Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 28:9
Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up forever.
9. thine inheritance ] Israel. Cp. Deu 4:20.
feed them ] Lit. shepherd them. Cp. Psa 23:1; 2Sa 7:7. Govern them in the adaptation of this verse in the Te Deum is from the Vulg. rege.
lift them up ] Exalt them; as the word is used in 2Sa 5:12. But we should probably render as in R.V., bear them up; either as a shepherd carries his sheep (Isa 40:11), continuing the idea of the preceding word; or as a father carries his child, a figure often applied to Jehovah’s care for Israel. See Deu 1:31; Isa 46:3-4; Isa 63:9. Cp. too Exo 19:4; Deu 32:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Save thy people – All thy people. The psalm appropriately closes with a prayer for all the people of God. The prayer is offered in view of the deliverance which the psalmist had himself experienced, and he prays that all the people of God might experience similar deliverance and mercy.
And bless thine inheritance – Thy heritage; Thy people. The Hebrew word properly means taking possession of anything; occupation. Then it comes to mean possession; domain; estate: Num, Psa 18:21. Thus it is used as applied to the territory assigned to each tribe in the promised land: Jos 13:23. Thus also it is applied to the people of Israel – the Jewish nation – as the possession or property of Yahweh; as a people whom he regarded as His own, and whom, as such, He protected: Deu 4:20; Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29. In this place the people of God are thus spoken of as His special possession or property on earth; as that which He regards as of most value to Him; as that which belongs to Him, or to which He has a claim; as that which cannot without injustice to Him be alienated from Him.
Feed them also – Margin, rule. The Hebrew word refers to the care which a shepherd extends over his flock. See Psa 23:1, where the same word, under another form – shepherd – is used. The prayer is, that God would take the same care of His people that a shepherd takes of his flock.
And lift them up for ever – The word used here may mean sustain them, or support them; but it more properly 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 unable themselves to rise. See Isa 40:11, note; Isa 63:9, note. The word forever here means simply always – in all circumstances; at all times. In other words, the psalmist prays that God would always manifest Himself as the Friend and Helper of His people, as He had done to him. It may be added here, that what the psalmist thus prays for Gods will to be done. God will save His people; He will bless His heritage; He will be to them a kind and faithful shepherd; He will sustain, comfort, uphold, and cherish them always – in affliction; in temptation; in death, forever. They have only to trust in Him, and they will find Him to be more kind and faithful than the most tender shepherd ever was to his flock.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 28:9
Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance; feed them also and lift them up for ever.
A prayer for the Church militant
Here are four choice blessings.
I. save thy people. This prayer may refer–
1. To their conversion.
2. Their sanctification.
3. Their recovery from backsliding.
4. Their deliverance from temptation.
5. The need of the whole church. If we pray this prayer we must try and save souls.
II. bless thine inheritance. After men are saved they have still many wants: such as–
1. Greater unity in the Church.
2. More earnestness.
3. More happiness.
When we pray this prayer select some out of Gods inheritance and pray especially for them. And take care practically to prove the sincerity of your prayer.
III. feed them also. Hence pray–
1. For ministers to be provided.
2. A clear insight into Gods truth.
3. Invoke communion with Christ. And here, also, see that we practically carry out this prayer.
IV. lift them up for ever. Gods people want lifting up, they are heavy by nature. They need it–
1. In character.
2. When in conflict; and–
3. At the last, that we may get home to be with God; (C. H. Spurgeon.)
An intercession sublimely catholic
This short prayer contains a sketch of the blessedness of the good–here called Gods people and His inheritance.
I. deliverance. Save Thy people. They are in danger. From what must men be delivered in order to be made happy? Sin. This is the great enemy.
1. Man must be delivered from its guilt. Sin resting on the conscience is the thundercloud of hell; this cloud must be blotted out.
2. Man must be delivered from its dominion. Man under the control of sin must be miserable. He has eternal battling with self, the universe, and God.
