Psalms 28
What Happens in This Chapter
David calls out to God for help. He asks God not to treat him like people who do wrong and hide mean plans. Then he says God has heard him, and he sings a thank-you song. He ends by asking God to keep all his people safe.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
1LORD, I call out to you. You are my rock, strong and safe. Please do not stay quiet. If you say nothing, I will be like the dead in their graves.
2Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
2Hear me when I beg you for help. I lift my hands toward your holy house as I call.
"Holy oracle" means the most holy room in God's temple. Lifting up your hands was the way people prayed back then.
3Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.
3Do not sweep me away with people who do wrong. They say kind words to their neighbors. But they are planning to hurt them.
4Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
4Pay them back for the things they have done. Pay them back for all their evil work. Give them what their actions have earned.
5Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.
5They do not care about what the LORD has made or done. So he will tear them down and never build them up again.
6Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.
6Thank the LORD! He has heard me begging him for help.
7The 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.
7The LORD makes me strong. He keeps me safe like a shield. I trusted him with all my heart, and he helped me. So my heart is full of joy, and I sing a song to thank him.
8The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.
8The LORD makes his people strong. He is a safe place for the king he chose.
"His anointed" means the person God picked to be king. Oil was poured on his head to show he was chosen.
9Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
9Save your people. Bless the people who belong to you. Take care of them like a shepherd. Carry them always.
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