Psalms 94:2-12

2 Judge of the earth, take your stand; throw the book at the arrogant.
3 God, the wicked get away with murder - how long will you let this go on?
4 They brag and boast and crow about their crimes!
5 They walk all over your people, God, exploit and abuse your precious people.
6 They take out anyone who gets in their way; if they can't use them, they kill them.
7 They think, "God isn't looking, Jacob's God is out to lunch."
8 Well, think again, you idiots, fools - how long before you get smart?
9 Do you think Ear-Maker doesn't hear, Eye-Shaper doesn't see?
10 Do you think the trainer of nations doesn't correct, the teacher of Adam doesn't know?
11 God knows, all right - knows your stupidity, sees your shallowness.
12 How blessed the man you train, God, the woman you instruct in your Word,

Psalms 94:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 94

Some, as Jarchi and others, think this psalm was written by Moses; others, with greater probability, assign it to David; as do the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and which all but the Syriac version say it was composed to be sung on the fourth day of the week, on which day the Talmudists say it was sung; see the argument of the preceding psalm. This psalm and others, that go before and follow, are without any title in the Hebrew Bible: the title of it in the Syriac version is,

``a Psalm of David, concerning the company of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; but spiritually, concerning the persecution against the church;''

not of the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, as some; nor of the Jews in their present exile, as Kimchi; but rather of the people of God under the tyranny of antichrist; who are represented as complaining of his insults and cruelty, and as comforting themselves in the hopes of deliverance, and in the view of his destruction.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.