3. Man must be delivered from its consequences–remorse, despair, etc. From all this man must be saved, and the salvation can only be accomplished through Jesus Christ.
II. guardianship. Feed them also, that is, take care of them. Be to them what the faithful shepherd is to the sheep.
1. Ward off the enemy, Keep the lion and the wolf at a distance.
2. Restrain from dangers. Let not the flock fall over precipices, or go into bewildering thickets.
3. Supply with provisions. Lead them into green pastures. All this the Great Shepherd of souls does for His flock.
III. sustentation. Lift them up for ever. Deal tenderly with them, as the shepherd with the weaklings of his flock. It is said of Christ that He shall lead His people like a flock, etc. (Homilist.)
A benevolent prayer
1. For salvation.
2. For blessing.
3. For a Shepherds care. (J. E. Scott.)
The secret source of the saints supplies
An old Scotch baron was attacked by his enemy, who encamped before his gates, and would allow no provisions to enter them. He continued the siege long enough to have exhausted the supplies within, but there were no signs of capitulation. Weeks and months passed away, and yet no surrender. After a long time the besieger was surprised, one morning, to see a long line of fish, fresh from the sea, hung over the wall, as much as to say, We can feed you; and surely you cannot starve us out so long as there are fish in the sea, for we have an underground connection with it, and the supply is exhaustless! So Satan may besiege our gates, but he can never compel us to surrender, for our food comes, not through the gates, but from above, and through channels invisible to his eye, the supply of which is inexhaustible..
Psa 29:1-11
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Save thy people] Continue to preserve them from all their enemies; from idolatry, and from sin of every kind.
Bless thine inheritance] They have taken thee for their God; thou hast taken them for thy people.
Feed them] raah signifies both to feed and to govern. Feed them, as a shepherd does his flock; rule them, as a father does his children.
Lift them up for ever.] Maintain thy true Church; let no enemy prevail against it. Preserve and magnify them for ever. Lift them up: as hell is the bottomless pit in which damned spirits sink down for ever; or, as Chaucer says, downe all downe; so heaven is an endless height of glory, in which there is an eternal rising or exaltation. Down, all down; up, all up; for ever and ever.
ANALYSIS OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH PSALM
There are three parts in this Psalm: –
I. A prayer, Ps 28:1-6.
II. A thanksgiving, Ps 28:6-9.
III. A prayer for the Church, Ps 28:9.
I. The first part is a prayer to God; in which he first requests audience, Ps 28:2: “Hear me.” And his prayer is so described, that it sets forth most of the conditions requisite in one that prays: –
1. The object – GOD: “Unto thee, O Lord, do I cry.”
2. His faith: “To thee I cry, who art my rock.”
3. His fervour: It was an ardent and vehement prayer: “I cry.”
4. Humility; it was a supplication: “Hear the voice of my supplication.”
5. His gesture: “I lift up my hands.”
6. According to God’s ORDER: “Towards thy holy temple.”
1. The argument he uses to procure an audience; the danger he was in: “Lest, if thou be silent, I become like them that go down to the pit.”
2. Then he expresses what he prays for, which is, that either
1. He might not be corrupted by the fair persuasions of hypocrites:
2. Or that he might not be partaker of their punishments: “Draw me not away with the wicked.” Upon whom he sets this mark: “Who speak peace – but mischief is in their hearts.”
3. Against whom he uses this imprecation, which is the second part of his prayer: “Give them according to their own deeds,” c.
4. For which he gives this reason: They were enemies to God and to his religion far from repentance, and any hope of amendment: “They regard not the words of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands; therefore he shall destroy them, and not build them up.”
II. Then follows an excellent form of thanksgiving, which he begins with “Blessed be the Lord;” and assigns the reasons, which express the chief parts of thanksgiving.
I. That God heard him: “He hath heard the voice of my supplication.”
2. That he would be his Protector: “The Lord is my strength and my shield.”
3. For his grace of confidence: “My heart trusted in him.”
4. That from him he had relief: “I am helped.”
5. The testification and annunciation of this gratitude: “Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.” He remembers the indenture: “I will DELIVER THEE, – thou shalt PRAISE ME.” And, therefore, with heart and tongue he gives thanks.
