Psalm 28

1To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me,
Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2Hear the voice of my supplications
When I cry to You,
When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

3Do not take me away with the wicked
And with the workers of iniquity,
Who speak peace to their neighbors,
But evil is in their hearts.
4Give them according to their deeds,
And according to the wickedness of their endeavors;
Give them according to the work of their hands;
Render to them what they deserve.
5Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of His hands,
He shall destroy them
And not build them up.

6Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!
7The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

8The Lord is their strength,
And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
9Save Your people,
And bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
And bear them up forever.
-Psalm 28

What an incredible reality that the Lord hears our prayers. One of the things that stands out to me with this Psalm is the progression it takes. At the start it almost seems that there is doubt being expressed about the Lord responding to His prayer. Yet, at the end we have this rejoicing because the Lord has heard David and is his strength. The question that arises to me is this: what happened in between that brought David to that place?

Take a close look at vs. 3-5. David pleads that he would not be coupled with the wicked and what the wicked are deserving. As he describes the wicked and their works he makes a distinction between the way he is living and the way the wicked lives. To the end of that we discover the perspective that each takes.

5Because they do not regard the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of His hands,
He shall destroy them
And not build them up.

The wicked had not considered the works of the Lord. As I think over this it astounds me how easy it is to doubt or to give in to temptation if we are never considering the works of the Lord. Through Israel's history we see this pattern of forgetting the works of the Lord and their walking into wickedness. We see doubt creep in and desire to walk in the ways of the other nations. There is truly nothing new under the sun. Consider, then, the works of the Lord and remember the ways in which He has answered you in the past. Remember how He has continually been faithful to His people and rejoice in Him. The Lord hears you and knows the very thing you have need of before you even ask for it.