Psalms 28:9

Some think he was now in trouble seeking God, but at the same time preparing to praise him for his deliverance, and by faith giving him thanks for it, before it was wrought. Others think he was now in triumph, but remembered, and recorded for his own and others' benefit, the prayers he made when he was in affliction, that the mercy might relish the better, when it appeared to be an answer to them.

"Lift them up into thy glorious kingdom, lift them up as high as heaven." There, and there only, will the saints be lifted up for ever, never more to sink or be depressed. Observe, Those, and those only, whom God feeds and rules, who are willing to be taught, and guided, and governed, by him, shall be saved, and blessed, and lifted up for ever.

Save thy people,....

This is a prayer for the church militant, written in short words, but full of weighty meaning. We must pray for the whole church, and not for ourselves alone. Save thy people. Deliver them from their enemies, preserve them from their sins, succour them under their troubles, rescue them from their temptations, and ward off from them every ill. There is a plea hidden in the expression, "thy people:" for it may be safely concluded that God's interest in the church, as his own portion, will lead him to guard it from destruction. Bless thine inheritance. Grant positive blessings, peace, plenty, prosperity, happiness; make all thy dearly purchased and precious heritage to be comforted by thy Spirit. Revive, refresh, enlarge, and sanctify thy church. Feed them also. Be a shepherd to thy flock, let their bodily and spiritual wants be plentifully supplied. By thy word, and ordinances, direct, rule, sustain, and satisfy those who are the sheep of thy hand. And lift them up for ever. Carry them in thine arms on earth, and then lift them into thy bosom in heaven. Elevate their minds and thoughts, spiritualise their affections, make them heavenly, Christlike, and full of God. O Lord, answer this our petition, for Jesus' sake.

LET me direct your attention to the verse before the text, and then let us read the text in connection with it, "The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed. Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up forever." You have in the eighth verse the Church militant reviewed, and in the ninth verse the Church militant prayed for.

LET me direct your attention to the verse before the text, and then let us read the text in connection with it, "The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed. Save Your people, and bless Your inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up forever." You have in the eighth verse the Church militant reviewed, and in the ninth verse the Church militant prayed for. With regard to the Psalmist's review of the militant Church, it is summed up in two sentences: "Jehovah is their strength," and "Jehovah is the saving strength of His anointed." The people of God are strong, then, for their strength is spoken of. They are weak in themselves, yes—they confess themselves to be weakness itself— yet by faith, when they grasp the power of the Almighty, they are no longer feeble but they venture to say with the Apostle, " I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." The power of the army of the Lord does not lie in connection with any one of His soldiers, in the man himself—the Lord is their strength. They may differ in many respects but this is true of every single warrior in the host of the Lord, that the Lord is his strength. He has no strength in the flesh. He cannot find anything there which can assist him. All his springs are in his God and he draws all his supplies for power in spiritual conflicts from God and from God alone. If you were to review the Prussian army, you might very properly say that the needle-gun is their strength—and years ago we used to feel quite sure that the Armstrong gun was our strength.

Save thy people - Continue to preserve them from all their enemies; from idolatry, and from sin of every kind. Bless thine inheritance - They have taken thee for their God; thou hast taken them for thy people. Feed them - רעה raah signifies both to feed and to govern. Feed them, as a shepherd does his flock; rule them, as a father does his children. Lift them up for ever - Maintain thy true Church; let no enemy prevail against it. Preserve and magnify them for ever. Lift them up: as hell is the bottomless pit in which damned spirits sink down for ever; or, as Chaucer says downe all downe; so heaven is an endless height of glory, in which there is an eternal rising or exaltation. Down, all down; up, all up; for ever and ever.

Save thy people - All thy people. The psalm appropriately closes with a prayer for all the people of God. The prayer is offered in view of the deliverance which the psalmist had himself experienced, and he prays that all the people of God might experience similar deliverance and mercy. And bless thine inheritance - Thy heritage; Thy people. The Hebrew word properly means “taking possession of anything; occupation.” Then it comes to mean “possession; domain; estate:” Num, Psa 18:21. Thus it is used as applied to the territory assigned to each tribe in the promised land: Jos 13:23. Thus also it is applied to the people of Israel - the Jewish nation - as the “possession” or “property” of Yahweh; as a people whom he regarded as His own, and whom, as such, He protected: Deu 4:20; Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29. In this place the people of God are thus spoken of as His special possession or property on earth; as that which He regards as of most value to Him; as that which belongs to Him, or to which He has a claim; as that which cannot without injustice to Him be alienated from Him. Feed them also - Margin, “rule.” The Hebrew word refers to the care which a shepherd extends over his flock. See Psa 23:1, where the same word, under another form - “shepherd” - is used. The prayer is, that God would take the same care of His people that a shepherd takes of his flock. And lift them up for ever - The word used here may mean “sustain” them, or “support” them; but it more properly means “bear,” and would be best expressed by a reference to the fact that the shepherd carries the feeble, the young, and the sickly of his flock in his arms, or that he lifts them up when unable themselves to rise. See Isa 40:11, note; Isa 63:9, note. The word “forever” here means simply “always” - in all circumstances; at all times. […]