6. And that God might have all the honour, he repeats what he said before: “The Lord is their strength,” c., that is, of all them that were with him.
III. He concludes with a prayer, in which he commends the whole Church to God’s care and tuition.
1. “Save thy people,” in the midst of these tumults and distractions.
2. “Bless thine inheritance” that they increase in knowledge, piety, and secular prosperity.
3. “Feed them:” Give them a godly king.
4. “Lift them up for ever:” Make their name famous among the Gentiles; let them increase and multiply till thy Church embraces all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. This hath the Lord promised.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thine inheritance; Israel, for whom I pray; partly because thou hast in some sort committed them to my charge, and partly because Saul did not take due care of them.
Lift them up; raise them out of their low and afflicted condition, in which they are, by reason of Sauls weakness and neglect, and by the prevailing power of the Philistines, and advance them to a state of safety and honour, and that not for a season, but with constancy and perpetuity, as it follows.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. The special prayer for thepeople sustains this view.
feed themas a shepherd(Ps 23:1, &c.).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Save thy people,…. The psalmist begins the psalm with petitions for himself, and closes it with prayers for the people of God; whom God has chosen for his people, taken into covenant to be his people, and given them to his son as such; these he has resolved to save, and has appointed Christ, and sent him into the world, to be the Saviour of them; and to them he makes known and applies the great salvation by his Spirit: so that this prayer was a prayer of faith, as are also the following petitions;
and bless thine inheritance; the people whom the Lord has chosen for his inheritance, and has given to Christ as his portion, and are his peculiar possession; and these he blesses with all spiritual blessings, with grace here, and glory hereafter, as is requested;
feed them also; 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;
and lift them up for ever; above their enemies, and out of the reach of them; bear and carry them now, as the shepherd does his lambs, in his arms and bosom; and raise them out of their graves, and give them the dominion in the morning of the resurrection, and cause them to reign as kings and priests with Christ, as they ever will.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In this verse he shows that it was not so much his own welfare as the welfare of the whole Church which was the object of his concern, and that he neither lived nor reigned for himself, but for the common good of the people. He well knew that he was appointed king for no other end. In this he declares himself to be a type of the Son of God, of whom, when Zechariah (Zec 9:9) predicts that he would come “having salvation,” there is no doubt that he promises nothing to him apart from his members, but that the effects of this salvation would diffuse themselves throughout his whole body. By this example, accordingly, he prescribes a rule to earthly kings, that, devoting themselves to the public good, they should only desire to be preserved for the sake of their people. (601) How very far otherwise it is, it is needless to say. Blinded with pride and presumption they despise the rest of the world, just as if their pomp and dignity raised them altogether above the common state of man. Nor is it to be wondered at, that mankind are so haughtily and contumeliously trampled under foot of kings, since the greatest part cast off and disdain to bear the cross of Christ. (602) Let us therefore remember that David is like a mirror, in which God sets before us the continual course of his grace. Only we must be careful, that the obedience of our faith may correspond to his fatherly love, that he may acknowledge us for his people and inheritance. The Scriptures often designate David by the name of a shepherd; but he himself assigns that office to God, thus confessing that he is altogether unfit for it, (603) save only in as far as he is God’s minister.
(601) “ Que tout la prospetite qu’ils se souhaitent soit a cause du peuple. — Fr. “That all the prosperity they desire should be for the sake of the people.”
(602) “ Veu que la plus grand part rejette et desdaigne de porter le joug de Christ.” — Fr.
