Psalm 28: Prayer Transformed to Praise

I'm Lydia Goerner from Christ Church RPCNA in Utica, NY. I'm excited to be the newest author of Selah and to be able to share what God is teaching me through the marvelous book of Psalms. Recently, I've been meditating on Psalm 28, so without further ado, here are my thoughts. Let me know why you love Psalm 28 in the comments!

To you, Lord, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me,
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.

It is futile to call to rocks for deliverance, but our Rock will save us and give us peace. It is vain to rely on words to rescue us from judgment, but the eternal Word died so that we could have eternal life. We can call on our Rock: a steady, immovable deliverance. This verse starts on a desperate note, pleading with God to hear and answer the Psalmist’s prayer. If God remains silent, if he does not answer our prayers and cries for mercy, we will be no better off than those who are dead. Spurgeon said of this verse, “We must have answers to prayer: ours is an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak peace to our agitated minds, for he never can find it in his heart to permit his own elect to perish.” 

Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.

The Psalmist is distraught and fervently petitions God to be his salvation. Many of us can probably relate to these desperate cries for mercy in times of illness or despair. When hard times hit, it's crucial to turn to the only thing that can deliver us. Nothing else can fully answer our calls for help. At these times, we can beseechingly lift up our empty hands to God our refuge. 

Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.
Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work,
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.
Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.

God is just and will repay men for the evil things they have done; justice will be done to the men who “speak cordially with their neighbors” and wear a mask of righteousness while their hearts are full of malice. God sees the hearts of men and no thought, word, or deed escapes his omnipresent gaze. Even if the wicked seem to prosper in this life, God will deal justly with them in the life that is to come. He won’t reward them for their cordial speech but according to their evil thoughts and deeds. They have no regard for the works that God has done, so He will have no regard for their work, but will make it futile. It's probably not news to many that we live in an evil and perverse generation. Psalm 28 is a prayer that we would not be like those who go down to the pit but that we would be spared from being judged along with the wicked. 

Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me,
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

The Psalm of prayer turns to praise, illustrating the Puritan William Jenkyn’s words: “Praise shall conclude that work which prayer began.” The trusting, reliant soul will find an answer and be lead to joyfully worship God for His marvelous provision. We can be certain that if we pray fervently and unceasingly now, joyous and unending praise will follow, if not in this sin cursed world then throughout eternity. God heard the prayers of Jesus Christ, and we have assurance that He hears our prayers as well if we are God's anointed. Psalm 34:15 confirms: "The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry." Our Rock will hear us and deliver us from His and our enemies.

The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

God grants to His people these two main things: salvation and blessing. He saves us from death and our sin and blesses us by making our lives and labors fruitful. The answer to this prayer is fully answered in the ministry of the good shepherd. Christ shepherds, teaches, and guides us as God protects and makes our labors flourish. We also learn that we shouldn't just pray that God will bless us and our personal life, but all His people—the church militant. Spurgeon said of this verse’s petition: “Carry them in thine arms on earth, and then lift them into thy bosom in heaven. Elevate their minds and thoughts, spiritualise their affections, make them heavenly, Christlike, and full of God. O Lord, answer this our petition, for Jesus' sake.”
This one brief verse in a relatively short Psalm holds enough promise and hope for a lifetime- even for an eternity. I pray that God will continue to carry us forever, guiding us constantly even to death (Psalm 48:14).


Resource: The Treasury of David by C.H. Spurgeon. 

Psalm 84 and Me

Howdy! My name is Abigail Parnell. To start I thought I would tell you a little bit of my history with the Psalms.

My History with the Psalms

 I am a daughter of a pastor in the Reformed Presbyterian Church which means I have grown up singing the Psalms. This has been a great blessing but it has definitely had its challenges. It has made me very comfortable with the Psalms; I am very familiar with them, and I have learned many Psalms by heart because of my upbringing. In fact, I never really thought about how different and strange this was to other people. I definitely was too comfortable. I was singing Psalms because that was what my Church did. I had never really thought about it personally; I didn’t appreciate them or hear God’s voice in them.

I was rudely awakened when I attended an amazing/awesome theological program for youth. While I was there I met many Christians with many different levels of understanding and maturity. Many young believers who were there hadn't sung the Psalms all their lives and weren’t comfortable with them. They were questioning the basis for something that I had accepted all my life as normal. This came as a bit of a shock to me. I almost felt like I had missed something.

Now I am not saying I regret growing up with the Psalms! However, I definitely needed to understand why I sang the Psalms. It needed to become my own conviction to sing the Psalms. While I know that I can't simply accept something because it's comfortable, I also am reminded of the verse in second Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:14-15

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.”

My life is summed up in Psalm 84

In a similar way, I have been going to church for all my life. I can become comfortable so easily. church was another one of those things I just did. It was more of a social gathering for my own pleasure. I was blind to the rich blessing set before me EVERY week. But God was good. He showed me my ignorance. He didn’t take away the gift, but He showed me its beauty. He took me out of my comfort zone.

