Psalm 28  - May the Blessed One Bless

TEXT (for Hebrew, see end)

1. Of David.

To You, O LORD, I call; my rock, act not as if deaf toward me, for if You act as if dumb toward me, I shall be like those gone down into the Pit.
2. Hear the sound of my supplication when I cry out to You, when I raise up my hands toward Your holy shrine.
3. Do not drag me away with wicked ones and evildoers, who speak peace to their fellows with malice in their heart.
4. Pay them according to their deeds, their malicious acts; according to their handiwork pay them, give them what they deserve.
5. For they do not consider the LORD’s deeds, his handiwork. May He tear them down and not rebuild them!
6. Blessed is the LORD, for He hears the sound of to my supplication.
7. Thc LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him. I was helped, and my heart rejoiced, so I will give thanks to Him with my song.
8. The LORD is their1 strength; a stronghold for the deliverance of His anointed is He.
9 Deliver Your people, bless Your heritage; shepherd them and raise them up forever.

Note
1. Possibly read “His people’s” as per Septuagint, some commentators, and manuscripts.

COMMENTARY

In conflict and with a degree of desperation, someone prays. Afterward, feeling that his prayer has been accepted, he not only expresses his gratitude, but moves on to pray for others. If we may ascribe a didactic purpose to the poet of Psalm 28, it is that progression that the psalmist would have us consider.

Prayers – Two

The three principal sections of Psalm 28 are clear: (a) the speaker’s prayer of request for himself vis-à-vis evildoers (verses 1–5); (b) thanksgiving for acceptance of the prayer (verses 6–7); and (c) a prayer for others (verses 8–9). However, it is rather hard to understand the transition from one section to the other. (I do not dwell extensively on the contention of combined different texts, as the uniform style and repetitions belie any such thought.)

As suggested by several commentators, the third section is most easily understood as the content of the speaker’s “song” mentioned at the end of verse 7. That, essentially, creates two halves, verses 1–5 and 6–9. One then notes that verses 2 and 6, near the beginnings of these two halves, both include the extended phrase “hear the sound of my supplications.” The poem is thus bound together. The reader can observe a smooth progression, the speaker’s prayer leading to his feeling of acceptance and gratitude, and finally his transition to group prayer. The reader’s reaction to that (which could range from understanding, to great pleasure at the progress, to dismay at the initial emphasis on oneself, etc.) is beyond the range of the psalm, but might be where the psalmist wished to lead his readers. (We note that as in Psalm 20, the psalmist does not feel compelled to detail the bridge between the request and thanksgiving, i.e., the details of God’s positive response.)

Actors – Four

The reader confronts four essential roles in the poem: the speaker (who is dominant), the LORD, the evildoers, and the people Israel.
Of the speaker we know little, though the two articulations of his personal prayer, the negative of verse 1 and the positive of verse 2, reflect marked desperation. Presumably he is in direct conflict with the evildoers, who are described in much more detail (3–5), even if the nature of the conflict is not specified. Their actions are painted in broad strokes, apart from their denial of God Himself. Thus the emphasis falls on the fact of the conflict, rather than on its details, which allows for the focus on the strikingly clear call for total punishment for those individuals. As in many psalms, we sense the tone of “we” (here, “I”) versus “them,” the latter being evil, ascendant, numerous, and strong. The description is brutal. They are the unredeemed and unredeemable. (Again, one senses that the psalms are often the literature of the oppressed minority, at least in their own eyes.)

Neither God nor the People is described in detail. As in Psalm 26, there is an implied possibility that God will mistakenly associate the speaker with the evildoers. The act of prayer is a necessary articulation, and without the reminder to God, there may be confusion. (Concerning the fourth party, the People, see below, on rereading the third section.)

Repetitions – Many

The repetitions in Psalm 28 carry the poem along, reinforcing the direct messages. I list the repetitions one by one, noting comparisons made and functions fulfilled.

“Raise up” (verses 2, 9): The speaker “raises” his hands to God, Who in turn is asked to “raise” His People.

A sound echo (three roots, four words): Evildoers profess goodwill toward their “fellows” (re’ehem), but speak “malice” (ra’) in their hearts (verse 3). God is asked to repay them according to their “malicious acts” (ro’a) (verse 4), and thus He can “shepherd them” (r’em), His people (verse 9).