(603) “ Qu’il n’en est pas digne.” — Fr. “That he is not worthy of it.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Feed . . . lift them up.These words suggest comparison with Isa. 40:11; Isa. 63:9. The incorporation of this petition in the Te Deum is one of those interesting facts that link the Christian worship with the Jewish.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Save thy people The burden of his soul was for God’s people. From this standpoint we must judge of all his utterances in prayer and praise. Psalms 3, 19, close in a similar way.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 28:9. Lift them up for ever Support them for ever. “Feed them, as a shepherd does his flock, and support them for ever by thy goodness and mercy.” See Psalms 23 and Fenwick.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Whither shall the miserable fly, but to the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation? To this rock, with fervour and importunity, the Psalmist has recourse, and cries for help and refuge.
1. He pleads his certain and impending ruin, if God did not hear and succour him; his enemies would then bring him to the dust of death; in God’s absence, his soul would taste the pains of hell; and if utterly forsaken by him, the dreadful pit would yawn to receive him; but he trusted God would hear when he lifted up his hands, which, with ceaseless importunity, he continued to do, towards his holy oracle; before the most holy place; where the Shechinah rested, and whence God’s oracles were given; or towards heaven, of which the Holy of Holies was the figure. Note; (1.) Deep distress should awaken strong cries, and there is one who hears, that can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. (2.) Christ is the true oracle, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and through him our humble prayers are sure to succeed.
2. He intreats to be saved from the ways and end of the workers of iniquity. They sought to intice him with fair words, but mischief was in their hearts; he knew the evil of their ways, and hated them; he knew the ruin of their end, and would fain avoid it: yet, knowing his own weakness, and proneness to evil, he looks out of himself for power, even to him who is mighty to save. Note; (1.) In the eyes of a child of God, sin is regarded as the greatest of evils. (2.) Seducing spirits are ever bury to deceive in every age. The Lord preserve us from error! (3.) They who would avoid the sinner’s ruin, must shun his ways.
3. He foretels the miserable end of the wicked, from whom he prayed to be delivered. Give them, or thou wilt give them, not as making it the matter of his prayer out of revenge or ill-will, but as foreseeing this would be the case, and praying that God might be glorified in his judgments, according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours; for not only outward acts of sin, but the inward purpose of it, is minuted in God’s book; not a thought of wickedness passes unnoticed by him: as their deserts require, they will receive at God’s hands; and because they pay no regard to his word, or the admonitions of his providence, destruction to the uttermost will overtake them. Note; (1.) In a judgment-day, when the sinner’s heart is laid open, a scene of wickedness will be discovered, such as the sun never beheld. (2.) Inattention to God’s works, word, and warnings, is one chief cause of the sinner’s ruin.
2nd, Who ever trusted in God and was confounded, or called upon his name in vain? The Psalmist’s praises ever succeed his prayers.
1. He blesses God for the answer of peace that he had given him: either he had received his request, or faith so realized the promises, that he reckoned that as already bestowed which he was assured God would grant. Note; The mercies that faith assures us of receiving, are matter of praise, as well as those which we already enjoy.
2. He professes his firm dependance upon God, and thankful acknowledgment to him. The Lord is my strength, by whose everlasting arms I am upheld; my shield, constantly spread over me to protect me from every danger: my heart trusted in him, when surrounded with enemies; and I am helped, experience his promise fulfilled; therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; a joy unspeakable and glorious warmed his inmost soul, and songs of melody and love spoke aloud the praise that he owed to his deliverer. Note; The end of worldly joy is heaviness; but the more a soul rejoiceth in God, the more heavenly his spirit grows.
3. As interested in the prosperity of God’s people, he rejoices that they have the same Almighty Saviour. The Lord is their strength, to support them in every time of need, and he is the saving strength of his anointed; of David, his king; of Messiah, the people’s hope, on whom their help is laid; and of every believer who receives an unction from the Holy One, and is consecrated unto God a king and priest. Note; God’s people rejoice in each other’s happiness as their own, for they are members of the same body.
