Psalms 28:7

Psa 28:7 The LORD [is] my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Ver. 7. The Lord is my strength and my shield] So that I am furnished and harnessed within and without. See Psa 18:2.

My heart trusted in him, and I am helped] Faith substantiateth things not yet seen, Heb 11:1, it altereth the tenses, saith one, and putteth the future into the present tense, as here.

My heart greatly rejoiceth, &c.] Inwardly I am glad, warmed at heart; and outwardly cheerful, even unto singing. And what will David sing? See his ditty in the next words.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield.

A sacred solo

Note in the three sentences-there is in each that which is inward and that which is outward. The Lord is my strength--that is inward; My shield--that is outward. My heart trusted in Him--inward; I am helped--outward. My heart greatly rejoiceth--inward; With my song will I praise Him--outward. It teaches us that truth and beauty of form are to be linked together: to be holy we need not to be uncouth. Slovenly preaching, doggerel verses and discordant singing are to be avoided in our worship.

I. We have here A sure possession. With double grip the psalmist takes hold of God. The Lord is my strength and my shield. It is not anything belonging to the Lord, but the Lord Himself that he thus lays hold on. He also can say this has a large inheritance which death cannot wither, nor space compass, nor time limit, nor eternity explore. He may be short in pocket money, as owners of large estates sometimes are; but he is infinitely rich, for he hath real property and an indefeasible title to it. Notice how God is laid hold of--

1. Inwardly, as his strength. You cannot tell how strong you are if you can say this: what marvellous capacity for endurance. Increase of burden is nothing to groan at if there be increase of strength. And with this we can, also, do anything. Then--

2. There is the outward manifestation. God is our shield. Where would you hide yourself, said one to Luther, if the Elector of Saxony should withdraw his protection? He smiled and said, I put no trust in the Prince of Saxony. Beneath the broad shield of Heaven I stand secure against Pope and Turk and devil. So he did, so do we. And many of us can attest this.

II. A definite experience. My heart trusted in Him and I am helped. He does not say, I trusted as one who makes a profession with his lips, but my heart trusted. Happy the man who in his heart trusts. Did you ever notice the middle verse of the whole Bible? It is Psa_118:8. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. The comparison will not bear a thought, the preference is infinite. May the heart always trust, and in God alone. Then we have the outward manifestation of the inward experience, I am helped. Not I was, nor I shall be, but I am. Old Master Trapp says, faith has no tenses, because faith deals with a God whose name is I am. With man we trust and are often disappointed or deceived, but never so with God.

III. A declared emotion. Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song, etc. Some peoples rejoicing is but skin deep. They laugh: their face is surfaced over with smiles, and their mirth bubbles up with silly glee. Nothing is more sad. You may perhaps have heard of Carlini, one of the most celebrated clowns of the beginning of this century, a man whose wit and humour kept all Paris in roars of laughter; but he himself had little share of the cheerfulness he simulated so well and stimulated so much. His comedies brought him no comfort; he was a victim of habitual despondency. He consulted a physician, who gave him some medicine, but advised him by way of recreation to go and hear Carlini. If he does not fetch the blues out of you nobody will. Alas, sir, said he, I am Carlini. And so often men make mirth for others, but live in gloom themselves. Not so the man who has laid hold on God. My heart greatly rejoiceth. And we should tell out our joy. With my song will I praise Him. Hard-worked mothers, toiling labourers, wearied servants, sing praise unto Him. The birds, the flowers, the many-tinted shells in depth of ocean, all praise Him. Do you the same. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Lord acknowledged and praised

I. the Lord acknowledged.

1. AS the source of strength.

(1) Physical.

(2) Intellectual.

(3) Spiritual.

2. As a shield.

(1) Against temptation.

(2) Against the fiery darts of Satan.

(3) Against the attacks of personal enemies.

II. the Lord trusted.

1. With the heart.

2. For the salvation of the soul.

3. For the power to keep from falling.

4. For help in every hour of need.

III. the Lord rejoiced is.

1. Because the soul is at peace with God.

2. Because of the consciousness of security in God.

3. Because of the manifested presence of God in the soul.

IV. the Lord praised.

1. For the manifestation of His power.

(1) To give strength in the hour of weakness.

