Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
Rise up, you judge of the earth. Pay back the proud what they deserve.
Yahweh, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?
They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast.
They break your people in pieces, Yahweh, and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.
They say, “Yah will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”
Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?
He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear? He who formed the eye, won’t he see?
He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish? He who teaches man knows.
Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.
Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law,
that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.
For Yahweh won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.
Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?
Unless Yahweh had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence.
When I said, “My foot is slipping!” Your loving kindness, Yahweh, held me up.
In the multitude of my thoughts within me, your comforts delight my soul.
Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?
They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
But Yahweh has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge.
He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. Yahweh, our God, will cut them off.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22 1 O Jehovah! God of vengeances We know that…
1 O Jehovah! God of vengeances We know that the Jews were surrounded by many neighbors who were not well affected towards them, and were thus incessantly subject to the assaults and oppression of bitter enemies. As this intestine persecution was even more afflictive than the rampant and unrestrained violence of the wicked, we need not wonder that the Psalmist should earnestly beseech God for deliverance from it. The expressions which he uses, calling upon God to shine forth conspicuously, and lift himself up on high, amount in common language to this, that God would give some actual manifestation of his character as judge or avenger; for in that case he is seen ascending his tribunal to exact the punishment due to sin, and demonstrate his power in preserving order and government in the world. The phraseology is used only in reference to ourselves, disposed as we are to feel as if he overlooked us, unless he stretched out his hand to help us in some visible and open manner. In calling him twice successively the God of vengeances, and then, judge of the earth, the Psalmist uses these titles as applicable to the present situation in which he stood, reminding Him in a manner of the office which belonged to him, and saying — O Lord! it is thine to take vengeance upon sinners, and judge the earth — see how they take advantage of the impunity which is extended to their guilt, and triumph audaciously in their wickedness! Not that God needs to be admonished of his duty, for he never resigns himself to indifference, and even when he seems to delay his judgments, is only adjusting them according to what he knows to be the best season; but his people conceive of him in this way to themselves, and take occasion from this to embolden and stimulate themselves to greater vehemency in prayer. The same may be said of the repetition which the Psalmist uses. When the wicked then indulge in unrestrained excesses, we are to remember that God can never cease to assert his character as the judge of the earth who takes vengeance upon iniquity. Does he seem in our carnal apprehension to have at any time withdrawn and hidden himself? let us put up without hesitation the prayer which is here taught us by the Holy Spirit, that he would shine forth
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23 Whose office it is to take vengeance on the…
Whose office it is to take vengeance on the wicked.
Show by effect that thou art Judge of the world to punish the wicked.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–23 Psa 94:1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth;…
Psa 94:1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
Ver. 1. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth] Heb. Jehovah, God of revenges; so Jer 51:56, "The Lord God of recompences." "Vengeance is mine," saith he, "I will repay," Deu 32:35. And it is best he should, for he returneth "a just recompense of reward," Heb 2:2; whereas men seek oft an unequal revenge, Heb 10:30, as a stab for the lie given; and, besides, in seeking the lives of others, they sometimes lose their own.
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Show thyself] Heb. shine forth, appear for thy poor wronged servant. David knew the law, and submitted to it; he turneth over his enemies to God to be ordered by him, neither did he himself herein any disservice. "I seek not mine own glory" (so mine own revenge), saith Christ, but there is one that seeketh it. God never faileth to do it, to be their champion, who strive not for themselves; only they must wait his leisure, and not usurp his executions.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23 As thou art the supreme Judge of the world,…
As thou art the supreme Judge of the world, the Patron and Protector of the righteous, and the declared enemy of all wickedness and wicked men.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 12 In these verses we have,
In these verses we have,
I. A solemn appeal to God against the cruel oppressors of his people, Psa 94:1, Psa 94:2. This speaks terror enough to them, that they have the prayers of God's people against them, who cry day and night to him to avenge them of their adversaries; and shall he not avenge them speedily? Luk 18:3, Luk 18:7. Observe here,
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1. The titles they give to God for the encouraging of their faith in this appeal: O God! to whom vengeance belongeth; and thou Judge of the earth. We may with boldness appeal to him; for, (1.) He is judge, supreme judge, judge alone, from whom every man's judgment proceeds. He that gives law gives sentence upon every man according to his works, by the rule of that law. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He has indeed appointed magistrates to be avengers under him (Rom 13:4), but he is the avenger in chief, to whom even magistrates themselves are accountable; his throne is the last refuge (the dernier ressort, as the law speaks) of oppressed innocency. He is universal judge, not of this city or country only, but judge of the earth, of the whole earth: none are exempt from his jurisdiction; nor can it be alleged against an appeal to him in any court that it is coram non judice - before a person not judicially qualified. (2.) He is just. As he has authority to avenge wrong, so it is his nature, and property, and honour. This also is implied in the title here given to him and repeated with such an emphasis, O God! to whom vengeance belongs, who wilt not suffer might always to prevail against right. This is a good reason why we must not avenge ourselves, because God has said, Vengeance is mine; and it is daring presumption to usurp his prerogative and step into his throne, Rom 12:19. Let this alarm those who do wrong, whether with a close hand, so as not to be discovered, or with a high hand, so as not to be controlled, There is a God to whom vengeance belongs, who will certainly call them to an account; and let it encourage those who suffer wrong to bear it with silence, committing themselves to him who judges righteously.
2. What it is they ask of God. (1.) That he would glorify himself, and get honour to his own name. Wicked persecutors thought God had withdrawn and had forsaken the earth. "Lord," say they, "show thyself; make them know that thou art and that thou art ready to show thyself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are upright with thee." The enemies thought God was conquered because his people were. "Lord," say they, "lift up thyself, be thou exalted in thy own strength. Lift up thyself, to be seen, to be feared; and suffer not thy name to be trampled upon and run down." (2.) That he would mortify the oppressors: Render a reward to the proud; that is, "Reckon with them for all their insolence, and the injuries they have done to thy people." These prayers are prophecies, which speak terror to all the sons of violence. The righteous God will deal with them according to their merits.
II. A humble complaint to God of the pride and cruelty of the oppressors, and an expostulation with him concerning it, Psa 94:3-6. Here observe,
1. The character of the enemies they complain against. They are wicked; they are workers of iniquity; they are bad, very bad, themselves, and therefore they hate and persecute those whose goodness shames and condemns them. Those are wicked indeed, and workers of the worst iniquity, lost to all honour and virtue, who are cruel to the innocent and hate the righteous.
2. Their haughty barbarous carriage which they complain of. (1.) They are insolent, and take a pleasure in magnifying themselves. They talk high and talk big; they triumph; they speak loud things; they boast themselves, as if their tongues were their own and their hands too, and they were accountable to none for what they say or do, and as if the day were their own, and they doubted not but to carry the cause against God and religion. Those that speak highly of themselves, that triumph and boast, are apt to speak hardly of others; but there will come a day of reckoning for all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against God, his truths, and ways, and people, Jde 1:15. (2.) They are impious, and take a pleasure in running down God's people because they are his (Psa 94:5): "They break in pieces thy people, O Lord! break their assemblies, their estates, their families, their persons, in pieces, and do all they can to afflict thy heritage, to grieve them, to crush them, to run them down, to root them out." God's people are his heritage; there are those that, for his sake, hate them, and seek their ruin. This is a very good plea with God, in our intercessions for the church: "Lord, it is thine; thou hast a property in it. It is thy heritage; thou hast a pleasure in it, and out of it the rent of thy glory in this world issues. And wilt thou suffer these wicked men to trample upon it thus?" (3.) They are inhuman, and take a pleasure in wronging those that are least able to help themselves (Psa 94:6); they not only oppress and impoverish, but they slay the widow and the stranger; not only neglect the fatherless, and make a prey of them, but murder them, because they are weak and exposed, and sometimes lie at their mercy. Those whom they should protect from injury they are most injurious to, perhaps because God has taken them into his particular care. Who would think it possible that any of the children of men should be thus barbarous?
3. A modest pleading with God concerning the continuance of the persecution: "Lord, how long shall they do thus?" And again, How long? When shall this wickedness of the wicked come to an end?
III. A charge of atheism exhibited against the persecutors, and an expostulation with them upon that charge.
1. Their atheistical thoughts are here discovered (Psa 94:7): Yet they say, The Lord shall not see. Though the cry of their wickedness is very great and loud, though they rebel against the light of nature and the dictates of their own consciences, yet they have the confidence to say, "The Lord shall not see; he will not only wink at small faults, but shut his eyes at great ones too." Or they think they have managed it so artfully, under colour of justice and religion perhaps, that it will not be adjudged murder. "The God of Jacob, though his people pretend to have such an interest in him, does not regard it either as against justice or as against his own people; he will never call us to an account for it." Thus they deny God's government of the world, banter his covenant with his people, and set the judgment to come at defiance.
2. They are here convicted of folly and absurdity. He that says either that Jehovah the living God shall not see or that the God of Jacob shall not regard the injuries done to his people, Nabal is his name and folly is with him; and yet here he is fairly reasoned with, for his conviction and conversion, to prevent his confusion (Psa 94:8): "Understand, you brutish among the people, and let reason guide you." Note, The atheistical, though they set up for wits, and philosophers, and politicians, yet are really the brutish among the people; if they would but understand, they would believe. God, by the prophet, speaks as if he thought the time long till men would be men, and show themselves so by understanding and considering: "You fools, when will you be wise, so wise as to know that God sees and regards all you say and do, and to speak and act accordingly, as those that must give account?" Note, None are so bad but means are to be used for the reclaiming and reforming of them, none so brutish, so foolish, but it should be tried whether they may not yet be made wise; while there is life there is hope. To prove the folly of those that question God's omniscience and justice the psalmist argues,
(1.) From the works of creation (Psa 94:9), the formation of human bodies, which as it proves that there is a God, proves also that God has infinitely and transcendently in himself all those perfections that are in any creature. He that planted the ear (and it is planted in the head, as a tree in the ground) shall he not hear? No doubt he shall, more and better than we can. He that formed the eye (and how curiously it is formed above any part of the body anatomists know and let us know by their dissections) shall he not see? Could he give, would he give, that perfection to a creature which he has not in himself? Note, [1.] The powers of nature are all derived from the God of nature. See Exo 4:11. [2.] By the knowledge of ourselves we may be led a great way towards the knowledge of God - if by the knowledge of our own bodies, and the organs of sense, so as to conclude that if we can see and hear much more can God, then certainly by the knowledge of our own souls and their noble faculties. The gods of the heathen had eyes and saw not, ears and heard not; our God has no eyes nor ears, as we have, and yet we must conclude he both sees and hears, because we have our sight and hearing from him, and are accountable to him for our use of them.
