Psalms 94

1 God is Lord of vengeances; God of vengeance did freely. (God is the Lord of vengeance; O God of vengeance, show thyself!)

2 Be thou enhanced that deemest the earth; yield thou (a) yielding to proud men. (Be thou raised up, who judgest the earth; and punish thou those, who be proud.)

3 Lord, how long sinners; how long shall sinners have glory? (Lord, how long shall the sinners, yea, how long shall the sinners have glory?)

4 They shall tell out, and shall speak wickedness; all men shall speak that work unrightfulness. (They boast, and they all speak wickedness; yea, all who work unrighteousness have glory in themselves.)

5 Lord, they have made low thy people; and they have dis-eased thine heritage. (Lord, they have beaten down thy people; and they have distressed thy inheritance.)

6 They killed a widow and a comeling; and they have slain fatherless children and motherless. (They have killed widows and newcomers, or strangers; and they have slain the fatherless and the motherless, or the orphans.)

7 And they said, The Lord shall not see (it); and, (The) God of Jacob shall not understand.

8 Ye unwise men in the people, understand; and, ye fools, learn sometime. (Understand this, ye ignorant among the people; and learn something, ye fools.)

9 Shall not he hear, that planted the ear; either beholdeth not he, that made the eye? (Shall he not hear, who formed the ear? shall he not see, who made the eye?)

10 Shall not he reprove, that chastiseth folks; (shall he not know,) which teacheth man knowing? (Shall he not rebuke, who chastiseth the nations? shall he not know, who teacheth the people knowledge?)

11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men; that those be (in) vain. (The Lord knoweth, that the thoughts of the people be all in vain, that is, empty, and useless, or worthless.)

12 Blessed is the man, whom thou, Lord, hast learned; and hast taught him of thy law. (Happy is the person whom thou, Lord, hast taught; yea, whom thou hast taught thy Law.)

13 That thou assuage him from evil days; till a ditch be digged to the sinner. (That thou assuage him from the evil days; until a ditch be dug for the sinners.)

14 For the Lord shall not put away his people; and he shall not forsake his heritage. (For the Lord shall not reject his people; and he shall not abandon his inheritance.)

15 Till rightfulness be turned (again) into doom; and who be nigh it, all that be of rightful heart. (For judgement shall return unto righteousness; and all who have an upright heart shall follow it.)

16 Who shall rise with me against mis-doers; either who shall stand with me against them that work wickedness? (Who shall rise up for me against the evil-doers? and who shall stand up for me against those who do evil?)

17 No but for the Lord helped me; almost my soul had dwelled in hell. (If the Lord had not helped me; soon I would have slept in Sheol, or in the land of the dead/soon I would have slept in the grave.)

18 If I said, My foot was stirred; Lord, thy mercy helped me. (But when I said, My foot is slipping! Lord, thy love held me up.)

19 After the multitude of my sorrows in mine heart; thy comforts made glad my soul. (And after a multitude of sorrows gathered together in my heart; once again thy comfort gladdened my soul.)

20 Whether the seat of wickedness cleaveth to thee; that makest travail in commandment? (Shall the throne of wickedness cleave to thee; thou who makest trespass within the commandments?/thou who makest trespass by the commandments?)

21 They shall take (hold) against the soul of a just man; and they shall condemn innocent blood. (For they gather themselves together against the life of the righteous; and they condemn the innocent to death.)

22 And the Lord was made to me into refuge (But the Lord was made my refuge); and my God was made into the help of mine hope.

23 And he shall yield to them the wickedness of them; and in the malice of them he shall lose them, our Lord God shall lose them. (And he shall punish them for their wickedness; he shall destroy them for their malice, yea, the Lord our God shall destroy them.)

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.

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.