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COMMENTARY ON PSALM 28 A psalm of David. e sings this psalm in the person of those who have come to faith in Christ, and with entreaty he calls on Christ for assistance. As well, it contains a rebuke for the Jews’ folly and a prayer for separation from their hand, or rather any part with them. I cried out to you, O Lord, do not keep silence with me, O my God, lest in your silence with me I become like those going down to the pit (v. 1). The psalm was spoken by David when he was pursued by Saul and was the object of schemes on the part of those who seemed to be friends but betrayed him and tried to reveal his whereabouts to Saul, [1057] like Doeg1 and the Ziphites2 and many others in addition to them. This psalm, on the other hand, and in fact the psalms before it as well are suited to everyone encountering calamities of this kind: like blessed David it is possible for the person intent on persevering both to petition God and thereby to secure his providence.3 He used cried out in fact not of sound but of enthusiasm and intense , zealous prayer, whereas do not keep silence with me he took by analogy from people called on by some but refusing to make any reply. Hence he means, If you keep silence with me and deprive me of your help, I shall immediately be consigned to death, which he called pit, since the grave is dug like a pit.4 178 1. Cf. 1 Sam 22.9. 2. Cf. 1 Sam 23.19–20. 3. It is rare that Theodoret gets beyond the historical background of the psalm, the occasional linguistic feature, a possible theological clarification, and the customary brisk paraphrase, to suggest (even briefly, as here) that the readers may find the sentiments of the psalm relevant and even helpful in their own situation. It is psalm as window rather than as mirror that interests him, unlike many a spiritual director. 4. While we have seen Theodoret ready (against the general tenor of Old Testament thought, pace Dahood) to understand the psalmist as looking (2) Hearken, O Lord, to the voice of my entreaty, when I entreat you, when I lift my hands to your holy temple (v. 2). Though the Temple was not yet built, he gives the name temple to the tabernacle in which he prayed, distant from it in body but directing his mind there. Likewise also when blessed Daniel in Babylon prayed, he opened the windows facing Jerusalem,5 not under the impression that God was confined there but from his knowledge that the divine manifestation occurred there. Do not drag me away with sinners, and with workers of iniquity do not destroy me, those who talk peace with their neighbors but in whose hearts is evil (v. 3). The prayer of blessed David is to have no truck with those who practice duplicity: he calls abhorrent those who say one thing but mean another. (3) This is surely the reason he also wishes that they reap a due reward for their exploits, saying, Repay them, O Lord, according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their exploits. Repay them for the works of their hands; grant them their due repayment (v. 4). Let no one think, however, that the righteous person is cursing his enemies: the words are a mark not of cursing but of a just verdict. Grant them their due repayment, he says, meaning, May they fall foul of their own schemes, which they hatch against one another. This is said also in the seventh psalm, “Their trouble will come back on their own head, and their wrong will come down on top of them.”6 Then he teaches the reason for the retribution: [1060] Because they did not understand the works of the Lord and the works of his hands (v. 5). Now, they committed these things, he is saying, because they had no wish to learn either the divine word or work. Hence you will destroy them and not build them up. In other words, destruction of a useless building is of some advantage to the wicked builders. From this it is clear that he uttered the previous remarks in prophetic fashion, not to curse them but to prophesy the future: he did not say, “destroy ” but you will destroy and not build up again...

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