Psalms 94

1 The LORD is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth.

2 Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve.

3 How long, LORD, will the wicked, how long will the wicked be jubilant?

4 They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting.

5 They crush your people, LORD; they oppress your inheritance.

6 They slay the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.

7 They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?

9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?

10 Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?

11 The LORD knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile.

12 Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD, the one you teach from your law;

13 you grant them relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked.

14 For the LORD will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.

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.

22 But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.

23 He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; 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 43

1. S Genesis 4:24; Nahum 1:2; Romans 12:19
2. S Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 80:1
3. S Numbers 10:35
4. S Genesis 18:25; Hebrews 12:23; S James 5:9
5. S Psalms 31:23
6. Psalms 13:2
7. Jeremiah 43:2; Psalms 31:18
8. S Psalms 52:1
9. Psalms 44:2; Psalms 74:8; Isaiah 3:15; Jeremiah 8:21
10. Psalms 28:9
11. S Deuteronomy 10:18; S Isaiah 1:17
12. Deuteronomy 24:19
13. S Job 22:14; Psalms 10:11
14. S Genesis 24:12
15. S Deuteronomy 32:6; S Psalms 73:22; Psalms 92:6
16. Exodus 4:11; Proverbs 20:12
17. S Psalms 39:11
18. S Exodus 35:34; Job 35:11; Isaiah 28:26
19. Psalms 139:2; Proverbs 15:26; S Matthew 9:4
20. 1 Corinthians 3:20*
21. S Job 5:17; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12:5
22. S Deuteronomy 8:3; S 1 Samuel 12:23
23. S Psalms 86:7
24. S Psalms 7:15; S Psalms 55:23
25. S Deuteronomy 31:6; 1 Samuel 12:22; Psalms 37:28; Romans 11:2
26. Psalms 97:2
27. Psalms 7:10; Psalms 11:2; S Psalms 36:10
28. Numbers 10:35; Psalms 17:13; Isaiah 14:22
29. S Psalms 59:2
30. Psalms 124:2
31. S Psalms 31:17
32. S Deuteronomy 32:35; S Job 12:5; Psalms 38:16
33. Ecclesiastes 11:10
34. S Job 6:10
35. Jeremiah 22:30; Jeremiah 36:30
36. S Psalms 58:2
37. S Psalms 56:6
38. Psalms 106:38; Proverbs 17:15,26; Proverbs 28:21; Isaiah 5:20,23; Matthew 27:4
39. S Genesis 18:23
40. S Psalms 61:2
41. S 2 Samuel 22:3; S Psalms 18:2; Psalms 59:9
42. S Exodus 32:34; S Psalms 54:5; Psalms 7:16
43. Psalms 9:5; Psalms 37:38; Psalms 145:20

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