Why read Psalm 28?
Psalm 28 is a prayer of praise for God's power and a request for peace. Its descriptions of the Lord's voice in nature culminate in a blessing of strength and peace for His people.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 28 opens the heart with the call “Bring to the Lord, sons of God,...”. It is one of the 11-verse psalms in the 4th Kathisma and is recited both at services and in prayer at home — the Psalter being a foundational book for the Orthodox Christian.
The text of Psalm 28
1. Bring to the Lord, sons of God, bring to the Lord the lambs of the sheep, bring to the Lord glory and honour;
2. Bring to the Lord the glory of His name; worship the Lord in His holy court.
3. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thundered; the Lord is over many waters.
4. The voice of the Lord is in strength, the voice of the Lord in great majesty;
5. The voice of the Lord that breaks the cedars; the Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon;
6. He makes Lebanon leap like a calf and Hermon like a young gazelle.
7. The voice of the Lord that pours forth the flame of fire.
8. The voice of the Lord that shakes the wilderness; the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh.
9. The voice of the Lord opens the wombs of the does, the voice of the Lord strips the cedars, and in His dwelling place everyone will say: Glory!
10. The Lord will reign over the flood, and the Lord will sit as King forever.
11. The Lord will give strength to His people, the Lord will bless His people with peace.
When Psalm 28 is read
- It belongs to the 4th Kathisma and is read in the order of the Psalter at services; the faithful read it during fasts and in times of need.
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
