalm 28 opens with an urgent plea (28:1-2); is followed by a focus on the wicked (28:3-5); and concludes with blessing the LORD for hearing prayer and shepherding His people (28:6-9).
Psalm 28 pleads with the LORD: “To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit” (28:1). David rightly acknowledges who the LORD is to him—the LORD is his rock. “My rock” certainly conveys the security and safety that the LORD is to His people. But it is also used to convey even more. As the LORD led the Israelites through the wilderness, it was a rock that Moses was instructed to strike to provide a source of water (See Exodus 17:1-7). So, as his rock, the LORD was not only his security and safety, but also his sustenance and sufficiency as well.
In the previous Psalm, David declared that he had no fear (See Psalm 27:1). But now, though not named as such, David expresses that his greatest fear is that the LORD would be “deaf” or “silent” toward him. David realizes that if his rock does not respond to his pleas, he will “go down to the pit.” If the LORD would be unresponsive then David knows that he would have no hope—not merely that he would die, but that he would as the godless do, have no relationship with God. If God did not hear his prayers then he’s done, it’s all over.
Everything depends on God hearing our prayers. Thus, David continues his plea: “Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary” (28:2). David asks for God’s mercy; David needs God’s help. So, he turns toward the “most holy sanctuary” that is, the inner room of the tabernacle where the ark of the covenant sat. This location of the tabernacle was only entered once a year and only the High Priest was allowed to enter (See Leviticus 16). David never went in there, but he assumes that his prayers do! With hands lifted up toward the tabernacle, suggesting a desperate yearning, David prays.
Now David states some of what he specifically prays: “Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts” (28:3). David does not want to be condemned with the wicked. David knows that the wicked will be like chaff before the wind (See Psalm 1:4). He does not want to be carried off like a criminal to his execution. David does not want to receive the the justice reserved for those who pretend to be good neighbors but who have hearts full of evil. David wants them to get what they deserve: “Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward” (28:4). David is only asking for what the LORD himself has promised to give to the wicked. We need not presume that David is praying out of a heart of personal vindictiveness; but David is praying that the LORD would take them out. David is simply praying that the LORD returns to the wicked as they have dealt with others. David acknowledges that there is a correspondence to the work of the hands of the wicked and their failure to grasp the work of the hands of the LORD: “Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more” (28:5). The deeds of the wicked reflect their failure to acknowledge the deeds of the LORD. This failure is not due to a lack of information provided to them; their failure is due to their moral refusal to honor what they know to be good and true about God (See Romans 1:21ff). David asks the LORD to tear them down and build them up no more. Jeremiah will later use this same language to speak of the LORD’s judgment (See Jeremiah 1:10).
The tone of this Psalm changes as David breaks out with praise: “Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy” (28:6). David is exuberant as he is consciously aware that the LORD has blessed him by hearing his pleas. Its probable that David’s blessing the LORD is anticipatory, meaning that the actual answer has not unfolded just yet, but that David has an assurance that the LORD has heard and will answer. David now has a confidence that the God of mercy will answer his plea for mercy. David can celebrate in anticipation of the answer to his prayer because of who his God is to him: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him” (28:7). David’s response of praise is not only an appropriate recognition of the LORD’s faithfulness, it should be seen as an apt means of reinforcing trust in the LORD’s faithfulness.
The LORD is not only David’s strength, He is also the strength to all His people: “The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed” (28:8). In fact, because the LORD is the saving refuge of “his anointed,” that is His king, the LORD is also the strength of His people. As goes the king, so goes the people. If the king is victorious, the people are secure. As David considers what bearing his reign has on the nation, he concludes with prayer for them: “Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever” (28:9). Four short bursts of requests for the nation: “save,” “bless,” “shepherd,” and “carry” them. Followed by four personal descriptions concerning the recipients of these actions. First, they are the LORD’s own people, reflecting, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (See Exodus 6:7a). Second, they are the LORD’s heritage, reminiscent of, “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day” (See Deuteronomy 4:20.). Third and fourth, they are the LORD’s flock who are carried by the LORD, which is mindful of, “you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place” (See Deuteronomy 1:30-31).
As we reflect on Psalm 28, we might take our cues from David’s conclusion to this Psalm as he intercedes for his people. David’s heart to see the LORD save his people is shared by David’s seed, the Lord Jesus Christ who, “always lives to make intercession” (See Hebrews 7:25). Jesus’ present, ongoing, intercessory work is our reality: “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (See Romans 8:34), which insures that we know how to answer the question: “Who is to condemn?” (See Romans 8:34). We have actually been given something of a sneak peak as to the content of Jesus’ intercession: “Holy Father, keep them in your name…keep them from the evil one…Sanctify them in the truth” (See John 17:11-16). With our Lord and King praying like this, how can we fail to make it home!
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, February 23, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, February 25, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 29.