As I said, church was a social thing. In fact, church was my social group. I didn’t really know anybody outside of my Church community. So God gave me something to compare his gift to. He placed me in a three year program at a Vo-tech school where I was surrounded by people who acted and spoke in way that showed that they didn’t care about God. 

Enter Psalm 84….

Verse 1-2: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

  

Being surrounded by that selfish attitude I came to recognize my own selfishness. At the same time God caused to grow in me a longing for Him, His house, and His people. Being in the world drove me to my God.

Verses 3-5: Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

The world without God is a dry and dessert place. In contrast God offers a sweet dwelling place in Him! God strengthened me even in that place of spiritual barrenness where He had placed me. This was because HE was with me. God was my shield, my Sun. He is becoming more and more my joy.

Verses 6-9: As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!

It is nothing short of a miracle when you stop and think about it. God changed my heart, using the world! He changed my heart and made it my soul’s delight to be in His presence!

Verses 10-11: For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.  For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

And now the last verse perfectly states the song of my soul!

Verse 12:  O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

A Beautiful Inheritance

Recently I had the wonderful experience of attending the Reformed Presbyterian International Conference. I suspect that many of the people reading this will have attended as well, but if you don’t know what I am talking about, take a look here. Several times during the conference we had the opportunity to worship God in a corporate setting, and it was during one of those worship services that I realized what we were doing was really beautiful. At a point in one of the worship services I was overcome by a sense of tremendous joy, that at first I could not explain. Why was this so wonderful? And then we sang Psalm 16.

Psalm 16 explores the blessings of being part of the people of God by explaining the two-part inheritance God gives to his saints. In the first part of the psalm, David (the author)  focuses on the many benefits of living on earth as a child of God, before ending by explaining his hope for eternity.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, ‘’You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.” (Ps. 16:1-2)

The beginning of David’s Mikhtam (Psalm 16's title) is a cry to God for refuge. However, it is not a cry of despair, but rather of great hope, as seen in the rest of the psalm. Acknowledging he has no good apart from the Lord, David begins to outline what he calls his “beautiful inheritance” (v. 6). He opens with a discussion of two kinds of people.

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names on my lips. (vv. 3-4)

There are two camps here. There are those who worship other gods, and those who worship the true God. David makes a clear distinction between the two, saying that excellence is only to be found in those who have been set apart to serve the Lord. On the other hand, he refuses to even speak of idolaters.

Do we think this way? Do we make our closest friends those whom Christ has redeemed? In whom do we find delight? One of the most magnificent parts of the inheritance that we have as believers is being put into a Church. If redeemed by Christ, we are made members of his body, and in that context we have a group of unique individuals, all with different gifts to contribute, all working toward the same end goal.

I think again of the RP International Conference. Here was a group of 2000+ people from all different backgrounds. One might assume that when stuck in the same place for a week these people might have trouble getting along. But I was actually amazed at how well everyone meshed. It was evident that Christ was the uniting factor.

So fellowship with the saints is part of the our earthly inheritance, but David doesn’t stop there.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure. (vv. 5-9)

Among the blessings mentioned here are security, counsel, instruction, beauty, leadership, foundation, and joy. If no good is to be found outside of God then all good is the Lord’s to give! While the world promises things that will be pleasurable for a short while, real gladness, wisdom, and pleasure come from God alone. God makes this point in Jeremiah by using a metaphor: “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jer. 2:13) All good comes from God. Apart from him are only cheap imitations that can “hold no water”.

Again I ask, do we think this way? Have we set the Lord ever before us? Do we view wisdom, pleasure, and safety as gifts from God? If we do it should fill us with gladness. David says, “Therefore… my whole being rejoices.”

After singing verse 9 I was beginning to realize why worship with all those believers was so amazing. We are a blessed people! But then we sang the rest…

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:10-11)

At the end of the psalm, David gives the second part of our beautiful inheritance. Not only does God give us good things while we live on earth, but he extends our inheritance into eternity! You see, for the believer, death is not the end of the story. If we are God’s children we have great hope, and that hope is outlined in verse 10. Not only is the psalm speaking of our eternal life, it is speaking of Christ’s resurrection! Romans 6:5 gives us that wonderful truth, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Because Jesus was not abandoned to Sheol (the grave, or Hell), neither will we be!

The reason I found worship with a large group of believers so wonderful was that we were corporately praising the God who has given and is giving us good things on this earth and who has promised to provide for us forever! There we were as his saints, thanking him for what he has done across the globe. And to think; we get to spend eternity doing just that!

Psalm 16 tells us that if God is our refuge we have a beautiful inheritance that we receive both in this life and eternally. It is a wonderful psalm to sing when thankful, or to express our dependence on God. It is all the more joyful when sung with a group of close friends who have all been redeemed by Christ. What a beautiful inheritance God has given us!