Psalms 94:11-21

11 the LORD, knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O LORD, and whom thou dost teach out of thy law

13 to give him respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

20 Can wicked rulers be allied with thee, who frame mischief by statute?

21 They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death.

Psalms 94:11-21 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.