What Does Psalm 28:6 Mean in the King James?

Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

Psalm 28:6 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The “supplications” are pleas for favor, and the verse locates praise at the moment that plea is heard.

THE MEANING

The LORD hears the reader’s plea, and blessing rises from that hearing. Petition and praise meet in the same moment: the voice asks, and being heard becomes grounds for blessing.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that a plea is only sound disappearing into silence: the verse names it as heard.

THE ROOT

שָׁמַע

shama

GROWS FROM

שׁמע

shama

to hear, listen, or heed

English “heard” can sound like passive reception of sound, while this root also appears in the command shema, where hearing carries the sense of response. The verse does not specify what answer comes; it says the plea has been received.

ALSO GROWS

shema: Hear; in a command, hear and respond.

שְׁמַע

This familiar form shows how hearing in Hebrew can carry attention that answers, giving depth to the claim that the plea is heard.

shemuah: Report, news, or something heard.

שְׁמוּעָה

This branch keeps the root’s link to what is received by hearing, echoing the voice that reaches the LORD.

תַּחֲנוּנָי

tachanunai

GROWS FROM

חנן

chanan

to show favor or be gracious

The word for “supplications” grows from ⁨חנן⁩, the root for showing favor. Hebrew keeps the favor being sought inside the name of the plea, so the LORD’s hearing directly meets what the supplication asks for.

ALSO GROWS

chen: Favor.

חֵן

This branch names what the supplication seeks and reveals the favor already held within the Hebrew word.

teḥinnah: Supplication or plea for favor.

תְּחִנָּה

This related noun makes the connection between a plea and the favor it seeks explicit.

בָּרוּךְ

barukh

GROWS FROM

ברך

barakh

to bless; a related form means knee

“blessed” in this verse is barukh. The blessing here is praise offered because the LORD hears. A related word from the same consonants means “knee,” giving blessing a bodily echo of bowing in recognition.

ALSO GROWS

berakhah: Blessing.

בְּרָכָה

This branch names the praise that rises in the verse from the LORD’s hearing.

berekh: Knee.

בֶּרֶךְ

This related form gives the blessing a bodily echo of bowing in recognition.

THE PATTERN

A plea becomes ground for confidence and praise when it is named as heard by God.

I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:4 · KJVThe heard plea is joined to deliverance, showing the voice received as more than sound alone.

And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.

Acts 10:31 · KJVThe prayer is explicitly named as heard, making divine reception the ground of assurance.

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

1 John 5:14 · KJVHearing is the basis for confidence in the act of asking.

THE THREAD

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

Psalm 116:1 · KJV

This verse repeats the same Hebrew cluster: ⁨שׁמע⁩ (shama), “heard”; ⁨קול⁩ (qol), “voice”; and ⁨תחנונים⁩ (tachanunim), “pleas for favor.” Here being heard opens into love, while Psalm 28:6 names it as grounds for blessing.

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