4. He prays for the prosperity and salvation of all God’s Israel; that no enemy might prevail against them; that all the blessings of providence and grace might descend upon them; that he would feed them as the dear flock of his pasture, or rule them with his gentle sway, and make them a willing people; and not only lift them up above all their foes on earth, but eternally exalt them to a throne of glory, where all that hate them should be for ever put under their feet. Note; (1.) They who love the people of God, will daily make an affectionate remembrance of them in their prayers. (2.) They who are saved by grace, fed by God’s ordinances, and governed by God’s Spirit, shall surely reign with him in glory, and none beside.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
Here, my soul, take a lesson from the ever blessed Jesus, David’s Lord, how to cry unto God as thy Rock, thy Jesus, thy sure salvation. He will not be silent to this cry, for he hath said, Before my people call, I will answer. And learn moreover, that thine oracle, unto which thou art to approach, is a sure hearing place for poor sinners, and a sure answering place from God in Christ to poor sinners. Deliverance must come in God’s own appointed time, and in the Lord’s own appointed way. Let the inhabitants of the Rock, even them that inhabit the refuge in Jesus, sing.
And wilt thou not, my soul, from the beautiful example of this Psalm, close every prayer with praise? What, shall a mercy-seat ever be a witness against thee, that thou didst depart without giving thanks to the Lord? Forbid it, gracious Lord. Surely thou knowest, thou canst not indeed but know, never was a petition put up in Jesus’s name unheard; neither was it ever unanswered, though not always according to our wish of things, either in time or manner, but according to God’s purpose, whose promises are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Learn then, my soul, us one of the sweetest tokens of a spirit of grace and supplications, with thanksgiving in prayer, that blessings follow prayer, as suitably as mercies are returned to supplication. Yea, Lord, I would desire grace in all things to give thanks; and as this blessed scripture expresseth it, in this Psalm, so would I, in every renewed approach to the throne of grace, follow up the same devout doxology, and say, The Lord is my strength, and my shield: my heart trusteth in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and in my song will I praise him.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 28:9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
Ver. 9. Save thy people ] The Church must share in our prayers.
And bless thine inheritance
Feed them also
Lift them up
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Feed = tend as a shepherd. Compare Psalm 23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Save: Psa 14:7, Psa 25:22, Psa 80:14-19, Jer 31:7
bless: Deu 9:29, 2Sa 21:3, 1Ki 8:51, 1Ki 8:53, Jer 10:16, Eph 1:18
feed: or, rule, Psa 78:71, 2Sa 7:7, Isa 40:11, Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24, Mic 5:2, Mic 5:4, Mic 7:14, Mat 2:6,*marg.
lift: Ezr 1:4, *marg.
Reciprocal: Exo 34:9 – take us Deu 4:20 – a people Deu 26:15 – bless thy Psa 29:11 – give Psa 30:1 – for Psa 33:12 – his own Psa 67:1 – bless us Jer 31:23 – The Lord Jam 4:10 – he Rev 7:17 – feed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 28:9. Bless thine inheritance Israel, for whom he prays, not as his people, but as Gods. Save thy people: thine inheritance. Gods interest in them lay nearer his heart than his own. Feed them also As a shepherd does his flock, as , regnem, signifies. Bless them with all things needful for life and for godliness. Or, rule them, as the margin renders it. Direct their counsels and actions aright, and overrule their affairs for good. Set pastors over them that shall feed and rule them with wisdom and understanding, Jer 3:15. And lift them up for ever Raise them out of their low and afflicted condition, and advance them to a state of safety and honour, and that not for a season only, but with constancy and perpetuity. Lift them up to thy glorious and heavenly kingdom. There, and there only, will the saints be lifted up for ever, never more to sink or be depressed. Observe well, reader, 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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. Final request for deliverance 28:9
Having expressed his confidence in the Lord’s salvation, David repeated his request for deliverance. He wanted divine salvation and guidance for Israel from her Shepherd forever. This is a long-range petition for God’s sustenance in the years that lay ahead.
God’s people can appeal for help in distress to their great Shepherd and can rely on His guidance and salvation in view of His commitment to them. The leaders of God’s people should intercede for the Lord’s blessing on the people under their charge, as David did (cf. 1Sa 12:23).