(2.) From the works of providence (Psa 94:10): He that chastises the heathen for their polytheism and idolatry, shall not he much more correct his own people for their atheism and profaneness? He that chastises the children of men for oppressing and wronging one another, shall not he correct those that profess to be his own children, and call themselves so, and yet persecute those that are really so? Shall not we be under his correction, under whose government the whole world is? Does he regard as King of nations, and shall he not much more regard as the God of Jacob? Dr. Hammond gives another very probably sense of this: "He that instructs the nations (that is, gives them his law), shall not he correct, that is, shall not he judge them according to that law, and call them to an account for their violations of it? In vain was the law given if there will not be a judgment upon it." And it is true that the same word signifies to chastise and to instruct, because chastisement is intended for instruction and instruction should go along with chastisement.
(3.) From the works of grace: He that teaches man knowledge, shall he not know? He not only, as the God of nature, has given the light of reason, but, as the God of grace, has given the light of revelation, has shown man what is true wisdom and understanding; and he that does this, shall he not know? Job 28:23, Job 28:28. The flowing of the streams is a certain sign of the fulness of the fountain. If all knowledge is from God, no doubt all knowledge is in God. From this general doctrine of God's omniscience, the psalmist not only confutes the atheists, who said, "The Lord shall not see (Psa 94:7), he will not take cognizance of what we do;" but awakens us all to consider that God will take cognizance even of what we think (Psa 94:11): The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. [1.] He knows those thoughts in particular, concerning God's conniving at the wickedness of the wicked, and knows them to be vain, and laughs at the folly of those who by such fond conceits buoy themselves up in sin. [2.] He knows all the thoughts of the children of men, and knows them to be, for the most part, vain, that the imaginations of the thoughts of men's hearts are evil, only evil, and that continually. Even in good thoughts there is a fickleness and inconstancy which may well be called vanity. It concerns us to keep a strict guard upon our thoughts, because God takes particular notice of them. Thoughts are words to God, and vain thoughts are provocations.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–23 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth,.... As it…
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth,.... As it does to God, and to him only; not to Heathen deities, one of which has the name of Vengeance given it, Act 28:4, nor to Satan, the enemy and avenger, and his spiteful principalities and powers; nor to men, who are not to exercise private revenge on their fellow creatures; only to civil magistrates, to whom public revenge belongs, they being God's viceregents, and representing him; otherwise to God only it belongs, against whom sin is committed; and he will, in his own time and way, execute it; he is "the God of revenges" (e), as the words may be rendered; and this is applicable to Christ, who is the true Jehovah, and God over all: it was he that took vengeance on Sodom and Gomorrah, and rained from the Lord fire and brimstone on them; and who took vengeance on the inventions of the Israelites in the wilderness; and when he came in the flesh, he came with vengeance to destroy Satan and his works, as it was promised and prophesied he should, Isa 35:4, forty years after his death, resurrection, and ascension, he came in his power and kingdom, and took vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their unbelief and rejection of him, Luk 21:22, and at the opening of the sixth seal his wrath came upon Rome Pagan in a manner intolerable to them, for their cruel persecutions of his church and people; and the cry of the souls under the altar was much like what is uttered in this psalm; see Rev 6:9, and at the time of his spiritual coming and reign he will avenge the blood of his saints on Rome Papal, or antichrist, whom he will destroy with the breath of his mouth, and the saints will be called upon to rejoice, and will rejoice, when they see the vengeance, Rev 18:20 and his personal coming will be in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not his Gospel, and when all the wicked will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, Th2 1:8.
O God, to whom vengeance belongeth; which is repeated to observe the certainty of it, and to express the vehement and importunate desire of the psalmist, and those he represents, that he would show himself to be so, follows:
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show thyself; or "shine forth" (f), as in Psa 80:1 either at his incarnation, when he appeared as the dayspring from on high; yea, as the sun of righteousness; or, in the ministry of the Gospel, the great light which shone first on the inhabitants of Judea and Galilee, and then on the Gentile world; or in his gracious presence with his people, which is expressed by causing his face to shine upon them, Psa 80:7, or in the protection of them, and destruction of their enemies; which is a showing himself strong on their behalf, an appearing to the joy of the one, and the confusion of the other; and in this manner will Christ show himself in the latter day.
(e) "Deus ultionum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c. (f) "irradia", Montanus; "illucesce", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "effulsit", Cocceius; "adfulge", Michaelis.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 The danger and folly of persecuting the children of…
The danger and folly of persecuting the children of God, ver. 1-11. Assurance given to the persecuted, that God will deliver them, ver. 12-23.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 An appeal to God against oppressors, 1-7.
PSALM XCIV
An appeal to God against oppressors, 1-7.
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Expostulations with the workers of iniquity, 8-11.
God's merciful dealings with his followers, 12-15;
and their confidence in him, 16-19.
The punishment of the wicked foretold, 20-23.
NOTES ON PSALM XCIV
This Psalm has no title either in the Hebrew or Chaldee. The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic, have "A Psalm of David, for the fourth day of the week;" but this gives us no information on which we can rely. In three of Kennicott's MSS. it is written as a part of the preceding. It is probably a prayer of the captives in Babylon for deliverance; and was written by the descendants of Moses, to whom some of the preceding Psalms have been attributed. It contains a description of an iniquitous and oppressive government, such as that under which the Israelites lived in Babylon.
Verse 1. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth] God is the author of retributive justice, as well as of mercy. This retributive justice is what we often term vengeance, but perhaps improperly; for vengeance with us signifies an excitement of angry passions, in order to gratify a vindictive spirit, which supposes itself to have received some real injury; whereas what is here referred to is that simple act of justice which gives to all their due.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21 Psa 94:1-4. O God, to whom vengeance belongeth —…
Psa 94:1-4. O God, to whom vengeance belongeth — To whom, as the supreme Judge of the world, the patron and protector of the righteous, and the declared enemy of all wickedness and wicked men, and to whom alone it belongs to take revenge on those who oppress thy people when they should protect them; show thyself — Make thy justice conspicuous, by speedily avenging thine elect, and rendering a recompense to their enemies. Lift up thyself — To punish thy proud enemies. Be exalted in thine own strength, and let those proud men, who have acted as if they thought none could control them, know that they have a superior. How long shall they utter — Pour forth freely, constantly, abundantly, as a fountain doth water, (so יביעו, jabbignu, signifies,) and speak hard things — Grievous, insolent, and intolerable words against thee and thy people; and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves — Of their invincible power, and prosperous success in their wicked designs.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–23 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth ... -…
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth ... - Margin, God of revenges The idea is, that it pertains to God to take vengeance, or to punish for crimes. See the notes at Rom 12:19. The appeal here is made to God in view of the crimes committed by others, and which are referred to in the subsequent part of the psalm. God is addressed as having the right to restrain and punish wicked people, and he is asked to interpose and assert that right in a case which clearly demanded it. The appeal is repeated to make it emphatic, or to denote “earnestness” in the petition.
Show thyself - Margin, as in Hebrew, “shine forth.” The meaning is, Manifest thyself; come forth as such a God; prove thy right; display thy power, and show that thou art a God opposed to crime and wrong. The same Hebrew word is used here which is found in Psa 80:1, and which is there rendered “shine forth.” See the notes at that passage.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 94
Psalms 94
1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth;
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O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
2 Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth:
Render a reward to the proud.
3 Lord, how long shall the wicked,
How long shall the wicked triumph?
4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things?
And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
5 They break in pieces thy people, O Lord,
And afflict thine heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger,
And murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, The Lord shall not see,
Neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
8 Understand, ye brutish among the people:
And ye fools, when will ye be wise?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?
He that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct?
He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?
11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man,
That they are vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord,
And teachest him out of thy law:
13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit be digged for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not cast off his people,
Neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness:
And all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evil doers?
Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth:
Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me
Thy comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee,
Which frameth mischief by a law?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,
And condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the Lord is my defence;
And my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity,
And shall cut them off in their own wickedness;
Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition. The psalmist at first invokes the retribution of God as the Avenger (Deu_32:35) upon insolent transgressors (Psa_94:1-3); he then describes their bloody, violent and impious acts, by which they were destroying the people of God, and, at the same time, showing despite to God Himself (Psa_94:4-7); he next turns with warning and rebuke to the foolish of the people, who had begun to doubt even God Himself, (Psa_94:8-11); he pronounces the pious man happy, who submits to the chastening of God and thereby trusts to God’s compensating righteousness (Psa_94:12-15), praises, for his own part the Lord as his only but sure help, (Psa_94:16-18), and announces his assurance of the certain infliction of the retribution which he implores (Psa_94:19-23).