(2) To give encouragement in the hour of despondency.

(3) To give light in the hour of darkness.

(4) To give inspiration in the hour of conflict.

2. For the manifestation of His love.

(1) In cleansing the heart from all sin.

(2) In inscribing the name in heaven.

(3) In the adoption of sons into the Divine family.

(4) In the blessed assurance of an eternal home in heaven. (O. T. Adams.)

The security of those who have God for their strength and shield

He is invulnerable whom God shields. The devil might spare his arrows, for not one of them will take effect on him whom God shields. David rested in his God in the midst of trouble, for God was a shield unto him. Oh, man, what about your fortifications? The French, yonder in Paris, put out statements and bulletins about the state of the fortifications--about the condition of the chain of forts that encircle their city. Now, as you walk around the walls of your own soul, have you got God as a shield? You, young fellow, are you shielded by God? Is God your shield? Have you covenanted with Jehovah? If you have, then--oh, hear it!--you are safe, for the Lord is thy shield. (J. Robertson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 7. Here is David's declaration and confession of faith, coupled with a testimony from his experience. The Lord is my strength. The Lord employs his power on our behalf, and moreover, infuses strength into us in our weakness. The psalmist, by an act of appropriating faith, takes the omnipotence of Jehovah to be his own. Dependence upon the invisible God gives great independence of spirit, inspiring us with confidence more than human. And my shield. Thus David found both sword and shield in his God. The Lord preserves his people from unnumbered ills; and the Christian warrior, sheltered behind his God, is far more safe than the hero when covered with his shield of brass or triple steel. My heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Heart work is sure work; heart trust is never disappointed. Faith must come before help, but help will never be long behindhand. Every day the believer may say, "I am helped, "for the divine assistance is vouchsafed us every moment, or we should go back unto perdition; when more manifest help is needed, we have but to put faith into exercise, and it will be given us. Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The heart is mentioned twice to show the truth of his faith and his joy. Observe the adverb "greatly, "we need not be afraid of being too full of rejoicing at the remembrance of grace received. We serve a great God, let us greatly rejoice in him. A song is the soul's fittest method of giving vent to its happiness, it were well if we were more like the singing lark, and less like the croaking raven. When the heart is glowing, the lips should not be silent. When God blesses us, we should bless him with all our heart.

Ver. 7. The Lord is my strength. Oh, sweet consolation! If a man have a burden upon him, yet if he have strength added to him, if the burden be doubled, yet if his strength be trebled, the burden will not be heavier, but lighter than it was before to his natural strength; so if our afflictions be heavy, and we cry out, Oh, we cannot bear them! yet if we cannot bear them with our own strength, why may we not bear them with the strength of Jesus Christ? Do we think that Christ could not bear them? or if we dare not think but that Christ could bear them, why may not we come to bear them? Some may question, can we have the strength of Christ? Yes; that very strength is made over to us by faith, for so the Scripture saith frequently, The Lord is our strength; God is our strength; The Lord Jehovah is our strength; Christ is our strength Ps 28:7 43:2 Ps 118:14 Isa 12:2 Hab 3:19 Col 1:11; and, therefore, is Christ's strength ours, made over unto us, that we may be able to bear whatsoever lies upon us. Isaac Ambrose.

Ver. 7. The Lord is my strength inwardly, and my shield outwardly. Faith finds both these in Jehovah, and the one not without the other, for what is a shield without strength, or strength without a shield? My heart trusted in him, and I am helped: the idea of the former sentence is here carried out, that outward help was granted to inward confidence. W. Wilson, D.D.

Ver. 7. My heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Faith substantiates things not yet seen; it altereth the tense, saith one, and putteth the future into the present tense as here. John Trapp.

Ver. 7. The heart's possessions, confidence, experience, joy, and music.

Ver. 7. Adoring God for his mercies.

