Psalms 94

Listen to Psalms 94

1 O LORD, God of ¹vengeance, O God of vengeance, ²shine forth!

2 ³Rise up, O ⁴judge of the earth; repay to the ⁵proud what they deserve!

3 O LORD, ⁶how long shall the wicked, how long shall ⁷the wicked exult?

4 They pour out their ⁸arrogant words; all ⁹the evildoers boast.

5 They ¹⁰crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage.

6 They kill ¹¹the widow and the sojourner, and murder ¹²the fatherless;

7 ¹³and they say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive."

8 ¹⁴Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?

9 ¹⁵He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?

10 He who ¹⁶disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who ¹⁷teaches man knowledge--

11 ¹⁸the LORD--knows the thoughts of man, that they are ¹⁹but a breath.^[a]

12 ²⁰Blessed is the man whom you ²¹discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,

13 to give him ²²rest from ²³days of trouble, until ²⁴a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 ²⁵For the LORD will not forsake his ²⁶people; he will not abandon his ²⁷heritage;

15 for ²⁸justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will ²⁹follow it.

16 ³⁰Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?

17 ³¹If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of ³²silence.

18 When I thought, ³³"My foot slips," your steadfast love, O LORD, ³⁴held me up.

19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

20 Can ³⁵wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by ³⁶statute?

21 They ³⁷band together against the life of the righteous and condemn ³⁸the innocent to death.^[b]

22 But the LORD has become my ³⁹stronghold, and my God ⁴⁰the rock of my ⁴¹refuge.

23 He will bring back on them ⁴²their iniquity and ⁴³wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out.

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Psalms 94 Commentary

Chapter 94

The danger and folly of persecutors. (1-11) Comfort and peace to the persecuted. (12-23)

Verses 1-11 We may with boldness appeal to God; for he is the almighty Judge by whom every man is judged. Let this encourage those who suffer wrong, to bear it with silence, committing themselves to Him who judges righteously. These prayers are prophecies, which speak terror to the sons of violence. There will come a day of reckoning for all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against God, his truths, and ways, and people. It would hardly be believed, if we did not witness it, that millions of rational creatures should live, move, speak, hear, understand, and do what they purpose, yet act as if they believed that God would not punish the abuse of his gifts. As all knowledge is from God, no doubt he knows all the thoughts of the children of men, and knows that the imaginations of the thoughts of men's hearts are only evil, and that continually. Even in good thoughts there is a want of being fixed, which may be called vanity. It concerns us to keep a strict watch over our thoughts, because God takes particular notice of them. Thoughts are words to God.

Verses 12-23 That man is blessed, who, under the chastening of the Lord, is taught his will and his truths, from his holy word, and by the Holy Spirit. He should see mercy through his sufferings. There is a rest remaining for the people of God after the days of their adversity, which shall not last always. He that sends the trouble, will send the rest. The psalmist found succour and relief only in the Lord, when all earthly friends failed. We are beholden, not only to God's power, but to his pity, for spiritual supports; and if we have been kept from falling into sin, or shrinking from our duty, we should give him the glory, and encourage our brethren. The psalmist had many troubled thoughts concerning the case he was in, concerning the course he should take, and what was likely to be the end of it. The indulgence of such contrivances and fears, adds to care and distrust, and renders our views more gloomy and confused. Good men sometimes have perplexed and distressed thoughts concerning God. But let them look to the great and precious promises of the gospel. The world's comforts give little delight to the soul, when hurried with melancholy thoughts; but God's comforts bring that peace and pleasure which the smiles of the world cannot give, and which the frowns of the world cannot take away. God is his people's Refuge, to whom they may flee, in whom they are safe, and may be secure. And he will reckon with the wicked. A man cannot be more miserable than his own wickedness will make him, if the Lord visit it upon him.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 43

1. Deut. 32:35, 41, 43; Isaiah 35:4; Jeremiah 51:56; Nahum 1:2; Romans 12:19
2. See Psalms 50:2
3. See Psalms 7:6
4. See Psalms 58:11
5. Luke 1:51
6. Revelation 6:10; See Psalms 74:10
7. [Job 20:5]
8. Psalms 31:18; 1 Samuel 2:3; [Jude 15]
9. Psalms 92:7, 9; Psalms 125:5
10. [Proverbs 22:22; Isaiah 3:15]
11. [Isaiah 10:2]
12. [Isaiah 10:2]
13. See Job 22:13
14. See Psalms 49:10
15. [Exodus 4:11; Proverbs 20:12]
16. [Job 12:23]
17. See Job 35:11
18. Cited 1 Corinthians 3:20
19. [Psalms 30:5, 11]
20. Proverbs 3:11, 12; Hebrews 12:5, 6; See Job 5:17
21. Deuteronomy 8:5; 1 Corinthians 11:32
22. Job 34:29
23. Psalms 49:5
24. Psalms 55:23
25. 1 Samuel 12:22; Romans 11:2
26. Deuteronomy 32:9
27. Deuteronomy 32:9
28. [Isaiah 42:3]
29. 1 Samuel 12:14; 1 Kings 14:8
30. See Psalms 12:5
31. Psalms 124:1, 2
32. See Psalms 31:17
33. Psalms 38:16; [Psalms 73:2]
34. [Psalms 20:2]
35. [Amos 6:3]
36. Psalms 50:16; Psalms 58:2; Isaiah 10:1
37. Matthew 27:1
38. Matthew 27:4
39. See Psalms 9:9
40. See Psalms 18:2
41. See Psalms 14:6
42. See Psalms 7:16; Psalms 34:21; [Proverbs 2:22]
43. [Psalms 92:9]

Footnotes 2

[a]. Septuagint they are futile
[b]. Hebrew condemn innocent blood

Chapter Summary

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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible