Psalm 94:1-11

The Just Judge

1 Lord, God of vengeance- God of vengeance, appear.^[a]

2 Rise up, Judge of the earth; repay the proud what they deserve.^[b]

3 Lord, how long will the wicked- how long will the wicked gloat?

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

5 Lord, they crush Your people; they afflict Your heritage.^[c]

6 They kill the widow and the foreigner and murder the fatherless.^[d]

7 They say, "The Lord doesn't see it. The God of Jacob doesn't pay attention."

8 Pay attention, you stupid people! Fools, when will you be wise?

9 Can the One who shaped the ear not hear, the One who formed the eye not see?

10 The One who instructs nations, the One who teaches man knowledge- does He not discipline?

11 The Lord knows man's thoughts; they are meaningless.^{[e] [f]}

Psalm 94:1-11 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Ps 18:47-48; 2 Sm 22:48; Jr 46:10
• [b] Ps 28:4; 98:9; Gn 18:25
• [c] Ps 31:18; 2 Sm 20:19; Jl 2:17
• [d] Dt 27:19; Jb 22:9; 29:12; Isa 10:2
• [e] Or futile
• [f] 1 Co 3:20