The intermingling of personal with general experiences is of such a kind that the former appears conditioned by the latter, which, again, are not occasioned by distractions within, but by the influence of enemies from without. From them, the people had learned many things that were reprehensible. David therefore, (Sept. and other versions), is not to be thought of as the author. Within the period of the exile also, (De Wette, Hupfeld) no suitable place can be found for this psalm, since nothing is said of the departure of the captives or of the return, of the desolation of the city or of the destruction of the temple. We hesitate, too, to descend to the Maccabæan period (Venema, Rosenmüller, Hesse, Olsh., Hitzig), though 1Ma_7:1 f., or 1Ma_9:23 f., contain similar descriptions. There remain, therefore, only the Assyrian or the Chaldean oppressions in their commencement (Hengst.), or those after the exile in general (Köster, Del.), According to Talmudic tradition, the Levites were singing this Psalm during the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldees, and had just come to the last verse, when the enemy burst into the temple, so that they could not sing the concluding lines. To the objection that that day was the Sabbath, while this was a Psalm for the fourth day of the week in the temple liturgy, it is replied, that it was a song of lamentation, and sung on account of their situation (Erachin 11. a, in Delitzsch). The Sept. has, along with the statement, “Song of praise of David” the remark: “for the fourth day of the week.” [Alexander: “There is nothing to determine the precise date of the composition, much less to restrict it to any particular historical occasion. Though some things in it seem peculiarly appropriate to the state of Judah on the eve of the Babylonian, conquest, it is so constructed as to be a vehicle of pious feeling to the Church in various emergencies.”
Psa_94:1, f. Show thyself or shine forth, does not necessarily refer to a theophany in the strict sense. The construction of the form as a præt. (Sept. et al., Hengst.) would accord with the regular rule after Deu_33:2; Psa_1:2, but does not suit the context. A rarer form of the imperative הוֹפִיעַ instead of הוֹפֵעַ (Ges. § 53, remark 2) is therefore to be assumed, without needing to point הוֹפֵיעַ (Ewald), unless we prefer to hold that the final consonant has fallen away from the original form הוֹפּיעָה (Psa_80:2) on account of its similarity in sound to the first letter of the following word (Olshausen, Hitzig, Hupfeld, Del.). The plural, avengings, may denote not only the plurality of avenging deeds (Eze_25:17), but also the severity of the retribution (Jdg_11:36; 2Sa_4:8). The designation of God as the “God of retributions” is related to this.
Psa_94:8-10. The expression: foolish among the people [E. V. literally: brutish], is not another way of conveying the idea of the highest degree of stupidity (Geier, De Wette). It is not men in general or the heathen nations (most) who are addressed, but that part of Israel who had become accessible to seduction and suggestions of doubt (Olshausen and the recent expositors). But it is doubtful whether we ought to render in Psa_94:10 : the Instructor of the nations (Jerome, Clericus, Ewald, Köster, Maurer, Hengst., Hupfeld, Hitzig) or: He who hath chastised the heathen (Calvin, Geier, J. H. Michaelis, Rosenmüller, Delitzsch). But the contrast is not between the Gentiles without and Israel with the revealed Law; or between Israel’s former punishment at the hands of oppressors, and that which is to be expected now, so that the one can be inferred from the other. An inference is rather made from one course of action on the part of God to another of similar character, and not to the same course of action with reference to distinct objects, or at different times. [Perowne: “In the English Bible this is broken up into two questions, and a clause is supplied in the second member which does not exist in the Hebrew: ‘Shall not He know?’ But this is incorrect. There is a change in the argument. Before it was from the physical constitution of man; now it is from the moral government of the world. He who is the great Educator of the race, who gives them all the knowledge they possess, has He not the right which even human teachers possess, of chastening, correcting, and improving? On this Divine education see Rom_1:20; Rom_2:15-16.”—J. F. M.].
Psa_94:11 b. Since the pronoun is in the masculine, it is natural to refer it to “men,” and translate: for they are breath, that is, nothingness, finitude, transitoriness (Geier, J. H. Mich., Hengst., Hupfeld). The metaphysical ground of God’s perfect knowledge of His creatures, which are formed by Him and absolutely dependent upon Him, would then be presented. But the context favors rather the interpretation that God who gives men knowledge, is the Omniscient One, to whom their thoughts, in their natural nothingness, lie fully disclosed. The Sept. also has so understood the sentence, and is followed by Paul (1Co_3:20) and Jerome. The position of the pronoun, moreover, justifies this view. If the first idea had been intended, the pronoun would have been placed before the noun (Jer_10:15). In a dependent sentence, however, corresponding to the accusative of the object, it may precede, contrary to the usual rule (Isa_61:9; Jer_46:5); also, when emphasis is required Ps. 9:21), like the accusative in a relative clause (Psa_99:4; Pro_2:16; Hos_7:2). The masculine would then be loosely employed instead of the feminine, as in Psa_34:20 (Hitzig, Del.).
Psa_94:13, etc.That Thou mayst give him rest.—This is usually referred to the inward repose of the righteous man, who receives instruction from God’s law (Deuteronomy 8. f.) as to the design of the sufferings impending over him (Jer_49:23 compared with Isa_30:15), and strength for the trials of evil days, so that such a man, tried and purified as he is by sufferings, is even to be counted happy (Job_5:17; Pro_3:11 f.; Psa_34:9; Psa_40:5). But Psa_94:13 b. directs the view of the chastened to the end of the transgressor, and Psa_94:14 to God’s abiding with His people. This is the reason why the evil days will come to an end. God will afford the sufferer outward rest or deliverance from them (Job_3:13; Job_3:17 f.; Job_34:29; Pro_15:18). The ל in Psa_94:13 a. indicates, not the design of the teaching, but its contents (Calvin, Clericus, Hupfeld). The evil days are not called days of misfortune, nor days of the evil man, that is, of the wicked, but days of harm, in which bad men abuse their power to work mischief (Psa_49:6). From this cause sufferings arise for the righteous, which the latter regard as Divine chastisements, and make to contribute to their salvation. The throne of destruction, Psa_94:20 [E. V., throne of iniquity], is either the throne of the enemy, from which destruction threatens Israel, but to which Jehovah grants no duration and no fellowship with Him; or the chair of the judge, who causes distress [Heb., עָסָל, E. V., mischief] by using the written law of God as an occasion for illegalities and the perversion of justice. The latter view agrees better with the mode of expression in Psa_94:20 b. For that sentence does not simply allude to a course of action disastrous in its results and opposed to the law, but to an ingenious forming of something burdensome and oppressive, the expression being suggested by and applied from the fashioning of statuets. [This idea is expressed in the rendering: who formest misery by law (rule).—J. F. M.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The presumption of the ungodly is apt to increase, when they are allowed for a long period to employ with impunity their position in the world, their influence, and their resources, for the oppression of the weak and defenceless, and especially of the righteous. Their course of action often reaches to cruelty and reckless violence, and becomes criminality and wickedness, when, to the relentless ill-treatment of those, who, through God’s precepts, are made the special objects of His watchful love and compassionate help, are united the denial of His omniscience, the delusion of complete impunity, and derision of the belief in His government of the world and in His retributive righteousness.
2. Such conduct is indeed that of heathen, but yet it is not only displayed among heathen nations, but appears also among those who have received the law of God, but who either transgress it openly, insolently, and defiantly, or, while holding fast to the letter, practice injustice under the appearance and garb of righteousness, and in both cases oppress those who are weak, or offend them, or cause them to err in their faith, or seduce them from their allegiance to God.
3. A cry of prayer, therefore, sounds forth at times from the midst of the Church, invoking the judicial intervention of God against her destroyers, when they would, by violence or by perversion of justice, oppress the righteous and persecute them even to death. For God’s people hold fast to the belief which is oppugned and derided, that God is the supreme and faithful Judge and Avenger, who will bring to their due results the laws according to which He regulates the course of the world, and will reconcile the occasional contradictions between the actual state or administration of justice, and the principle and norm of righteousness. The premature rejoicings of the wicked and their scorn will then be stilled, when they fall into the abyss prepared for them; while the soul of the righteous will dwell no longer in the land of silence, for God is their help.
4. But God is not merely the Judge of the whole world and the righteous Avenger; He is also the Teacher of men, and has left Himself at no time and in no place without a witness. All understanding and knowledge, even of the heathen, spring from Him who is the Creator of men, and has given them reason and all their senses. Blessed are they who not only are acquainted with His Law, revealed in Israel, but come under its instruction and guidance. To give testimony to this is the duty assigned to the Church, in order that the ignorant be instructed, the erring set right, the tried comforted, the secure and presumptuous warned, sinners convicted in conscience, the doubting and weak strengthened, and all together confirmed in the certain assurance that God is both able and willing to execute judgment for the complete deliverance of the righteous and punishment of the impiety of the wicked, in accordance with the promises and commands of His Law.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
It is not enough to hold a general belief that a God exists; the question is: (1) what kind of God He is; (2) whether we adhere faithfully to Him.—We cannot apply the promises of God’s law to ourselves, unless we value His commandments.—God is not only the Creator and Ruler of the world. He is also the trustworthy Teacher and Educator of men, and their infallible Judge.—How the wickedness of men often makes them fools, and how the folly of men often urges them deeper still into ruin.—In order not to be obliged to forsake their sins, the wicked presume that they will remain unpunished, and in order not to be disturbed in their delusion, they deny the only true and living God.—God is the righteous Avenger, but before He punishes He warns, and those who would be delivered must yield to His rule.—He who would be freed from anxiety must listen to the words of God.—If our souls are to be revived by the consolations of God, we must listen to His warnings and believe His promises.
Luther: He who so believes and is taught of God, can be patient, and let the wicked rage, while he looks to the end, and bides the time.
Starke: Thou dost arrogate to thyself God’s royal prerogative, whenever thou dost seek to avenge thyself on those who injure thee.—Believers under oppression often cannot be reconciled to God’s great patience and long-suffering towards the wicked, and therefore sigh: Lord, how long? and yet God has not forgotten.—The true Church has ever had her persecutors, but she has at all times employed prayer as the best means of overcoming them, and has found it a sure one.—Whither can men’s sins not beguile them? In order to quiet their consciences they seek to persuade themselves that God is not omniscient. Vain imagination.—The joyful issue of a Christian’s troubles serves to strengthen the faith and patience of all fellow-Christians.—The world forms an altogether wrong judgment as to God’s chastisements. It says: ill for him whom God chastens. But the judgment of the Holy Spirit is a different one. It is precious and consoling: blessed is he whom God chastens. Should not this serve to increase our patience?—Nothing can revive the soul so sweetly, or penetrate therein so deeply, as the honey of the gospel. O gather a good supply when it abounds; it will soothe thee in time of need.—When affliction is greatest, then does faith display itself in its true and fullest strength, and is at the same time purified in that fire.—The righteous hand of God is often so clearly revealed in the destruction of the wicked, that even the least inexperienced in His ways must recognize it and say: The Lord hath done this!
