Psalms 94

The LORD Implored to Avenge His People.

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

2 ³Rise up, O ⁴Judge of the earth, Render recompense ⁵to the proud.

3 How long * shall the wicked, O LORD, How long * shall the ⁶wicked exult?

4 They pour forth words, they ⁷speak arrogantly; All who do wickedness ⁸vaunt themselves.

5 They ⁹crush Your people, O LORD, And ¹⁰afflict Your heritage.

6 They ¹¹slay the widow and the stranger And murder the orphans.

7 ¹²They have said, "The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed."

8 Pay heed, you ¹³senseless among the people; And when will you understand, ¹⁴stupid ones?

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

10 He who ¹⁶chastens the nations, will He not rebuke, Even He who ¹⁷teaches man knowledge?

11 The LORD ¹⁸knows the thoughts of man, That they are a mere breath.

12 Blessed is the man whom ¹⁹You chasten, O LORD, And ²⁰whom You teach out of Your law;

13 That You may grant him ²¹relief from the ²²days of adversity, Until ²³a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For ²⁴the LORD will not abandon His people, Nor will He ²⁵forsake His inheritance.

15 For ²⁶judgment will again be righteous, And all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who will ²⁷stand up for me against evildoers? Who will take his stand for me ²⁸against those who do wickedness?

17 If ²⁹the LORD had not been my help, My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

18 If I should say, "³⁰My foot has slipped," Your lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up.

19 When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your ³¹consolations delight my soul.

20 Can a ³²throne of destruction be allied with You, One ³³which devises mischief by decree?

21 They ³⁴band themselves together against the life of the righteous And ³⁵condemn the innocent to death.

22 But the LORD has been my ³⁶stronghold, And my God the ³⁷rock of my refuge.

23 He has ³⁸brought back their wickedness upon them And will ³⁹destroy them in their evil; The LORD our God will destroy them.

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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 39

1. Deuteronomy 32:35; Isaiah 35:4; Nahum 1:2; Romans 12:19
2. Psalms 50:2; Psalms 80:1
3. Psalms 7:6
4. Genesis 18:25
5. Psalms 31:23
6. Job 20:5
7. Psalms 31:18; Psalms 75:5
8. Psalms 10:3; Psalms 52:1
9. Isaiah 3:15
10. Psalms 79:1
11. Isaiah 10:2
12. Job 22:13; Psalms 10:11
13. Psalms 92:6
14. Psalms 92:6
15. Exodus 4:11; Proverbs 20:12
16. Psalms 44:2
17. Job 35:11; Isaiah 28:26
18. Job 11:11; 1 Corinthians 3:20
19. Deuteronomy 8:5; Job 5:17; Psalms 119:71; Proverbs 3:11, 12; Hebrews 12:5, 6
20. Psalms 119:171
21. Job 34:29; Habakkuk 3:16
22. Psalms 49:5
23. Psalms 9:15; Psalms 55:23
24. 1 Samuel 12:22; Lamentations 3:31; Romans 11:2
25. Psalms 37:28
26. Psalms 97:2; Isaiah 42:3; Micah 7:9
27. Numbers 10:35; Isaiah 28:21; Isaiah 33:10
28. Psalms 17:13; Psalms 59:2
29. Psalms 124:1, 2
30. Psalms 38:16; Psalms 73:2
31. Isaiah 57:18; Isaiah 66:13
32. Amos 6:3
33. Psalms 50:16; Psalms 58:2
34. Psalms 56:6; Psalms 59:3
35. Exodus 23:7; Psalms 106:38; Proverbs 17:15; Matthew 27:4
36. Psalms 9:9; Psalms 59:9
37. Psalms 18:2; Psalms 71:7
38. Psalms 7:16; Psalms 140:9, 11
39. Genesis 19:15

Footnotes 20

[a]. Or "avenging acts"
[b]. Or "avenging acts"
[c]. Or "has shone forth"
[d]. Or "sojourner"
[e]. Heb YAH
[f]. Or "can"
[g]. Or "can"
[h]. Or "instructs"
[i]. Or "For"
[j]. Heb YAH
[k]. I.e. administration of justice
[l]. Lit "will return to righteousness"
[m]. Lit "will be after it"
[n]. Or "are many"
[o]. Or "tribunal"
[p]. Or "trouble, misfortune"
[q]. Or "soul"
[r]. Lit "innocent blood"
[s]. Or "silence"
[t]. Or "silence"

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