Bible Strands
Psalms 28:2
Hear my cry for mercy when I call to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses the LORD, whom he calls his Rock, during a moment of urgent supplication to prevent divine silence from leaving him like those descending to the Pit. He delivers this plea immediately after his initial call in verse 1, framing the request as a desperate intervention against impending judgment.
The words — The Hebrew שְׁמַע (she.maʿ) literally means "hear," establishing the plea as a direct request for divine auditory attention. The term תַּחֲנוּנַי (taḥa.nu.na.y) translates to "my supplications," specifying the content of the cry as desperate entreaty.
The thread — This motif of lifted hands and audible cries recurs in Psalms 141:2, where uplifted hands parallel the evening offering, and Psalms 140:6, which repeats the direct command to "Hear, O LORD, my cry for help." The posture of turning toward the holy sanctuary also appears in Psalms 138:2, linking physical orientation with thanksgiving.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader acknowledge that prayer requires both vocal petition and physical posture directed toward God's presence. It asks the reader to treat divine silence as a tangible threat and to respond with immediate, unreserved entreaty rather than passive waiting.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
Cross-references
- Psalms 138:2 I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else.
- Psalms 141:2 May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.
- Psalms 140:6 I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.
- 1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.
- Psalms 5:7 But I will enter Your house by the abundance of Your loving devotion; in reverence I will bow down toward Your holy temple.
- Psalms 134:2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD!
- Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
- 1 Kings 6:19 Solomon also prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
- 1 Kings 6:22 So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
- 1 Kings 8:6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.