Psalm 28 Continued…
Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
The Lord is my strength
“The Lord” provides him with “strength” which is both the natural kind and the spiritual kind; that is, He gave him strength of body, and fortitude of mind, to bear up under all his trials; strength for his life, spiritual and earthly strength; and He strengthened his heart when he was under distress, and he knew that He would be his strength in the hour of his death, when his heart and strength would fail.
Christ’s strength is ours, given to us, so that we may be able to bear whatever happens to us. We can have the fullest confidence that he hears, will answer, and will save us. What a sweet comfort! If a man has a burden, he will be strengthened; if the burden is doubled, his strength will be tripled, and the burden will be lighter than it was before to his natural strength; so if our burdens are heavy, and we cry out to Him that we cannot bear them with our own strength, we will surely be able to bear them with the strength of Jesus Christ? Never think that Christ could not bear them?
And my shield
God was his “shield” to protect and defend him: to David, He was love, power, and faithfulness, and the Lord Jesus Christ was a shield, through His power and richness, His blood, righteousness, and salvation. “The Lord is my strength” inwardly, “and my shield” outwardly. Faith finds both these in Yahweh, and the one is not present without the other, for what is a shield without strength, or strength without a shield?
My heart trusts in him
The faith, hope, and comfort of the psalmist grew and increased through prayer; from complaining he goes to praying, from praying to believing; he did not trust in himself, not in his own heart, nor in his own righteousness and merits, but in the Lord as his strength and shield, and in the mercy of God; and not in the bare absolute mercy of God, but in the grace and goodness of God: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” (Psalm 13:5).
And I am helped
My heart trusted in him, “and I am helped.” As far as feeling goes, David is already “helped.” He feels he has been delivered out of danger. This was the fruit of his trust, a gracious experience of divine assistance. Saints are helpless in themselves, nor can they be helped by other men. God is the only helper they have; He helps them out of all their troubles, and He helps them achieve whatever he calls them to do. And the help he gives is sometimes quick, and always timely and appropriate; and sometimes with their assistance, and sometimes without them.
Notice that he says, “I am helped”—he speaks of it as if it has already happened, because God assured him by his spirit, that he had heard and accepted his prayers—I have found the assistance which I desired.
My heart leaps for joy
I greatly rejoice. I am happy, and the ground for it was the assurance he had that the Lord would help him, the assurance of the divine favor which he desired, and his joy was great, a joy unspeakable, and full of glory; it was not carnal, but spiritual, a heart joy, joy in the Holy Spirit.
and I will give thanks to him in song.
It is the duty of the Christian to praise God and glorify Him; it is pleasing to Him, and it becomes the saints to do so—it is a lovely and pleasant experience, especially when He extends them grace. “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” (Psalm 69:30). God is to be praised for his perfections and attributes by all his creatures, and especially his saints. The Messiah sang the praises of God with his disciples at the Last Supper, a little before his death; and in the great congregation in heaven, upon his ascension, having finished the great work of man’s redemption. The saints are to praise Him with songs, which was the practice of the New testament Churches, according to Hebrews 2:12: “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”
Psalm 28:8 The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
The LORD is the strength of his people
“The Lord is the strength of his people”—The Hebrew is, “their strength,” or “strength to them.” The reference is to the people of God. The thought seems to be that David, having himself received assistance or strength from God, turns his thoughts from this fact to the general idea that God was the “strength” of “all” who were in similar circumstances; or that all His people might confide in Him as he had done. So, the Lord is not only the strength of David in particular, but of all his people in general. In another psalm, David wrote: “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.” (Psalm 37:39). Salvation comes to the righteous from the Lord. While the wicked are cut off, the righteous shall be safe. There are evidently two ideas here:
1. That there will be salvation for the righteous, while the wicked are cut off.
2. That this comes from the Lord, and not from themselves.
A fortress of salvation
Salvation is literally great and manifold deliverance: “He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.” (Psalm 18:50). The welfare of David and that of the people are bound up together. God strengthens him for their sakes, so that he may guide them rightly and correctly, and fight their battles, and give them power over their enemies. It was with this objective that he chose David out of all Israel, and took him from the pasture, and had him anointed king: “from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance.” (Psalm 78:71).
For his anointed One.
The primary reference here is doubtless to David himself, as before, as one who had been anointed by Samuel and set apart to the kingly office; but the context shows that he intended to include all the people of God, as those whom He had consecrated or set apart to His service. But if he is not speaking of himself, he may mean the Messiah, the Lord’s Anointed, whom He heard, helped, and strengthened in the day of salvation, and delivered Him from the power of death and the grave, and raised Him on the third day, and gave him glory—“Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.” (Psalm 20:6).
Psalm 28:9 Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Save your people
The psalm began with petitions for himself, and he closes it with prayers for the people of God; the nation of Israel whom God has chosen for his people, taken into covenant with Him, and given them his Son for their Messiah. He has resolved to save them, and has appointed Christ as their Messiah, and sent Him into the world, to be the Savior of all who “believe in Him.” This verse is a prayer of faith, as are the petitions in the following clauses. It is a prayer for all the people offered in view of the deliverance which the psalmist had personally experienced, and he prays that all the people of God might experience similar deliverance and mercy.
And bless your inheritance
This request is also applied to the people of Israel, as the “possession” or “property” of Yahweh; as a people whom he regarded as His own, and whom, as such, He protected: “But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.” (Deuteronomy 4:20). Here the people of God are spoken of as His special possession or property on earth; as that which He regards as very valuable and precious to Him; as that which belongs to Him, or to which He has a claim; as that which cannot without causing Him great sadness be alienated from Him.
Be their shepherd
As the shepherd does his flock, by leading them into green pastures, by giving them the bread of life, by nourishing them with the word and ordinances, by the means or his ministering servants, who are under-shepherds appointed to feed the saints with knowledge and understanding. Bless them with all those things needed for life and for godliness. The Hebrew word used here for “Be their shepherd” refers to the care which a shepherd provides for his flock—“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). The prayer is that God would take the same care of His people that a shepherd takes of his flock.
And carry them forever
“Carry them” may mean “sustain” them, or “support” them; but it more accurately means “bear,” and would be best expressed by a reference to the fact that the shepherd carries the feeble, the young, and the sickly of his flock in his arms, or that he lifts them up when they are unable themselves to rise. Consider these verses:
The word “forever” simply means “always”—in all circumstances, at all times. In other words, David prays that God would “always” manifest Himself as the Friend and Helper of His people, as He had done for him.
They have only to trust in Him, and they will find Him to be more kind and faithful than the tenderest shepherd ever was to his flock. But, only those whom God feeds and rules, who are willing to be taught, guided, and governed by him, shall be saved, and blessed, and lifted up for ever—the saints be lifted up for ever, never more to sink or be depressed.
PRAY
Father, carry me.