Frisch: Thou hast here a mirror of an afflicted and yet believing heart. What dost thou see therein? (1) Many heart-griefs; (2) manifold consolations of God; (3) powerful and true reviving of soul.—Rieger: Even in justifiable zeal, we are easily led to take too much upon ourselves, unless we keep within the bounds prescribed by God’s Spirit and word. A fire is useful in a house, but it must be used carefully.—Richter (Hausbibel): The judgment of chastisement begins with believers; they are thus preserved from the destruction and fearful judgment of damnation, which is inflicted upon those who oppose Christ.—Vaihinger: The education which God gives by daily experiences and sufferings, as well as His instruction by the written law, is, in the futility of human projects, a special privilege of believers, benefiting them in severe sufferings.
[Matt. Henry: When the teachings of the word and Spirit go along with the rebukes of Providence, they then both speak men blessed and help to make them so; for then they are the marks of adoption and means of sanctification. When we are chastened we must pray to be taught, and look into the law as the best expositor of Providence. It is not the chastening itself that does good, but the teaching that goes along with, and is the expositor of it.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23 1. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth—The original…
1. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth—The original is very vehement: O God of vengeance, Jehovah; God of vengeance, shine forth. “Vengeance” is in the plural, vengeances, or revenge, and is twice repeated to give intensity. The cry comes from the lowest depths. The “shine forth” is a call for such a signal manifestation of God’s power as shall leave no doubt of its divine origin, and finds its ground idea in the theophanies of the cloud in the wilderness and the shekinah. Exo_16:6-7; Exo_16:10; Lev_9:23; Num_14:10. Compare Deu_33:2; Psa_50:2-3; Psa_80:1-2. The spirit and motive of the prayer are explained in Psa_94:2-3, and the urgent cause of it in Psa_94:5-6
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 1. God of vengeance, Jehovah,
1. God of vengeance, Jehovah,
God of vengeance, shine forth!
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The Psalmist appeals to Jehovah, Who has the power and the right to punish (Deu_32:35; Nah_1:2; Rom_12:19), to manifest Himself in all the splendour of His Presence (Deu_33:2; Psa_50:2; Psa_80:1). God is El, ‘the mighty God’; and the word for vengeance is plural, denoting the completeness of the retribution which He can inflict. Cp. “God of recompences,” Jer_51:56. For the ‘anadiplosis’ cp. Psa_94:3; Psa_94:23, and Psa_92:9, note.
1, 2. An appeal to Jehovah to manifest Himself as Judge of the world and Avenger of wrong.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 (1) The original is far more striking in its…
(1) The original is far more striking in its conciseness. God of retributions, Jehovah, God of retributions shine forth. The emphatic repetition of a phrase is a feature of this psalm. (See Psa_94:3; Psa_94:23.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–23 THIS psalm is primarily (vers. 1-11) a "cry for…
THIS psalm is primarily (vers. 1-11) a "cry for vengeance on Israel"s oppressors, passing into an appeal for more faith to God"s own people" (Cheyne). In the latter half (vers. 12-23) the psalmist comforts himself with the thought that God will assuredly protect his own, and bring destruction upon the evil doers (vers. 12-23). Metrically, the psalm is made up of four strophes the first of seven verses (vers. 1-7); the next of four (vers. 8-11); the third of eight (vers. 12-19); and the last of four (vers. 20-23).
Vers. 1-7. The cry for vengeance. Israel is suffering oppression not, however, from foreign enemies, but from domestic tyrants (vers. 4-6). Innocent blood is shed; the widow and the orphan are trodden down. God, it is supposed, will not see or will not regard (ver. 7). The psalmist, therefore, cries out to God to manifest himself by taking signal vengeance on the evil doers (vers. 1, 2).
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O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth. (comp. Deu_32:35, "To me belongeth vengeance and recompence;" and Jer_51:56, where God is called "the Lord God of reeompences," as he is here literally Lord God of vengeances O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself; or, "shine forth make thy justice to appear; show thyself in thy character of a God who will by no means clear the guilty. (Exo_34:7)
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. A God of vengeances.
Aglen, in Ellicott"s "Commentary," proposes to render, "God of retributions, Jehovah, God of retributions, shine forth." The idea in the term "vengeances" would be better expressed by the term "avengements." God is thought of as the great Goel-Avenger of his oppressed and afflicted people, and therefore the One to whom appeal should be made in any particular time of distress. The word "vengeance" includes the idea of heated personal feeling. The word "avengement" sets prominently family relations and duties. The Apostle St. Paul expresses this thought of God, when he commands that "no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the Avenger of all such". (1Th_4:6) The "avenger of blood" is a familiar figure in the Mosaic constitution. But Moses only adopted and modified an original tribal institution. The main functions of the Hebrew Goel, Avenger, or Redeemer, were three.
1. If any Hebrew had fallen into penury, and been compelled to part with his ancestral estate, the family avenger was bound to redeem it and restore it.
2. If any Hebrew had been taken captive, or had sold himself as a slave, the goel had to buy him back, and set him free.
3. If any Hebrew had suffered wrong, or had been killed, the goel had to exact compensation for the wrong, or to avenge the murder. It is evident that the psalmist lived in a time when wickedness triumphed in high places. We may think of the reign of Ahab and Jezebel, when the condition of Jehovah"s prophets and people seemed to be hopeless; they could only cry mightily to God, seeking his preservations and his deliverances. The psalmist had no confidence in the existing rulers, who should have been the avengers of all the poor, the wronged, and the distressed. He had confidence in God, of whom it can be said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
I MAN CANNOT AVENGE HIMSELF.
1. Because those who wrong him are often quite beyond his reach or control.
2. Because he has not at command the requisite forces.
3. Because he is not self master enough to temper justice with mercy.
4. Because he cannot be strictly judicial, but is sure to spoil his avengings by introducing personal feeling.
5. Because he is in grave peril of injuring himself in his avengings.
II MAN MAY RESTFULLY LET GOD AVENGE HIM.
1. Because his power is sufficient.
2. His self-restraints are perfect.
3. His time is best.
4. His avengings prove to be blessings both for the wronged and for the wrong doer. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-23. Divine retribution certain.
The psalm may be distributed under the following heads.
I A PRAYER FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF WICKED OPPRESSORS. (Vers. 1, 2) Probably in anticipation of the Assyrian invasion.
II THE GROUND OF THE PRAYER THE INSOLENT AND ATHEISTIC SPIRIT OF THEIR CRUEL WORK. (Vers. 3-7) They murder the fatherless, and say, "Jehovah seeth not?
III THE BLINDNESS AND CONTEMPT OF GOD THEY SHOW. (Vers. 8-11) All sin implies this.
IV THE BLESSED REST AND CONFIDENCE OF THOSE WHO ARE CHASTENED AND TAUGHT OF GOD. (Vers. 12-15) "Judgment cannot always be perverted cannot always fail.
V THE DEEP CONVICTION OF GOD"S RIGHTEOUSNESS DERIVED FROM PAST EXPERIENCE. (Vers. 16-19)
VI AN ANTICIPATION OF RETRIBUTION ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED UPON THE WICKED. (Vers. 20-23) S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–23 The writer sees evil doers in power, and smarts…
The writer sees evil doers in power, and smarts under their oppressions. His sense of the divine sovereignty, of which he had been singing in the previous Psalm, leads him to appeal to God as the great Judge of the earth; this he does with much vehemence and importunity, evidently tingling under the lash of the oppressor. Confident in God's existence, and assured of his personal observation of the doings of men, the psalmist rebukes his atheistic adversaries, and proclaims his triumph in his God: he also interprets the severe dispensation of Providence to be in very deed most instructive chastisements, and so he counts those happy who endure them. The Psalm is another pathetic form of the old enigma"Wherefore do the wicked prosper?" It is another instance of a good man perplexed by the prosperity of the ungodly, cheering his heart by remembering that there is, after all, a King in heaven, by whom all things are overruled for good.
In Ps 94:1-7 the psalmist utters his complaint against wicked oppressors. From Ps 94:8-11 he reasons against their sceptical notion that God did not notice the actions of men. He then shows that the Lord does bless his people and will deliver them, though for a while they may be chastened, Ps 94:12-15. He again pleads for help in Ps 94:16, and declares his entire dependence upon God for preservation, Ps 94:17-19; yet a third time urges his complaint, Ps 94:20-21; and then concludes with the confident assurance that his enemies, and all other wicked men, would certainly be made to reap the due reward of their deeds, "yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off."
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Ver. 1. O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; 0 God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself: or, God of retribution, Jehovah, God of retribution, shine forth! A very natural prayer when innocence is trampled down, and wickedness exalted on high. If the execution of justice be a right thing, and who can deny the fact? then it must be a very proper thing to desire it; not out of private revenge, in which case a man would hardly dare to appeal to God, but out of sympathy with right, and pity for those who are made wrongfully to suffer, Who can see a nation enslaved, or even an individual downtrodden, without crying to the Lord to arise and vindicate the righteous cause? The toleration of injustice is here attributed to the Lord's being hidden, and it is implied that the bare sight of him will suffice to alarm the tyrants into ceasing their oppressions. God has but to show himself, and the good cause wins the day. He comes, he sees, he conquers! Truly in these evil days we need a manifest display of his power, for the ancient enemies of God and man are again struggling for the mastery, and if they gain it, woe unto the saints of God.
