Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 28:2

"Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle." — Psalms 28:2 (ASV)

Hear the voice of my supplications - It was not mental prayer that he offered; it was a petition uttered audibly.

When I lift up my hands - To lift up the hands denotes supplication, as this was a common attitude in prayer. (See the notes at 1 Timothy 2:8).

Toward your holy oracle - Margin, as in Hebrew, “toward the oracle of your holiness.” The word “oracle” as used here denotes the place where the answer to prayer is given.

The Hebrew word - דביר debîr - means properly the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle or the temple, the place where God was supposed to reside, and where He gave responses to the prayers of His people: the same place which is elsewhere called the holy of holies. (See the notes at Hebrews 9:3-14).

The Hebrew word is found only here and in 1 Kings 6:5, 1 Kings 6:16, 1 Kings 6:19–23, 1 Kings 6:31; 1 Kings 7:49; 1 Kings 8:6, 1 Kings 8:8; 2 Chronicles 3:16; 2 Chronicles 4:20; 2 Chronicles 5:7, and 2 Chronicles 5:9.

The idea here is that the one who prayed stretched out his hands toward that sacred place where God was supposed to dwell.

So we stretch out our hands toward heaven - the sacred dwelling-place of God. (Compare the notes at Psalm 5:7). The Hebrew word is probably derived from the verb to “speak;” and, according to this derivation, the idea is that God spoke to His people; that He “communed” with them; that He answered their prayers from that sacred recess - His special dwelling-place. (Numbers 7:89).