Lord, You Are My Strength And Shield (Psalm 28)
Life can be incredibly difficult. Whether it be because of something that a person is doing to us, something someone said about us, or simply life’s circumstances life can be very difficult. And this psalm comes from the depth of one of those difficult situations. For David, the Lord was his strength and his refuge and there was nowhere else for him to turn but to the Lord.
Many commentators believe that this text was also written during the ordeal with Absalom, though I think there is a lot less evidence for that than we have had from the previous psalms from that period. But we do know that he was in a dangerous situation and he felt as if the Lord did not hear him. But for David, as it should be with us, the Lord was his strength and refuge and there was nowhere else for him to turn but to the Lord.
May it be that way for us today. Hardships are going to come. People are going to say bad things about us. People are going to hurt us. And people are going to work to harm us. And there are simply going to be times that are far more difficult than we can handle. And in those times we must be people who see the Lord as our strength and refuge and understand that there is nowhere else for us to turn but to the Lord.
Lord You Are My Strength, Please Hear My Cry (Psalm 28:1-2)
David begins this psalm with a plea to the Lord to hear his cry. The Lord is his rock, but the Lord also doesn’t seem to be listening to him at this moment. God is his rock, the foundation upon which all his life rests and the protection in which he hides. But he feels as if God is not listening to him in this moment.
David is afraid that if things continue as they are, and God does not answer his prayer, then he will end up dead. He is really in a desperate situation. And he fears what might happen if God does not hear.
So, David prays for God to hear his many prayers as he lifts up his hands toward God’s “most holy sanctuary” (Psalm 28:2 ESV). We pray with heads bowed and eyes closed. And we oftentimes pray kneeling as well. Those are the postures that we think of here in the West as postures for prayer. And there is nothing wrong with that. These are the postures that I typically take in prayer. But it was not so for the Israelite. They prayed with eyes and hands lifted toward Heaven. It was understood that the temple sanctuary was a picture of the greater sanctuary of Heaven. This is very evident as we read Hebrews 8.
“For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:3-6 ESV)
The writer to the Hebrews shows us that this was the correct way to view the earthly temple. And so, this posture, and this language of David’s makes a lot of sense.
I think that our posture should be one of reverence and fear. Kneeling does a good job of that, but so does lifting our hands to the heavens to God, from whom all things come. This entire passage is a plea for God, who is His rock and who gives to him all things, to hear his prayer.
We are God’s people and when the hard times come there really is only one place for us to turn. We turn to the Lord. But I really never cease to amaze myself, and usually not in a good way.
In my life I have found the incredibly dumb tendency to attempt to do everything on my own. Some of the hardest times in my life have led to periods of prayerlessness. Why? Well, really I am not sure. But there always comes a point when I realize that I am acting ignorantly and foolishly and repent of that behavior. But why must it come to that? It shouldn’t. And that’s the point.
We have to change our posture so that we see all things coming from God. We see God as our rock, our strength, our shield and we immediately turn to Him.
My Lord, Be A Refuge For Me (Psalm 28:3-5)
David already expressed his great fear, that if the Lord did not listen to him. Here he pleads that the Lord would be his refuge and asks for God not to let him be dragged “off with the wicked” (Psalm 28:3).
David felt as if God was ignoring him at that time and he was being treated as the wicked. And he is pleading with God not to be treated as the wicked.
This should be a prayer for us today. We should be praying this right now. As wickedness expands in our society, we very well could face a lot of the same things that the wicked face in this life. We pray for preservation.
And the problem for us today is like that of David’s. We live in a society that is filled with people who could be called “workers of evil”. These are not people who are doing wickedness occasionally. These are people who practice evil. These are people who act as if there’s no wickedness in their heart while practicing terrible wickedness.
David then prays for them to receive their just rewards, “according to the evil of their deeds” (Psalm 28:4). Commentators far and wide attempt to explain away this passage and others as if we don’t need to pray in this manner today. It is oftentimes difficult for someone to understand that we can hold two things together, and I think we should. The first thing is that we should desire for justice to be done. Justice being done upon the wicked is not a bad thing. It is in fact, a very god thing. The second is that we work for and desire the salvation of people. It is not impossible to hold on to both of these truths simultaneously. And I believe that it will be difficult to face the struggles of this life without holding on to both.
The simple fact is that wickedness seems to abound in our society and the wicked seem to cause us problems often. But here we see the response that we should have. We pray for the Lord to protect us, because the actions of the wicked could have tremendous effect on our lives. And we pray for the Lord to make things right.
At the same time we pray for the conversion of our enemies. We long for their salvation. We long for the wicked to become trophies of God’s grace. We pray for God to change them and bring them to faith in Christ. But if that does not happen, then we pray the Lord would keep us safe from their folly.
Lord, My Heart Overflows With Thankfulness For You Are My Strength (Psalm 28:6-9)
It seems to me that, along with a lot of commentators, this ending was an addition to the original psalm by David after God answered his prayer. In other words, when David originally wrote this, it ended with Psalm 28:5. Whenever God granted him success, he came back and finished the psalm.
David’s response here is one of overflowing thankfulness and confidence in the Lord. God heard his cries and answered his prayers. And the Lord was to David his “strength” and “shield” (Psalm 28:7).
But David’s confidence doesn’t end with him. God blessed him and answered his prayer and it also gave him confidence for the people of God. David was in a peculiar position as king over Israel. He understood that the things that occurred to him directly affected God’s people. And it is obvious from the text that this is on his mind. But I do believe that when God answers our prayers for our selves it gives us confidence as to what God will do with the rest of His people. And David’s prayer turns from his situation to all of God’s people.
The Lord is our shepherd. He is my shepherd personally and He is the shepherd of all of God’s people. And we pray for Him to care for us and all of God’s people as shepherd forever.
We should recognize our answered prayers and be thankful for them. It should cause us to overflow with joy and thankfulness that the Lord would hear our prayers and answer them. Praise God for that!
Answered prayer should move us to further trust for the Lord and a greater understanding of His care over us. We should also be praying for the good of God’s people and rejoice in those answered prayers as well.
Conclusion
Hard times come our way. But we are God’s people. By virtue of the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Christ we are God’s people. And now we have the right to go to God in prayer. God loves us and cares for us. He is our shield. Why would we not go to the Lord.
Let us be people who go to the Lord. And in those times of trouble we must be people who see the Lord as our strength and refuge and understand that there is nowhere else for us to turn but to the Lord.
R. Dwain Minor