Psalms 94:17-19

17 Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.

19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Psalms 94:17-19 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.

Psalms 94:17-19 In-Context

15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?

17 Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.

19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

20 Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?

21 The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 124:2
• 2. S Psalms 31:17
• 3. S Deuteronomy 32:35; S Job 12:5; Psalms 38:16
• 4. Ecclesiastes 11:10
• 5. S Job 6:10