Ver. 1. 0 LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth. It may perhaps seem to accord too little with a lover of piety, so strenuously to urge upon God to show himself an avenger against the wicked, and to rouse Him as if He were lingering and procrastinating. But this supplication must be regarded in its proper bearing; for David does not pray, neither should we pray, that God would take vengeance on the wicked in the same way that men, inflamed with anger and hatred, are wont often to avenge themselves of their enemies, but that He would punish them after his own divine manner and measure. The vengeance of God is for the most part a medicine for the evil; but ours is at times destruction even to the good. Therefore truly the Lord is alone the God of revenges. For we, when we think we have inflicted a penalty upon our enemy, are often much mistaken. What injury to us was the body of our enemy? in depriving him of which we nevertheless express all our bitterness. What wounded thee and wrought thee harm and shame, was the spirit of thine enemy, and that thou art not able to seize and hold, but God is able; and He alone has such power that in no way can the spirit escape his strength and force. Leave vengeance with Him, and He will repay. He admonishes us, that if we ourselves wish to be avengers of our own pains and injuries we may hurt ourselves more deeply than our enemy: for when we take vengeance on him, we indeed wound and do violence to his body, which in itself is vile and of little regard; but in our own best and most precious part, that is, in our spirit; we ourselves, by losing patience, receive a deep stain, because when virtue and humanity have been expelled thence, we meanwhile incur faults to be atoned for therein. Wherefore God is entreated to become Himself the avenger of our injuries, for He alone knows aright and is able to avenge; and to become such an avenger that only the very thing which injured us may be punished. Some greedy man has cheated thee in money, may He punish avarice in him. A proud man has treated thee with scorn, may He destroy his pride, etc... This is vengeance most worthy to be inflicted of God, and by us to be sought. Jacopo Sadoleto. 1477-1547.
Ver. 1. I do not think that we sufficiently attend to the distinction that exists between revenge and vengeance. "Revenge, "says Dr. Johnson, "is an act of passion, vengeance of justice; injuries are revenged, crimes avenged." And it is from not attending to this essential distinction that the scorner has been led into such profane remarks, as if there were a vindictive spirit in the Almighty, and as if he found delight in wreaking vengeance on an adversary. The call which the psalmist here makes on God as a God to whom vengeance belongeth, is no other than if he had said, "O God, to whom justice belongeth!" Vengeance indeed is not for man, because with man's feelings and propensities it would ever degenerate into revenge. "I wilt be even with him, "says nature; "I will be above him, "says grace. Barton Bouchier.
Ver. 1. The two divine names (El and Jehovah, God and Lord) recognize God as almighty, eternal, self existent, bound by covenant to his people, and alone entitled to take vengeance. J. A. Alexander.
Ver. 1-6.
"Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piemontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
Over all the Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple Tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who having learned the way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe." John Milton.
Ver. 1.
1. Retribution the prerogative of God alone.
2. Under what aspects may we desire his rendering it.
3. How, and when he will surely fulfil this righteous wish.
Ver. 1.
1. Vengeance belongs to God and not to man.
2. Vengeance is better in the hands of God than of man. Let us fall into the hands of God, etc. G. R.
Psalms 94:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth . .…
Psa_94:1-23
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth . . . show Thyself.
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Persecutors and their victims
I. The awful condition of the wicked persecutor. The persecutors referred to (Psa_94:1-10) are represented as proud, speaking hard things, as workers of iniquity, as breaking in pieces the people of God, as slaying the widow and the stranger, and murdering the fatherless. Every age and country has abounded with such oppressors, they are rife even in this land of liberty.
1. They are prayed against by their godly victims (Psa_94:1-2).
2. They are understood by their godly victims, who saw in their hearts--
(1) Atheism (Psa_94:7).
(2) Brutality (Psa_94:8).
(3) Folly (Psa_94:8-10).
II. The blessed condition of their pious victims. These victims regarded their persecution--
1. As a Divine chastisement (Psa_94:12). All afflictions even when they come by the cruel persecution of men are employed by the Almighty Father as chastisements and corrections. Although He does not originate the evil He directs it and uses it for good.
2. As a Divine chastisement that would come to an end (Psa_94:13). The afflictions will not continue for ever, a long and blessed repose will ensue. The persecutors will fall into the pit which they have dug. The sinner is ever his own destroyer; with every crime he is sinking his own dark bottomless pit into which he must fall.
3. As a chastisement under which they were guaranteed Divine support. The pious victims experienced
(1) Divine help (Psa_94:17-18).
(2) Divine consolation (Psa_94:19).
4. As a Divine chastisement that would end in the ruin of their enemies (Psa_94:20-23). (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 94
Psalms 94
THE theme of God the Judge is closely allied to that of God the King, as other psalms of this group show, in which His coming to judge the world is the subject of rapturous praise. This psalm hymns Jehovahs retributive sway, for which it passionately cries, and in which it confidently trusts. Israel is oppressed by insolent rulers, who have poisoned the fountains of justice, condemning the innocent, enacting unrighteous laws, and making a prey of all the helpless. These "judges of Sodom" are not foreign oppressors, for they are "among the people"; and even while they scoff at Jehovahs judgments they call Him by His covenant names of "Jah" and "God of Jacob." There is no need, therefore, to look beyond Israel for the originals of the dark picture, nor does it supply data for fixing the period of the psalm.
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The structure and course of thought are transparent. First comes an invocation to God as the Judge of the earth (Psa_94:1-2); then follow groups of four verses each, subdivided into pairs, -the first of these (Psa_94:3-6) pictures the doings of the oppressors; the second (Psa_94:7-11) quotes their delusion that their crimes are unseen by Jehovah, and refutes their dream of impunity, and it is closed by a verse in excess of the normal number. emphatically asserting the truth which the mockers denied. The third group declares the blessedness of the men whom God teaches, and the certainty of His retribution to vindicate the cause of the righteous (Psa_94:12-15). Then follow the singers own cry for help in his own need, as one of the oppressed community, and a sweet reminiscence of former aid, which calms his present anxieties. The concluding group goes back to description of the lawless lawmakers and their doings, and ends with trust that the retribution prayed for in the first verses will verily be dealt out to them, and that thereby both the singer, as a member of the nation, and the community will find Jehovah, who is both "my God" and "our God," a high tower.
The reiterations in the first two verses are not oratorical embellishments, but reveal intense feeling and pressing need. It is a cold prayer which contents itself with one utterance. A man in straits continues to cry for help till it comes, or till he sees it coming. To this singer, the one aspect of Jehovahs reign which was forced on him by Israels dismal circumstances was the judicial. There are times when no thought of God is so full of strength as that He is "the God of recompenses," as Jeremiah calls Him, {Jer_51:56} and when the longing of good men is that He would flash forth, and slay evil by the brightness of His coming. They who have no profound loathing of sin, or who have never felt the crushing weight of legalised wickedness, may shrink from such aspirations as the psalmists, and brand them as ferocious; but hearts longing for the triumph of righteousness will not take offence at them.
The first group (Psa_94:3-6) lifts the cry of suffering Faith, which has almost become impatience, but turns to, not from, God, and so checks complaints of His delay, and converts them into prayer. "How long, O Lord?" is the burden of many a tried heart; and the Seer heard it from the souls beneath the altar. This psalm passes quickly to dilate on the crimes of the rulers which forced out that prayer. The portrait has many points of likeness to that drawn in Psalms 73. Here, as there, boastful speech and haughty carriage are made prominent, being put before even cruelty and oppression. "They well out, they speak arrogance": both verbs have the same object. Insolent self-exaltation pours from the fountain of their pride in copious jets. "They give themselves airs like princes." The verb in this clause may mean to say among themselves or to boast, but is now usually regarded as meaning to behave like a prince-i.e., to carry oneself insolently. Vainglorious arrogance manifest in boasting speech and masterful demeanour characterises Eastern rulers, especially those who have risen from low origin. Every little village tyrant gave himself airs, as if he were a king; and the lower his rank, the greater his insolence. These oppressors were grinding the nation to powder, and what made their crime the darker was that it was Jehovahs people and inheritance which they thus harassed. Helplessness should be a passport to a rulers care, but it had become a mark for murderous attack. Widow; stranger, and orphan are named as types of defencelessness.
Nothing in this strophe indicates that these oppressors are foreigners. Nor does the delusion that Jehovah neither saw nor cared for their doings. which the next strophe (Psa_94:7-11) states and confutes imply that they were so. Cheyne, indeed, adduces the name "God of Jacob," which is put into their mouths, as evidence that they are pictured as knowing Jehovah only as one among many tribal or national deities; but the name is too familiar upon the lips of Israelites, and its use by others is too conjectural, to allow of such a conclusion. Rather, the language derives its darkest shade from being used by Hebrews, who are thereby declaring themselves apostates from God as well as oppressors of His people. Their mad, practical atheism makes the psalmist blaze up in indignant rebuke and impetuous argumentation. He turns to them, and addresses them in rough, plain words, strangely contrasted with their arrogant utterances regarding themselves. They are "brutish" {cf. Psa_73:22} and "fools." The psalmist, in his height of moral indignation, towers above these petty tyrants, and tells them home truths very profitable for such people, however dangerous to their utterer. There is no obligation to speak smooth words to rulers whose rule is injustice and their religion impiety. Ahab had his Elijah, and Herod his John Baptist. The succession has been continued through the ages.
Delitzsch and others, who take the oppressors to be foreigners, are obliged to suppose that the psalmist turns in Psa_94:8 to those Israelites who had been led to doubt God by the prosperity of the wicked; but there is nothing, except the exigencies of that mistaken supposition, to show that any others than the deniers of Gods providence who have just been quoted are addressed as "among the people." Their denial was the more inexcusable, because they belonged to the people whose history was one long proof that Jehovah did see I and recompense evil. Two considerations are urged by the psalmist, who becomes for the moment a philosophical theologian, in confutation of the error in question. First, he argues that nothing can be in the effect which is not in the cause, that the Maker of mens eyes cannot be blind, nor the Planter of their ears deaf. The thought has wide applications. It hits the centre, in regard to many modern denials as well as in regard to these blunt, ancient ones. Can a universe plainly full of purpose have come from a purposeless source? Can finite persons have emerged from an impersonal Infinity? Have we not a right to argue upwards from mans make to God his maker, and to find in Him the archetype of all human capacity. We may mark that, as has been long ago observed, the psalm avoids gross anthropomorphism, and infers not that the Creator of the ear has ears, but that He hears. As Jerome (quoted by Delitzsch) says, "Membra sustulit, efficientias dedit."
