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Psalm 28 Bible study: The voice of my petitions
The psalm's answer has its request's own words: "Hear the voice of my petitions" (28:2) comes back as "he has heard the voice of my petitions" (28:6), the same Hebrew. And "the operation of their hands" (28:4) and "the operation of his hands" (28:5) are the same words too.
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“The LORD is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.”
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“In Psalm 28 the psalmist says the LORD has heard the voice of his petitions.”
Is that in Psalm 28, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"Don’t be deaf to me"
The title is "By David" (28:1), and names no occasion. Then the psalmist calls: "To you, LORD, I call. My rock, don’t be deaf to me, lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit" (28:1) (tap deaf, silent, pit). Deaf and silent are two different Hebrew verbs, charash and chashah. For charash, Brown-Driver-Briggs gives "be silent, dumb, speechless" and "be deaf", and of its simple stem, the one in this verse, it says, "alw. of God’s keeping silence when men pray". What the verse fears is the LORD's silence: if he is silent, the psalmist says, "I would become like those who go down into the pit" (28:1). Pit is bor, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "pit, cistern, well", and among its senses, "pit of the grave".
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 28
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 28 is waiting in Favor
- Asked, and heard, in the same words
- The work of their hands, and the work of his
- From my strength to their strength
- The same words in Psalms 31 and 143
- His handiwork
- Shepherd, and carry
- 6 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 28 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
תַּחֲנוּןtachanunsay ta-kha-NOON
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "supplication for favour". Strong's: "earnest prayer", and "from 2603", the verb of "be merciful to me" (Psalm 26:11). It comes twice in this psalm, both times in the voice of my petitions: "Hear the voice of my petitions" (28:2), and "he has heard the voice of my petitions" (28:6). The Hebrew Bible has it 18 times, eight of them in the Psalms. The WEB has the voice of my petitions in five verses, all in the Psalms (Psalm 28:2, Psalm 28:6, Psalm 31:22, Psalm 86:6, Psalm 130:2).
For your group
Psalm 28 Bible study questions
- 1"My rock, don’t be deaf to me" (28:1). Have you ever prayed and felt met with silence? What did you do with it?
- 2"Blessed be the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my petitions" (28:6). When have you looked back and seen that a prayer of yours was heard?
- 3The psalm begins with "To you, LORD, I call" (28:1) and ends with "Save your people" (28:9). What helps you move from praying for yourself to praying for others?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 28 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Psalm 28 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 28 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home