Hear My Cry for Mercy (Psalm 28)

¹ To you, Lord, I call;
you are my Rock,
do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent,
I will be like those who go down to the pit.
² Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.

³ Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who do evil,
who speak cordially with their neighbors
but harbor malice in their hearts.
⁴ Repay them for their deeds
and for their evil work;
repay them for what their hands have done
and bring back on them what they deserve.

⁵ Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord
and what his hands have done,
he will tear them down
and never build them up again.

⁶ Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

⁸ The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
⁹ Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.

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One of the things that strikes me in this psalm is that David’s call for help is a call for mercy.  This is very common throughout the psalms, and in fact, all of scripture.  The cry “Lord have mercy,” is heard again and again by those who are crying out for help.

The truth is that any of our cries to the Lord for His help is a cry for mercy.  Are we deserving of our Lord’s intervention?  Is it something that He owes us?  Is He obligated to us because of our good behavior?

This is an interesting point to consider in looking at the middle section of this psalm, verses 3-5, in which David is asking the Lord not to treat him like the wicked.  We may feel morally superior to others and consider ourselves more deserving of the Lord’s favor.  But the truth is that the standard of comparison is not the “wicked” people around us. The standard of comparison is the Lord’s holiness.  And in light of that holiness, none of us are righteous or deserving.

We have confidence in approaching the Lord with our prayers because of two things.  First, he has had mercy on us and forgiven all of our sins through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.   By His grace, He has declared us righteous and so removed our guilt before the Lord.  Secondly, He has promised to hear and to answer.

Our confidence in prayer is not about ourselves at all, anything in us or anything we have done.  It always rests on Jesus, His cross and His promises.  And so our prayers are always a cry for mercy.  We reflect this in our worship by bringing each petition to the Lord with the words “Lord, in your mercy.”

My prayer today is a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of mercy that enables me to bring my prayers to the Lord and then expect His merciful answer.

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