The teaching of the strophe is gathered up in Psa_94:11, which exceeds the normal number of four verses in each group, and asserts strongly the conclusion for which the psalmist has been arguing. The rendering of b is, "For (not That) they (i.e. men) are but a breath." "The ground of the Omniscience which sees the thoughts of men through and through is profoundly laid in the vanity, i.e. the finiteness, of men, as the correlative of the Infiniteness of God" (Hupfeld).
In the strophe Psa_94:12-15 the psalmist turns from the oppressors to their victims, the meek of the earth, and changes his tone from fiery remonstrance to gracious consolation. The true point of view from which to regard the oppressors wrong is to see in it part of Gods educational processes. Jehovah, who "instructs" all men by conscience, "instructs" Israel, and by the Law "teaches" the right interpretation of such afflictive providences. Happy he who accepts that higher education! A further consolation lies in considering the purpose of the special revelation to Israel, which will be realised in patient hearts that are made wise thereby-namely, calm repose of submission and trust, which are not disturbed by any stormy weather. There is possible for the harassed man "peace subsisting at the heart of endless agitation."
If we recognise that life is mainly educational, we shall neither be astonished nor disturbed by sorrows. It is not to be wondered at that the schoolmaster has a rod, and uses it sometimes. There is rest from evil even while in evil, if we understand the purpose of evil. Yet another consolation lies in the steadfast anticipation of its transiency and of the retribution measured to its doers. That is no unworthy source of comfort. And the ground on which it rests is the impossibility of Gods forsaking His people, His inheritance. These designations of Israel look back to Psa_94:5, where the crushed and afflicted are designated by the same words. Israels relation to Jehovah made the calamities more startling; but it also makes their cessation, and retribution for them on their inflicters more certain. It is the trial and triumph of Faith to be sure, while tyrants grind and crush, that Jehovah has not deserted their victims. He cannot change His purpose; therefore, sorrows and prosperity are but divergent methods, concurring in carrying out His unalterable design. The individual sufferer may take comfort from his belonging to the community to which the presence of Jehovah is guaranteed forever. The singer puts his convictions as to what is to be the upshot of all the perplexed riddles of human affairs into epigrammatic form, in the obscure, gnome-like saying, "To righteousness shall judgment return," by which he seems to mean that the administration of justice, which at present was being trampled under foot, "shall come back to the eternal principle of all judicial action, namely, righteousness,"-in shorter words, there shall be no schism between the judgments ofearthly tribunals and justice. The psalmists hope is that of all good men and sufferers from unjust rulers. All the upright in heart long for such a state of things and follow after it, either in the sense of delight in it ("Dem Recht mussen alle frommen Herzen zufallen"-Luther), or of seeking to bring it about. The psalmists hope is realised in the King of Men, whose own judgments are truth, and who infuses righteousness and the love of it into all who trust in Him.
The singer comes closer to his own experience in the next strophe (Psa_94:16-19), in which he claims his share in these general sources of rest and patience, and thankfully thinks of past times, when he found that they yielded him streams in the desert. He looks out upon the multitude of "evildoers," and, for a moment, asks the question which faithless sense is ever suggesting and pronouncing unanswerable: "Where shall I find a champion?" As long as our eyes range along the level of earth, they see none such. But the empty earth should turn our gaze to the occupied throne. There sits the Answer to our almost despairing question. Rather, there He stands, as the proto-martyr saw Him, risen to His feet in swift readiness to help His servant. Experience confirms the hope of Jehovahs aid; for unless in the past He had been the singers help, he could not have lived till this hour, but must have gone down into the silent land. No man who still draws breath is without tokens of Gods sufficient care and ever-present help. The mystery of continued life is a witness for God. And not only does the past thus proclaim where a mans help is, but devout reflection on it will bring to light many times when doubts and tremors were disappointed. Conscious weakness appeals to confirming strength. If we feel our foot giving, and fling up our hands towards Him, He will grasp them and steady us in the most slippery places. Therefore, when divided thoughts (for so the picturesque word employed in Psa_94:19 means) hesitate between hope and fear, Gods consolations steal into agitated minds, and there is a great calm.
The last strophe (Psa_94:20-23) weaves together in the finale, as a musician does in the last bars of his composition, the main themes of the psalm-the evil deeds of unjust rulers, the trust of the psalmist, his confidence in the final annihilation of the oppressors and the consequent manifestation of God as the God of Israel. The height of crime is reached when rulers use the forms of justice as masks for injustice, and give legal sanction to "mischief." The ancient world groaned under such travesties of the sanctity of Law; and the modern world is not free from them. The question often tortures faithful hearts, "Can such doings be sanctioned by God, or in any way be allied to Him?" To the psalmist the worst part of these rulers wickedness was that, in his doubting moments, it raised the terrible suspicion that God was perhaps on the side of the oppressors. But when such thoughts came surging on him, he fell back, as we all have to do, on personal experience and on an act of renewed trust. He remembered what God had been to him in past moments of peril, and he claimed Him for the same now, his own refuge and fortress. Strong in that individual experience and conviction, he won the confidence that all which Jehovah had to do with the throne of destruction was, not to connive at its evil, but to overthrow it and root out the evildoers, whose own sin will be their ruin. Then Jehovah will be known, not only for the God who belongs to, and works for, the single soul, but who is "our God," the refuge of the community, who will not forsake His inheritance.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 “There is no superscription to this Psalm. There is…
INTRODUCTION
“There is no superscription to this Psalm. There is no indication of its authorship, of the period at which it was written, or of the circumstances to which it refers. There are many of these anonymous hymns in God’s Book, nameless utterances, voices of the night of weeping, shouts from the mountain tops of thought, prayers unto the God of Life, which belong to no individual, can be fathered on no solitary period, but descend as an heirloom to successive ages, and enrich every generation. As the circumstances, the victories, the shortcomings, and the possibilities of man are continually being repeated, so the religious experiences of the Church do often reappear in its history, and we may receive the inspired utterances of them in one age as almost equally appropriate to the sorrows and joys of another age.”—Dr. H. R. Reynolds.
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“This Psalm, as may be easily apprehended, is a prayer of all the pious children of God, and of spiritual people, against all their persecutors, so that it may be used by all pious godly people from the beginning till the end of the world.”—Luther.
A CRY FOR JUDGMENT
(Psa_94:1-7)
Consider—
I. The complaint of the Church.
“Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?” &c. (Psa_94:3-7). The poet complains to the Lord of the enemies of the Church, and names mention of—
1. Their general character. “The wicked … the workers of iniquity.” They are depraved in character, and diabolic in conduct. “Mark the terrible energy implied in the designation, ‘workers of iniquity.’ Reference is not made to men who make a pastime of iniquity, or who occasionally commit themselves to its service, but to those who toil at it as a business. As the merchant man is industrious in commerce, as the philosopher is assiduous in study, as the artist is indefatigable in elaboration, so those slaves of iniquity toil in their diabolic pursuits with an ardour which the most powerful remonstrance seldom abates. They are always ready to serve their master.”—Parker.
2. Their arrogant triumph (Psa_94:3-4.) “How long shall the wicked triumph? They belch out, they speak arrogant things; all the workers of iniquity carry themselves proudly.”—Perowne’s trans. In the first line of Psa_94:4, the two verbs have one noun as the object—they pour forth hard, or, proud speeches. The enemies of the people of God were triumphant over them, and were proud and insolent in their triumph. It is not seldom that the wicked in their prosperity and power have arrogantly lorded it over the righteous. Prosperity, apart from Divine grace, engenders presumption, and fancied self-sufficiency, and self-boasting.
3. Their oppression and cruelty (Psa_94:5-6.) The word which in the A.V. is translated, “they break in pieces,” Perowne and Hengstenberg translate, “they crush.” The wicked oppressed the people and heritage of the Lord. How frequently was this the case in the history of the chosen people! How frequently has it been so in the history of the Christian Church! The Psalmist complains of cruelty as well as oppression. “They slay the widow,” &c. “The widow and the fatherless are mentioned, as often, as particular instances of those whose misery ought to excite compassion, but whose defencelessness makes them the easy prey of the wicked.”—Perowne. This is invariably represented in Scripture as a crime of great enormity, and especially abhorrent to God. See Exo_22:21-24.
4. Their practical Atheism. “Yet they say the Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.” “The Divine names,” says Alexander, “are, as usual, significant. That the self-existent and eternal God should not see, is a palpable absurdity; and scarcely less so, that the God of Israel should suffer His own people to be slaughtered without even observing it.” We need not suppose that they uttered this blasphemy in words, but it was expressed in their conduct. Their atheism was not theoretical, but practical. This practical atheism is very prevalent and pernicious at the present time. Immense numbers utter “the Apostles’ Creed” regularly, who exclude God from almost every province of their life. In the formation of their plans, in the management of their business, in their relations to society, &c. God is not in all their thoughts.
II. The appeal of the Church. “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth,” &c., (Psa_94:1-3). Let it be noted at once and closely that the appeal is for justice, not for revenge. “I do not think that we sufficiently attend to the distinction that exists between revenge and vengeance. ‘Revenge,’ says Dr. Johnson, ‘is an act of passion, vengeance of justice, injuries are revenged, crimes avenged.’ … The call which the Psalmist here makes on God, as a God to whom vengeance belongeth, is no other than if he had said, ‘O God, to whom justice belongeth!’ Vengeance indeed is not for man, because with man’s failings and propensities it would ever degenerate into revenge. ‘I will be even with him,’ says nature; ‘I will be above him,’ says grace!”—Bouchier.
1. Judgment is the prerogative of God alone. “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth.” The two names of the Divine Being which the Psalmist uses, El and Jehovah, recognise God as almighty, self-existent, and alone entitled to take vengeance. Literally it is, “God of vengeances,” the plural indicating that there is in God a fulness of vengeance for His persecuted people; and the repetition of the appeal denotes the earnestness with which it is made. “To Me belongeth vengeance and recompense.” “Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” The vindication of His people and the punishment of their enemies is His sole prerogative. He will render righteous judgment to the wicked. He alone has the right to do so.
