PSALMS 29


     We will begin by giving the 28th Psalm in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                           Chapter 28

verse 1  "O Lord, to thee I cry, Thou art my rock and trust;
          O be not silent, lest I die And slumber in the dust."
verse 2  "O hear my earnest cry, Thy favor I entreat;
          Hear while I lift imploring hands Before thy mercy seat."
verse 3  "O draw me not away With men who live in sin;
          Who to their neighbors speak of peace While malice works
          within."
verse 4  "Repay them for their deeds And vile attempts, O Lord;
          And for the doings of their hands Return a just reward."
verse 5  "Because they disregard The works the Lord hath done,
          By him they shall not be upbuilt, But utterly o'erthrown."
verse 6  "Now blessed be the Lord, He heard me when I cried;
          Jehovah is my strength and shield, On him my heart relied."
verse 7  "I help from him obtained, And therefore give Him praise;
          And while my heart exhults with joy, My song to him I
          raise."
verse 8  "God is his people's strength, And His Messiah's power;
          Save, bless, and feed thy heritage, Exhalt them evermore."

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 28th Psalm.
Psalms 28:1 "{ [A Psalm] of David.} Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my
rock; be not silent to me: lest, [if] thou be silent to me, I become
like them that go down into the pit."

     David is speaking to his Lord Jehovah. We know Him as Jesus
Christ our Saviour and Lord. He is the Rock that we build upon. I have
said, so many times before that, prayer is a 2 way conversation. Many
times, we are not silent so that God can speak to us. This is not the
case with David here. He says, God speak to me. David is saying, if
you don't hear my prayer and answer me, I will be like those who are
lost. I might even wind up in hell. The voice of God is a very
frightening thing to hear, but is much better than thinking that He
will not speak to me at all. I must hear from God to know if I am
pleasing Him. The best place to hear the voice of God, is alone
with Him somewhere. God speaks to us in many ways. Sometimes He speaks
to us in the Bible {His Word}. Other times God speaks to us in visions
and dreams. Then there are those special times when you hear the voice
of God in your ear. There is a knowing beyond a shadow of doubt, when
it is God speaking.

     Psalms 28:2 "Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto
thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle."

     Supplications, in the verse above, means earnest prayer. Oracle,
in the verse above, means shrine or innermost part of the sanctuary.
We see this is a serious prayer. David means business with God. David
is not only praying in earnest, but has lifted his hands in praise as
a sacrifice of praise to God. The oracle would have been where God
dwelt in the sanctuary. We, too, should lift our hands in praise when
we earnestly pray to God. This prayer of David's is similar to the
earnest prayer of a righteous man. James 5:16 "Confess [your] faults
one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

     Psalms 28:3 "Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the
workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but
mischief [is] in their hearts."

     This is speaking of someone who is two-faced. The heart of man is
what he really is. If his heart is wicked, he is wicked. All the great
speeches and false pretenses may work with men, but God knows these
fakers. The following verse tells us about the workers of iniquity.
Jesus is speaking here. Luke 13:27 "But he shall say, I tell you, I
know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of
iniquity." The wicked having flattering tongues which try to draw the
believer into their sin with them. The next Scripture tells us of a
few sinners we are not to be with. I Corinthians 5:11 "But now I have
written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a
brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or
a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

     Psalms 28:4 "Give them according to their deeds, and according to
the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their
hands; render to them their desert."

     Sometimes when we see terrible crimes against society and against
God, we feel a righteous anger. We are jealous for God. It truly hurts
my heart, when I hear someone cursing and using the name of the Lord.
I Believe this, perhaps, is what David is saying here. It is not that
he hates the people. He hates their evil deeds. He is saying, the
punishment you have in store for these sins is just.

     Psalms 28:5 "Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor
the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them
up."

     This is like prophecy. David is looking ahead to the time when
God shall judge and punish them for their evil deeds. The amazing
thing, to me, is how anyone can look at God's creation around him and
say, there is no God. Those who totally reject the Lord, in the face
of all the evidence around them, shall be utterly destroyed in the
lake of fire.

     Psalms 28:6 "Blessed [be] the LORD, because he hath heard the
voice of my supplications."

     We see now David praising the Lord, because He has heard and
answered David's prayer. Praise and answered prayer go hand in hand.

     Psalms 28:7 "The LORD [is] my strength and my shield; my heart
trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
and with my song will I praise him."

     I would like to give another Scripture from Psalms that shows
what our reaction should be to answered prayer. Psalms 103:1 "{ [A
Psalm] of David.} Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within
me, [bless] his holy name."  I have no strength, except the strength
of Christ within me. Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked."  We could take a lesson from David. He went against Goliath
with nothing but the Lord to cover him. The shield of Saul was too
heavy to wear, but David came with the shield of faith in His God to
protect him. There is no better way to praise God than with beautiful
songs of praise.

     Psalms 28:8 "The LORD [is] their strength, and he [is] the saving
strength of his anointed."

     David is bringing this prophetically to our day. The Lord is our
strength. We all know that Jesus was the anointed of God, but we can
see in the next Scriptures that the believers in Christ are His
anointed.  II Corinthians 1:21 "Now he which stablisheth us with you
in Christ, and hath anointed us, [is] God;"  Hebrews 1:9 "Thou hast
loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."

     Psalms 28:9 "Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed
them also, and lift them up for ever."

     Colossians 3:24 "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the
reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."  This leaves
no doubt that, the inheritance is for those who serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. In other words, Christians are to receive the inheritance
through Jesus. We are His inheritance. The Father has given us to Him.
Revelation 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." These
words were spoken by Jesus who lifts us up, saves us, feeds us and
gives us eternal life in Him.














                             Questions 29

1.  In verse i David says, O Lord my ______.
2.  Who is the Rock that we build upon?
3.  Many times we talk so much in prayer, that what happens?
4.  What is the worst thing David thinks might happen, if God does not
    speak to him?
5.  Where is the best place to be, if you want to hear from God?
6.  Name some of the different ways God speaks to us.
7.  What does supplications mean?
8.  What does oracle mean in verse 2?
9.  David is not only crying out to God in earnest prayer, but does
    what to show even more desire for God to hear this prayer?
10. Quote James chapter 5 verse 16.
11. Who is verse 3 of this lesson speaking of?
12. In Luke chapter 13 verse 27, who does Jesus tell to get away from
    him?
13. Do not associate with a brother that is called a _____, or
    _______, or an _________, or a ________, or a _____, or an ____.
14. What is righteous anger?
15. How can anyone look at all of God's creation and say there is no
    God?
16. verse 6 is not prayer but what?
17. Praise and _______ ________ go hand in hand.
18. The Lord is my strength and my ________.
19. What should be our reaction to answered prayer?
20. How shall we be able to quench the fiery darts of the devil?
21. What protection did David have for his body, when he came against
    Goliath?
22. What is one of the best ways to praise God?
23. Who, besides Jesus, are the anointed of God?
24. Why do we Christians receive the reward of inheritance?
25. Who gets to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God?