“Doing, deeds” (root, p’l): “Evildoers” should be punished according to their “deeds,” and for not considering God’s “deeds” (verses 3, 4, 5).

“Hands”: The speaker lifts his “hands” (verse 2), and God should punish the wicked for their “handiwork” (verse 4) in not recognizing God’s handiwork (verse 5) ("work" also repeated).

“Hears the sound of my supplications” (verses 2, 6): Once offered and once heard, the phrase binds the two halves.

“Heart”: Their heart was filled with malice; the speaker’s is filled with trust and is exulted (verses 3, 7).

Verse 5 (sound echo): They do not “consider” (yavinu), so God should never rebuild them (yivnem).

“Bless”: “Blessed” is the Lord (for helping the speaker) (verse 6), and thus He should “bless” His people (verse 9).

Some repetitions serve as emphases, as follows:

Verse 1 (an echo): “Act… as if deaf toward me” (techerash mimeni) is followed by “act as if dumb toward me” (techeshe mimeni). (The translation reflects the Hebrew through split use of the common phrase, "deaf and dumb."

Verses 3, 4: “Malice” is echoed by “malicious.”

Verse 4: “Pay them according to” appears twice.

Verse 7, 8: “Strength” or "strong" appears three times

(Possible additional echo: The Septuagint, some classical commentators, and some manuscripts read strength “to His People” (l’amo) for “their” (lamo) strength, verse 11. If that is the correct rendition, “People” is also echoed, verses 11 and 12.)

The Third Section, Reread

Whereas the last two verses fit smoothly when understood as a quotation of the speaker’s song, we should still be sensitive to the psalm’s movement from the individual to the group. This is a subcategory of a technique we have already encountered—the radical change at the end of the poem. If these last two verses are seen as a unit and set against the rest of the psalm, we then have a reversed structure in terms of address “to” or “about” God; the first seven verses begin with direct address and move to third person; the last two verses begin with the third person and proceed to direct address. This, too, encloses the psalm, somewhat isolates the third unit, and further highlights the movement from the individual to the group. The reader is left to ponder not only the mindset of the speaker, but also oneself concerning two issues: the degree to which one extrapolates from personal experience to community and the strength one can or does gain from such community when facing personal difficulties.


The author of these essays is Rabbi Benjamin Segal, former president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and author of The Song of Songs: A Woman in Love (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2009). This material is copyright by the author, and may not be reproduced. If you are interested in using the texts for study groups, please be in direct contact with the author, at psalmblog@gmail.com.

HEBREW TEXT

א לְדָוִד אֵלֶיךָ יְהוָה אֶקְרָא צוּרִי אַל-תֶּחֱרַשׁ מִמֶּנִּי פֶּן-תֶּחֱשֶׁה מִמֶּנִּי וְנִמְשַׁלְתִּי עִם-יוֹרְדֵי בוֹר

ב שְׁמַע קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנַי בְּשַׁוְּעִי אֵלֶיךָ בְּנָשְׂאִי יָדַי אֶל-דְּבִיר קָדְשֶׁךָ

ג אַל-תִּמְשְׁכֵנִי עִם-רְשָׁעִים וְעִם-פֹּעֲלֵי-אָוֶן דֹּבְרֵי שָׁלוֹם עִם-רֵעֵיהֶם וְרָעָה בִּלְבָבָם

ד תֶּן-לָהֶם כְּפָעֳלָם וּכְרֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם כְּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם תֵּן לָהֶם הָשֵׁב גְּמוּלָם לָהֶם

ה כִּי לֹא יָבִינוּ אֶל-פְּעֻלֹּת יְהוָה וְאֶל-מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו יֶהֶרְסֵם וְלֹא יִבְנֵם

ו בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה כִּי-שָׁמַע קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנָי

ז יְהוָה עֻזִּי וּמָגִנִּי בּוֹ בָטַח לִבִּי וְנֶעֱזָרְתִּי וַיַּעֲלֹז לִבִּי וּמִשִּׁירִי אֲהוֹדֶנּוּ

ח יְהוָה עֹז-לָמוֹ וּמָעוֹז יְשׁוּעוֹת מְשִׁיחוֹ הוּא

ט הוֹשִׁיעָה אֶת-עַמֶּךָ וּבָרֵךְ אֶת-נַחֲלָתֶךָ וּרְעֵם וְנַשְּׂאֵם עַד-הָעוֹלָם