2. Judgment is sometimes apparently long delayed. “Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?” The persecution seems to the Psalmist to have been of long continuance. He would fain know when it would end. Our time of suffering and trial always seems long and wearisome. In the night of weeping and waiting, wearily drag the hours, and we cry, “How long?” In due season God will appear, &c.
3. Judgment is earnestly invoked. Here is a cry for the manifestation of God. “Show Thyself.” Margin, as in Heb., “Shine forth.” It is an appeal to God to manifest Himself as a God of righteous retributions. Here is a cry for the judgment of God. “Lift up Thyself, thou judge,” &c. God is conceived as sitting at ease, and entreated to arise and execute judgment, and to give a just recompense to those enemies of His people who, having got the upper hand, exulted proudly over them. Here is a cry for His speedy interposition, “Lord, how long? “&c.
CONCLUSION.—Deep in the heart of man is the sense of justice, the conviction that there is a judge of all the earth who will do right. Oppressed humanity in all ages and in all lands has cried to heaven for judgment. That cry will certainly, sooner or later, meet with a full response.
“The sun of justice may withdraw his beams
A while from earthy ken, and sit concealed
In dark recess, pavilioned round with clouds:
Yet let not guilt presumptuous rear her crest,
Nor virtue droop despondent: soon these clouds,
Seeming eclipse, will brighten into day,
And in majestic splendour He will rise,
With healing and with terror on His wings.”
—G. Bally.
THE FOLLY OF PRACTICAL ATHEISM
(Psa_94:8-11)
The Psalmist addresses not the theoretical, but practical atheists. He speaks to men who acknowledged the existence of God, and His creatorship, and His government of the world; but who thought that He did not see and would not recompense their conduct. This is the atheism which is the most prevalent and perilous in the present day. The folly of such atheists is seen—
I. In supposing that God does not observe their conduct. “He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” The principle upon which this interrogation is based is this, that an effect cannot be greater than its cause. The picture with the beauty of which we are charmed is not greater than the conceptive and executive power of the artist who produced it. He saw it mentally long before we saw it visually. “This argument,” says R. Watson, “is as easy as it is conclusive, obliging all who acknowledge a first cause, to admit His perfect intelligence, or to take refuge in atheism itself. It fetches not the proof from a distance, but refers us to our bosoms for the constant demonstration that the Lord is a God of knowledge, and that by Him actions are weighed.” And Tillotson: “We find in ourselves such qualities as thought and intelligence, power and freedom, &c., for which we have the evidence of consciousness as much as for our own existence. Indeed, it is only by our consciousness of these, that our existence is known to ourselves. We know, likewise, that these are perfections, and that to have them is better than to be without them. We find also that they have not been in us from eternity. They must, therefore, have had a beginning, and consequently some cause. Now this cause, as it must be superior to its effect, must have those perfections in a superior degree; and if it be the First Cause, it must have them in an infinite or unlimited degree, since bounds or limitations, without a limiter, would be an effect without a cause.” If we see and hear and know, then God does so in a much greater, indeed, in an infinite degree. His knowledge is clear and distinct, ours is dim and confused; His is intimate and thorough, ours is partial and superficial; His is universal and infallible, ours uncertain and limited. “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man.” How foolish, then, to imagine that God does not hear the arrogant speech, or see the oppressive deed, or note the wickedness of men!
II. In supposing that God will not recompense their conduct. “He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not He correct?” “There is,” says Perowne, “a change in the argument. Before it was from the physical constitution of man; now it is from the moral government of the world.” The idea seems to be that even the heathen are governed by God. He has revealed to them by means of creation “His eternal power and Godhead;” His law He has “written in their hearts; their conscience also bears witness” for Him. They are subject to His control. He visits them in mercy; and He reproves them with judgment. Is it not folly then to suppose that He will overlook the injuries inflicted upon His own people by those who have a clearer and fuller revelation than the heathen? Every additional illustration of the judgment of God imparts increased force to the already conclusive evidence, that God will correct those who break His law and oppress His people.
The Psalmist mentions two things which considerably strengthen his argument.
1. That the evil complained of was of long continuance. “Ye fools, when will ye be wise?” The inquiry implies that their folly had existed for a long period. During that period they had been “treasuring up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” If they repent not, that accumulated wrath will surely burst upon them.
2. That God knows not only words and actions, but thoughts and purposes also. “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.” He has set “our secret sins in the light of His countenance.” The thoughts that He would not see and judge for these sins He knew. All thoughts of arrogance and oppression He knew. Let them not imagine that He did “not see” or “regard” their conduct; for even their hearts were known unto Him. “Thoughts are words to God, and vain thoughts are provocations.”
CONCLUSION.—
1. Here is warning to practical atheists. You are acting as though God had nothing to do with some departments of your life and conduct. You do things in business, or in politics, or in pleasure, which will not bear His scrutiny. You say in practice, “The Lord shall not see, neither shall God regard it.” But He does see; and “know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Your practical atheism is utter folly.
2. Here is encouragement to the oppressed righteous. You cannot pass beyond the region of God’s knowledge. He is acquainted with all your afflictions. His love and power are as great as His knowledge. He will sustain you in all your afflictions; and when He ariseth for judgment He will triumphantly vindicate you.
THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE DIVINELY-INSTRUCTED MAN
(Psa_94:12-15)
The Psalmist, having complained of the enemies of the Church and appealed to God for judgment, and having warned the enemies of the folly of their conduct, proceeds in these verses to speak of the blessedness of the people of God, even in the midst of the oppressions to which they were subjected. “Blessed is the man,” &c. The good man is here represented as blessed,—
I. Because of the instruction which he receives. “Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, &c.” (Psa_94:12-13). The word which is here rendered “chastenest” does not mean to afflict or punish; but to instruct, to admonish, &c. Perowne renders it, “instructest;” and Hengstenberg, “admonishest.” He says, “Those who allow themselves to be admonished and taught by the Lord stand in opposition to the foolish among the people, who go to school with the blind ungodly heathen.”
1. The Teacher. “Thou instructest, O Lord.” As a Teacher, the Lord is incomparable, supreme, perfect.
(1) In the extent of His attainments. All things are known to Him. His resources are inexhaustible. “His understanding is infinite.”
(2) In His method of instruction. His knowledge of each pupil is perfect. He knows the faculties, capacities, attainments, &c., of each one; and adapts His communications and methods of instruction to each one. The Lord is an infallible, perfect Teacher.
2. The Text-book. “Out of Thy law.” By means of His Word, God teaches His people the great principles of His government. “The law appears here,” says Hengstenberg, “as the means which God uses in this instruction, the fountain out of which He draws it, and then satisfies with it by His Spirit the thirsty soul. It comes into notice in connection with its doctrine of recompense, and its rich consolatory promises for the people of the Lord, whose end is always salvation.” The Word of God is the best expositor of His Providence.
3. The end of the instruction. “That Thou mayest give him rest,” &c. Perowne, as we think, expounds truly: “This is the end of God’s teaching, that His servant may wait in patience, unmoved by, safe FROM THE DAYS OF EVIL (comp. Psa_49:5), seeing the evil all round him lifting itself up, but seeing also the secret, mysterious retribution, slowly but surely accomplishing itself. In this sense the ‘rest’ is the rest of a calm, self-possessed spirit, as Isa_7:4; Isa_30:15; Isa_32:17.” The Divinely-instructed man has such views of the Divine administration as inspire him with confidence and calmness, even when the wicked arrogantly triumph over him. God has taught him out of His law that the pit is being digged, into which, if he repent not, the wicked will fall and perish. So the good man has inward rest in the midst of outward affliction and persecution. He is not the creature, but the conqueror of circumstances. His enemies may oppress him, but they cannot invade his peace, &c.
II. Because of the faithfulness of God. “For the Lord will not cast off His people,” &c. The Divinely-instructed man is in covenant relation with God, by virtue of which he is both secure and blessed. He is blessed, for God will never forsake him. “The Lord may perhaps forsake His people for a time (comp. Jdg_6:13; Isa_2:6), as a righteous punishment for forsaking Him, Deu_32:15, but not forever.”—Hengstenberg. The righteous are God’s “inheritance,” and He will not give up His title to it, nor suffer it to be wrested from Him. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee,” &c., Isa_54:7-8. Blessed, indeed, is the man who has the assurance that whatever may befall him, God will not forsake him. Being sure of his interest in God, he will want no good thing.
III. Because of the righteousness of His judgments. “But judgment shall return unto righteousness,” &c. There are times when judgment seems turned aside from righteousness, such as, when the wicked triumph and the good are oppressed. But at the proper time these apparent perversions will be seen in their true light, and righteousness will be seen to be supreme. Even in appearance, judgment and justice cannot always fail. It must sooner or later appear in its true character as perfect righteousness. In the judgment of the great day this manifestation of the righteousness of the Divine rule will be on a grand scale. This manifestation of the righteousness of God’s judgments will be viewed with satisfaction by the righteous. “All the upright in heart shall follow it.” They will approve of it, avow their attachment to it. They will rejoice in it. They shall follow it with joyous hearts and triumphant songs.
CONCLUSION.—Blessed, indeed, is the Divinely-instructed man; for he has rest in the midst of trouble, an everlasting interest in God, and a glorious prospect in the judgment.
A DECLARATION OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD
(Psa_94:16-23)
The Psalmist now applies the general doctrine of the Psalm to his own case, and the result is this clear declaration of sublime trust in God. Here is—
I. Confidence in the midst of formidable enemies. It is an easy matter to declare a triumphant trust when we are free from trial and danger. But the Poet was threatened and afflicted by unscrupulous and powerful enemies when he uttered these trustful and brave words.
1. His enemies were evil in character. “The evil doers, … the workers of iniquity.” See remarks on Psa_94:4.
2. His enemies were in positions of authority. They occupied “the throne” or judgment seat. They were “not common assassins or thieves, but tyrants who, under a false pretext of justice, oppressed the Church. The throne of the king, the seat of the judge, which is consecrated to God, they stained or defiled with their crimes.”—Perowne. The people of God have often had wicked kings, and corrupt and cruel judges for their enemies.
