Psalm Chapter 28

Psalm 28: The Rock That Hears

There is a peculiar terror in the opening of this psalm that is easy to miss: Be not silent to me, lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. The worst fate David can imagine is not suffering or defeat but silence — God's silence. To cry out and hear nothing back. It is the spiritual equivalent of shouting into a canyon and receiving no echo, as though the universe itself were empty. And so he lifts his hands toward the holy oracle, that ancient place where God had promised to speak, and begs not to be lumped in with those who speak peace to their neighbours but carry mischief in their hearts. Then the psalm breaks open: Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard. That single word — heard — carries the entire weight of the poem. The silence did not last. The rock spoke back. And the man who entered the psalm terrified of the pit leaves it singing, carried along by a strength he knows is not his own.

00:00 Cry to the Rock
00:20 Hands Lifted to the Oracle
00:40 The Workers of Iniquity
01:00 Blessed Be the Lord — He Hath Heard
01:15 Feed Them and Lift Them Up Forever