Psalm 28

⁰⁶          Blessed be the Lord!

because He has heard my pleas for mercy.

⁰⁷          The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped.

                        Therefore, my heart greatly exults,

                                    with my song I will praise Him.

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Blessed Be the Lord

For the Lord’s Day:  the 19^th of June 2005

 

Introduction:  Delitszch notes that “the first half of the Psalm prayed for deliverance and for judgment; this second half gives thanks for both.”  He continues with an awesome insight that is just possible:  “If the poet wrote the Psalm at one sitting then at this point the certainty of being answered dawns upon him.”  This plausibility reminds me of General Patton of World War Two fame.  At the time of the Battle of the Bulge – the famed general called in a Chaplain and ordered him to prepare a prayer for distribution.  The prayer specifically was for good weather so that the allied counter-attacks might better succeed with the proper air support.

 

Whether or not the specified prayer of Patton was specifically answered or not is beyond the pale of discussion.  However, the gung ho attitude of Patton towards that prayer could very well be reminiscent of David’s mind and heart here!  By this I mean that the prayer warrior David has such confidence in the power, might and purpose of the Almighty that he can go forth in confidence – knowing all the while that the Lord God of heaven and earth does indeed go before him.

 

Blessed be the Lord! because He has heard my pleas for mercy.”  David writes in the blessed anticipation that he shall be heard.  Now I do not wish to belabor the point or anticipate the providence and purpose of the Lord God, but in and through the personal financial and spiritual struggles of the last year and a half I have certainly been encouraged by not only the session but also the congregation.  Therefore, in seeing that great personal blessing – I am all the more assured that the Lord is blessing us week by week and that He does indeed have in mind a future for us that we must continue to labor together toward.

 

Calvin observes that in the context of these verses, David “teaches us that his prayers were not in vain.  Thus he confirms by his own example, that God is ready to bring help to his people wherever they seek him in truth and sincerity.”

 

Development:  The next thought of this psalm is contained in the first line of verse seven:  “The Lord is my strength and my shield.”  Here we have a full blown military allusion, which is twofold.  First, there is the fact of David’s personal strength, training and skill noted in the “strength” for combat.  Second, there is the mention of the shield behind which the warrior would crouch and advance his sword or spear at the close ranks of opposing forces.

 

We can appreciate the importance of that ancient artifact made up of wood, metal and leather, because of its absolute necessity in every battle, small or large.  The Lord God is also to David a force to be recognized with on the battle fields of his own kingdom.  So much so, that it is to Him that David dedicates his own skill and equipment as he declares that while David and his kin must labor on to hone their military skills – still the God of Abraham is the author and sustainer of their own poor abilities.

 

Military skill as we must realize is not easily gained.  Young men must be prepared for the eventuality of combat all their lives by and through education and training.  The founder of the Boy Scouts in Britain specifically created the organization to imbue young men with the attitudes, conviction and integrity that could sustain future generations to the task of defending home and country.  In addition, the necessary survival skills in the field were meant to harden his students to the realities of an age old profession.

 

In our Sunday School series on the era of the Judges, we have been left with the proposition that all of these troubles brought upon Israel by her unfaithfulness at least taught the generations that military preparedness and ability is not a national luxury, but sadly a necessity in every time and place.  I was always amazed at the attitudes of the hippies and their liberal supporters who supposed that war could be legislated away forever and a day!  That same attitude prevailed in the twenties. In that time, sixty-two countries agreed by treaty and international law to never use armed force to attain any national agenda.  Sadly, that list of countries was one which noted the most likely powers involved in World War Two.

 

Certainly, David was prepared – as always: to do battle, yet he was always humbled by the providential working out of God’s greater purpose on the pages of human history.  David, we may note:  was nothing more than a moral and military realist – knowing the fallen nature and minds of men and yet counting on the mind, power and purpose of God to supersede the military mischief intended by and through a fallen humanity.

 

The next line of verse seven, is a further declaration of David’s hope in a gracious all powerful God:  “In Him my heart trusts, and I am helped.”  “Heart work,” Spurgeon declares “is sure work; heart trust is never disappointed.”  Do you see the confidence of the Jewish soldier here in David’s affirmation?  It is said that in the age of David, that the hosts of Israel prayed in the heat of battle, for the flight of their arrows, the thrusts of their swords and the strength of their shields.  Christian warriors in every age since can only mimic that methodology even while they like a contemporary spiritual song proclaims:  “The battle belongs to the Lord.”  After the fist Desert Storm, the Chief of Chaplains spoke to our General Assembly and thanked us all for the prayers that had sustained those on the front lines.

 

Application:  And in our decade as well – it is prayer that still sustains those who are in harms way.  It is certainly not the news papers, the media or the liberal politicians who support our country in a time of war?  At least David did not have those likes to contend with every step of the way during his career!  His faith gave him strength and thereby he agrees – he was helped to persevere and go on from battle to battle.

 

But, David is not through with his declaration of confidence, the last line of verse seven speaks eloquently:  “Therefore, my heart greatly exults, with my song I will praise Him.”  How much does David exult?  He gives proof in the publication of this specific Psalm whereby his prayer is still sung in every land where his greater Son is honored and glorified.

 

Worldly wags have it that wine, steaks and songs all get better with age.  I was once informed that the date on a wine was not the expiration date as I might have thought!  And as the market indicates – some years are better than others for grape crops.  Old songs, of course depend upon the individual tastes.  I was recently asked if I wanted to attend a concert where the music of the fifties, sixties and seventies would be performed.  I declined – since I wasn’t impressed with those vintages when they were new!  Of course, within the church, here – we are careful to sing not only hymns, but also the old psalms and the newer spiritual songs.  That way – we can keep the music of the church ever fresh but also historic as well.

 

Down through the ages, more music has been written for our Triune God than any other subject on earth.  It is David’s spirit in this regard which has infected believers since his day.  His son Solomon even established the Temple choirs to refine David’s music and to compose more in the same spirit.

 

And with the coming of Christ, the various national churches have sought to give Him praise in every tongue under the sun.  Some tunes and poems of course are less timely than others and so they inform the church across the wide expanse of the whole earth.  And every week when the Lord’s Day begins – there is a constant chorus following the course of the daily time zones from dusk to dawn.  What a wonderful sound it is that must raise to heaven each and every Lord’s Day?

 

And what is the source of this constant practice?  With a little help from Moses and others of course, Israel praised the God of heaven.  But, by and large it was the establishment of the hymn book of the Old Covenant Church that more than anything else prepared the church to sing its heart out in honor of the Lord God of heaven and earth, as well as to give praise and glory to His only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thankfully, it was in and through David that the church learned to not only pray, but also sing.  Let us enjoy all the more the solid fruits of David’s labor.  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES

 

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament – Psalms.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

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