By David.
28:1 To you, O Lord, I cry out!
My protector, 2 do not ignore me! 3
If you do not respond to me, 4
I will join 5 those who are descending into the grave. 6
28:2 Hear my plea for mercy when I cry out to you for help,
when I lift my hands 7 toward your holy temple! 8
28:6 The Lord deserves praise, 9
for he has heard my plea for mercy! 10
1 sn Psalm 28. The author looks to the Lord for vindication, asks that the wicked be repaid in full for their evil deeds, and affirms his confidence that the Lord will protect his own.
2 tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.
3 tn Heb “do not be deaf from me.”
4 tn Heb “lest [if] you are silent from me.”
5 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
6 tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.
7 sn I lift my hands. Lifting one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer.
8 tn The Hebrew term דְּבִיר (dÿvir, “temple”) actually refers to the most holy place within the sanctuary.
9 tn Heb “blessed [be] the
10 sn He has heard my plea for mercy. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes at this point, because the Lord responded positively to his petition and assured him that he would deliver him.