John Calvin Commentary Psalms 28:1

"Unto thee, O Jehovah, will I call: My rock, be not thou deaf unto me; Lest, if thou be silent unto me, I become like them that go down into the pit." — Psalms 28:1 (ASV)

Unto you, O Jehovah! I will cry. The Psalmist begins by declaring that he would turn to the help of God alone, which shows both his faith and his sincerity. Although people everywhere labor under a multitude of troubles, yet scarcely one in a hundred ever turns to God.

Almost all, having their consciences burdened with guilt and having never experienced the power of divine grace that might lead them to turn to it, either proudly chafe under restraint, fill the air with unavailing complaints, or, giving way to desperation, faint under their afflictions. By calling God his strength, David more fully shows that he confided in God’s assistance, not only when he was in the shade and in peace, but also when he was exposed to the severest temptations.

In comparing himself to the dead, too, he intimates how great his distress was, although his object was not merely to point out the magnitude of his danger, but also to show that when he needed help, he did not look here and there for it, but relied on God alone, without whose favor there remained no hope for him.

It is, therefore, as if he had said, I am nothing if you leave me; if you do not help me, I perish. It is not enough for one who is in such a state of affliction to be aware of his misery, unless, convinced of his inability to help himself and renouncing all help from the world, he turns to God alone.

And as the Scriptures inform us that God answers true believers when he shows by his actions that he regards their supplications, so the word silent is set in opposition to the tangible and present experience of his aid, when he appears, as it were, not to hear their prayers.