Psalms 28:2

Toward thy holy oracle - דביר קדשך debir kodshecha; debir properly means that place in the holy of holies from which God gave oracular answers to the high priest. This is a presumptive proof that there was a temple now standing; and the custom of stretching out the hands in prayer towards the temple, when the Jews were at a distance from it, is here referred to.

Hear the voice of my supplications - It was not mental prayer which 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 thy holy oracle - Margin, as in Hebrew, "toward the oracle of thy holiness." The word "oracle" as used here denotes the place where the answer to prayer is given. The Hebrew word - דביר debı̂yr - 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, 2 Chronicles 5:9. The idea here is that he 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. See Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:89.

28:2 Towards - Towards the holy of holies, because there the ark was; from whence God gave oracular answers to his people.