Tehillim 28:2

2 Shema (hear) kol (voice) of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward Thy Devir Kodesh (Innermost Sanctuary, Kodesh HaKodashim).

Tehillim 28:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 28:2

Hear the voice of my supplications
Which proceed from the Spirit of grace and of supplication, and are put up in an humble manner, under a sense of wants and unworthiness, and on the foot of grace and mercy, and not merit;

when I cry unto thee;
as he now did, and determined he would, and continue so doing, until he was heard;

when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle:
the holy of holies, in the tabernacle and in the temple, which was sometimes so called, ( 1 Kings 6:23 ) ; compared with ( 2 Chronicles 3:10 ) ; where were the ark, the mercy seat, and cherubim, between which the Lord dwelt, and gave responses to his people; or heaven itself, which the holy of holies was a figure of; where is the throne of God, and from whence he hears the prayers of his people directed to him; or else Christ himself, who is the most Holy, and the "Debir", or Oracle, who speaks to the Lord for his people; and by whom the Lord speaks to them again, and communes with them. The oracle had its name, "debir", from speaking. Lifting up of the hands is a prayer gesture, and here designs the performance of that duty to God in heaven, through Christ; see ( Lamentations 3:41 ) ( 1 Timothy 2:8 ) ; it was frequently used, even by the Heathens, as a prayer gesture ^F18; see ( Psalms 141:2 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 "Duplices manus ad sidera tendit--et paulo post--et ambas ad coelum tendit palmas", Virgil. Aeneid. 10. vid. Aeneid. 2. "Ad coelum manibus sublatis", Horat. Satyr. l. 2. satyr. 5. v. 97. "Coelo supines si tuleris manus", ib. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 23. v. 1. "Et pandere palmas ante Deum delubra", Lucretius l. 5. prope finem (dh ceira anascwn) , Homer. Iliad. 5. v. 174.

Tehillim 28:2 In-Context

1 8 (Of Dovid) Unto Thee will I cry, Hashem my Tzur; do not turn a deaf ear to me: lest, if Thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

2 Shema (hear) kol (voice) of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee, when I lift up my hands toward Thy Devir Kodesh (Innermost Sanctuary, Kodesh HaKodashim).

3 Draw me not away with the resha’im, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak shalom to their neighbors, but malice is in their hearts.

4 Give to them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors; give them after the work of their hands; render to them their gemul (deserts).

5 Because they regard not the Pe’ulot Hashem, nor the Ma’aseh of His hands, He shall tear them down, and not build them up.