1. What God is to the believer.

2. What should be the disposition of our hearts towards him. C. Simeon.

Psalms 28:8*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. (Psa 28:7) Jehovah, my strength and my shield! In him has my heart trusted, and I have been helped, and my heart shall exult, and by my song I will thank (or praise) him. The construction of the first clause as a proposition, by supplying the substantive verb, Jehovah (is) my strength and my shield, is unnecessary, and neither so simple nor so strong as that which makes it a grateful and admiring exclamation.—My heart is twice used in this sentence to express the deep and cordial nature of the exercises which he is describing. The same heart that trusted now rejoices. As he believed with all his heart, so now he rejoices in like manner.—By my song, literally from or out of it, as the source and the occasion of his praise. Compare Psa 22:26 (25).

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28:7 my strength and shield: The Lord protects the psalmist (see 59:9, 17).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The repetition of "heart" denotes his sincerity.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. The Lord is my strength] I have the fullest persuasion that he hears, will answer, and will save me.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth.—Better, danceth for joy, as in the Prayer Book. Another possible translation is, “And when I have been helped my heart will dance for joy.”

With my song.—Literally, from my song, but the reading is doubtful. The LXX. have “my flesh has flourished,” which is probably correct.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. my strength] Cp. Exo_15:2. my shield] See note on Psa_3:3.

trusted] Better as R.V., hath trusted.

greatly rejoiceth] Exulteth. Cp. Psa_5:11; 1Sa_2:1.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord is my strength,.... That is, the author both of natural and spiritual strength; that gave him strength of body, and fortitude of mind, to bear up under all the exercises he was tried with; the strength of his life, spiritual and temporal, and of his salvation; the strength of his heart under present distresses, and who he knew would be so in the hour of death, when his heart and strength would fail;

and my shield; to protect and defend him; as were the love, power, and faithfulness of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his power and fulness, his blood, righteousness, and salvation;

my heart trusted in him; in the Lord as his strength and shield; not in any creature, nor in his own strength and righteousness; but in the Lord God, in whom are righteousness and strength: and it is plain he did not trust in his own heart, since his heart trusted in the Lord; and which shows that his trust was an hearty one, his faith was a faith unfeigned, he believed with the heart unto righteousness;

and I am helped: this was the fruit of his trust, even a gracious experience of divine assistance: saints are helpless in themselves, and are also as to the help of man; God is the only helper of them; he helps them out of all their troubles; in whatsoever he calls them unto, and to what they want; and the help he affords is sometimes quick, and always seasonable; and sometimes by means, and sometimes without them;

therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; that is, in the Lord, the ground of which was the help he had from him; and this joy was very great, a joy unspeakable, and full of glory; it was not carnal, but spiritual, a heart joy, joy in the Holy Ghost;

and with my song will I praise him; praise is due to God, what glorifies him, and is acceptable to him; it becomes the saints, is comely for them, and it is pleasant work to them, when grace is in exercise; see Psa 69:30; this may be understood of one of his songs, and one of the best of them, and of one better than this, as a Jewish writer (u) observes.

(u) R. Moseh in Aben Ezra in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Lord is my strength - See the notes at Psa 18:1.

And my shield - See the notes at Psa 3:3. Compare Psa 33:20; Psa 59:11; Psa 84:9; Psa 89:18; Gen 15:1.

My heart trusted in him - I trusted or confided in him. See Psa 13:5.

And I am helped - I have found the assistance which I desired.

Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth - I greatly rejoice. I am happy. He had found the assurance of the divine favor which he desired, and his heart was glad.

And with my song will I praise him - I will sing praises to Him. Compare Psa 22:25.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Lord is my Strength and my Shield. (see Psa_18:1, 2 119:114) My heart trusted in him, and I am helped. As far as feeling goes, David is already "helped." He feels himself delivered out of his peril. Therefore, he says, my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song literally, out of my song, which is explained to mean "out of my store of song will I praise him. He is ready to offer thanksgiving for a mercy not yet received.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am helped - He speaks of it as past, because God assured him by his spirit, that he had heard and accepted his prayers.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and I will thank Him with my song Now what is the thanks?...The Lord is strength to them to those who rely on Him, viz. the entire house of Israel, at the time that He is the stronghold of the salvations of His anointed.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.