Psalm 28: Prayer During Spiritual Dryness-Supplication through the Scriptures

Psalm 28

Prayer During Spiritual Dryness

In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭8:16‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬


There are times in the Christian walk where we experience times of spiritual dryness. Sometimes, we are weary because we have been seeking God’s help for a particular issue, and the request seems to go unanswered. Other times, it is our own lack of affection for the Lord or sin that brings a time of struggle in pursuing Him. During these times, it is hard to feel the nearness of the Lord. We read the Word and it feels like we are just checking a box off of our to-do list. We pray, and it seems like God is silent. 

What are we to do? We continue seeking Him in His Word and through prayer. We plead with Him to give us eyes to behold His beauty and hearts to love and embrace Him. We keep trusting that, while it may seem we are wandering around in a dry wilderness, He is there with us, continuing to grow us and shape us into the image of His Son.

A Cry For Help

28:1-2 To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. 

Lord, I pray:

▫️I’m calling to You, pleading with You, to not be silent to my cries.

▫️You are my rock. All Your ways are perfect and just. You are a God of faithfulness and without injustice (Deuteronomy 32:4) even when I don’t understand the place You have led me.

▫️Open Your Word to me and my own eyes to see so that I do not feel alone while I wait You.

▫️I have nothing to contribute to pull me out of this time of spiritual dryness except to obediently draw near to You in reading You Word, prayer, and gathering with the saints.

▫️Hear the voice of my pleas for help. I am calling on Your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit (Lamentations 3:55).

▫️Help me to wait patiently for You to incline to me and hear my cry, bring me up out of the pit and set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm (Psalm 40:1-2).

▫️When You have brought me through this wilderness season, put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to You, that many will see and fear and trust in You (Psalm 40:3).

Build Me Up

28:3-5 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. Because they do not regard the works of the Lord or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more. 

Heavenly Father, I pray:

▫️During this time of spiritual dryness, I would humble myself before You and guard my heart and ways to not slacken my pursuit of You.

▫️Cleanse me of anything in me that is hypocritical, and I would speak and live in peace with others.

▫️I would continue to sow to the Spirit and not lose heart in doing good, for in due time I will reap if I do not grow weary (Galatians 6:8-9).

▫️Give me fresh eyes to see Your work in me, in the world around me, in Your Word, and in the people around me.

▫️Set Your eyes on me for good and build me up, giving me a whole and sincere heart to return to You and know You more deeply (Jeremiah 24:6-7). 

▫️Build me up and strengthen me in this time of spiritual struggle.

Thanks to My Shepherd

28:6-9 Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

Good Shepherd, I pray:

▫️You are my God, I will seek You earnestly, my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1).

▫️Even before I call, You are already answering. You are sending help in response to my pleas for mercy.

▫️You are my strength and my shield in the quiet and solitude of this time.

▫️Help me to trust You while I wait to see the help You are providing, and give me Your joy that I may exult and rejoice in You, giving thanks for You.

▫️Rescue me and bring me out of this time having come to know You more in the fellowship of Your sufferings.

▫️You have said, “I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes” (Jeremiah 31:25). As my Shepherd, carry me through this time. 

▫️Thank You that I can know for sure that You are working and You are faithful to Your Word and Your people.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


Prayers in the Psalter are sufficiently generalized to help God’s people in all ages share in the spirit of prayer.

VanGemeren, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary


Psalm 28 quoted from the ESV.

Photo credit to  yuli_superson

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