3. His enemies acted legally. “Which frameth mischief by a law.” They enacted wicked laws, or propounded wicked interpretations of the law. Iniquity is never so daring as when it is supported by the sanctions of law. A thing may be right legally, yet utterly wrong morally, and right morally, yet wrong legally. We have a notable example of this in the life of Daniel (Dan_6:7).
4. His enemies were confederate in council and action. “They gather themselves together,” &c. The enemies of Daniel afford an illustration, Dan_6:6; Dan_6:11; Dan_6:15. Surely the enemies of the Psalmist were sufficiently formidable to have aroused his fears. Yet he unfalteringly declares his confidence.
II. Confidence in the midst of many and anxious thoughts. The Psalmist speaks of “the multitude of his thoughts within him.” Perowne: “In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me.” “Anxious thoughts, or ‘perplexities,’ lit. ‘divided or branching thoughts,’ whether doubts or cares.” He was fully alive to the dangers of his position. His thoughts were anxious and perplexed. They were also multitudinous. Luther “He speaks of the many thoughts which one has in such a state of despair, how he could or might come out of it. Then he thinks this way and that way, and visits all holes and corners, but finds none.” Yet faith triumphs over these anxious thoughts. Notwithstanding his deep solicitude, he expresses his firm confidence in God and His Providence. He is anxious, yet victorious.
III. Confidence in the Divine support. “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had soon dwelt in silence,” &c. (Psa_94:17-18). Notice here—
1. The danger, and the need of help.
(1) He was in danger of death. His soul was nearly dwelling in silence. The grave is represented as a place of silence. He was near to “the gates of death.”
(2) He was also in danger of falling. He felt his feet slipping. When the soul is painfully exercised as to the Divine administration of human affairs, there is danger of falling into unbelief and rebellion, or of sinking into despair.
(3) The danger was imminent. His soul was already near to the land of darkness and silence, and his feet were slipping.
2. The failure of human help. “Unless the Lord had been my help,” &c. There are times when human help fails for want of faithfulness; and times when it fails for want of ability. There are experiences in life in which the truest and most devoted of human helpers are powerless to sympathise with or aid us.
3. The sufficiency of the Divine help. The Lord was the Helper of the Psalmist, and His mercy held him up. The help of the Lord was
(1) sufficient. It saved him from falling and from death.
(2) Seasonable. It was afforded when he was near “the silent land,” when his feet were slipping.
(3) Gracious. It was the expression of His mercy. He saves us in His lovingkindness. So the Psalmist proclaims his confidence in God, &c.
IV. Confidence in the Divine protection. “The Lord is my defence; and my God is the Rock of my refuge.” Perowne: “Jehovah hath been a high tower for me.” The Psalmist is confident of—
1. The Security of the Divine Protection. Jehovah was his “high tower.” In Him he would be raised far above the reach of danger. He was “the Rock of his refuge,” in the clefts of which he may safely hide.
2. The Stability of the Divine Protection. “The Rock” is firm, strong, immovable. It stands securely and calmly amid the driving winds, and pelting storms, and surging, thundering seas. The soul that trusts in Jehovah may exult, for she is inviolably and eternally safe.
V. Confidence in the Divine retribution. “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee?… He shall bring upon them their own iniquity,” &c. Here is a threefold assurance:—
1. God has no fellowship with the wicked. He will have no alliance with injustice, even when it is sanctioned by human laws. He has no complicity with evil. All His arrangements are utterly hostile to it.
2. God will cut of the persistently wicked. “He shall cut them off in their own wickedness,” &c. A terrible retribution awaits the workers of iniquity.
3. God will cut of the persistently wicked by means of their own wickedness. “He shall bring upon them their own iniquity.” “It is an ill work wicked ones are about; they make fetters for their own feet, and build houses for to fall upon their own heads; so mischievous is the nature of sin that it damnifies and destroys the parents of it.”—Greenhill. “A man cannot be more miserable than his own wickedness will make him if God visit it upon him.”—M. Henry.
VI. Confidence in the Lord a source of joy, even in the midst of dangers and anxieties. We have reserved this consideration to the last, because it seems to us the crowning triumph and glory of confidence. Even in the midst of oppression, peril, and multitudinous anxieties, the trust of the Psalmist brought joy to his soul. “Thy comforts delight my soul.” Meditation on the perfections of God, trust in His promises, and the realisation of His presence, are Divine comforts which exceedingly rejoice the soul. “They not only pacify the mind, but they joy it; they do not only satisfy it, but ravish it; they not only quiet, but delight it. They not only take away the present grief, but likewise put in the room and place of it most unspeakable comfort and consolation, as the sun does not only dispel darkness, but likewise brings in a glorious light in the stead of it.”—T. Horton. Thus, by faith in God, the soul is “more than conqueror” over all hostile powers without, and anxious thoughts and fears within. Let us cultivate such faith. For such faith let us pray. “Lord, increase our faith.”
THE SUMMONS TO HOLY WORK
(Psa_94:16)
We may regard these words as parallel at least to those of the Judges and Lawgivers of Israel, who when the very existence of Israel as a nation was trembling in the balance, and when devotedness and loyalty were demanded by the circumstances of the case, called with trumpet-voice to the brave and true-hearted among them to be “on the Lord’s side,” and “cursed bitterly” those who would not come “to the help of the Lord against the mighty.”
I. Let us review a few characteristics of the evildoers.
1. Look at the number of the evildoers. Not more than one-seventh of the human race is even nominally Christian; and among these Christians are reckoned all the populations of Austria, France, Russia, America, and Spain; the Greeks, the Copts, and the Armenians; the priest-ridden inhabitants of Brazil and Mexico, and all the crowds of our English cities; the Sabbath-breakers, the despisers of God’s love, the haters of God’s law, the drunkard, the harlot, the miser, the dotard, and the fool.… Turn to the six-sevenths of this world’s population.… We are passing out of Goshen into Egyptian darkness.
2. The variety of the evildoers. In one place there is subtle speculation, in another gross vice; here utter indifference, there wild fanaticism; in one tribe crushing ignorance, in another daring philosophy and luxuriant imagination.… The regiments of the prince of this world wear various uniforms; the mutineers in God’s army are widespread and bear divers colours: they speak a hundred dialects or tongues, and are scattered over the whole world.
3. They are closely organised. There are subtle links of faith that bind the millions of the East, and move them in vast masses. In China … there is abundant organisation, and much coincidence of action. In India, with all the varieties of faith that prevail, there are great and startling signs of combination against God and His Christ.
4. The depravity of these evildoers. It is not the mere ignorance which heathendom reveals which constitutes their chief danger or our main responsibility, but it is the fearful corruption of man under these various forms of Christless, Godless life. In these lands of which we are speaking there is no public opinion against sins of the foulest, most unmentionable kinds.
II. Consider the course which God has taken with these evildoers, and also what is involved in the appeal here uttered. “Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers?” “Who is on the Lord’s side?” By these appeals God seems to tell us that He is not going to crush, or destroy, or convert, or save these evildoers by any fiat of omnipotence, by any touch of His imperial sceptre. His method has always been to teach men by men; to uproot error by truth; to conquer darkness by light; to drive out hatred by love. Nature has unveiled her charms, &c., to men first, and afterwards to nations. God’s greatest acts of revelation have been made through human minds. When He intends to reach the hearts and conquer the wills of men by His love, He calls the sons of men to His help against the mighty. It is not, however, that God is weak and needs our help, but that for infinitely perfect reasons He chooses thus to conquer His enemies, &c. “Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers?” The evildoing is done against Him.
III. Examine the response which is made to this appeal. Nature is ready to rise up for God against the evildoers. Tremendous ocean once heaved from his rocky bed, and in the roaring of his billows said, “I will sweep the accursed race of man from the face of the earth.” … And the lust of rule, the spirit of conquest, the demon of war, have come up before Him. And they have said one to another, “We will go and make inroads on these hoary superstitions; we will bring the civilisation of distant tribes together,” &c. … The enemies of the Lord have fought against each other, and the wrath of man has been made to praise Him. But He needs other and nobler service. Led by Death himself, Cholera, Plague, Famine, and Madness have often risen up against the evildoers.… And now a peaceful group come smiling on, confident in their strength, instinct with hope and promise—they are Science and Commerce, Civilisation and Law.… But powers like these cannot reach the root of the evil. In the Gospel of Christ there is the only stay of human corruption, the only rival to the world’s fascinations, the only power which is merciful to the sinner while it is just to his sin. It is God’s method to overwhelm and subdue the heart of man, to change the evildoer, not by His threats, but by His amnesty—not by the thunder of law, but by the sovereign pleading of love. How shall we obey the summons of the text?—A bridged from “Notes of the Christian Life,” by Dr. Reynolds.
A COMMON INCIDENT OF THE JOURNEY
(Psa_94:18)
“My foot slippeth.”
The whole verse is, “When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.” Here we have one of the simplest forms of prayer, the bare statement of danger. The child’s cry, without introduction or finis. The soul in peril can seldom say much, but that which is said is generally expressive. Take, for example, these words: they imply faith in the presence of One able to help—abhorrence of the sin to which he is tempted—and confidence in His willingness to save.
This experience is a common one. All of us are, at some time, found in slippery places. They are of various kinds, more or less dangerous. There are many things incident to ourselves which render them the more perilous. And we have the same method for preservation the Psalmist enjoyed. Let us notice each of these points.
I. Some slippery places. We are the more exposed to falling when we are brought into circumstances of—
1. Poverty and want. Christ was tempted when He hungered.
2. Of annoyance and vexation. Moses smote the rock in anger.
3. Of dejection and perplexity. Psa_73:2-3.
4. Of sore bereavement and trial. Job.
II. Some things concerning the traveller, rendering these the more perilous.
1. The absence of the staff, or negligence in its use. Learn the promises and use them.
2. The foot ill-shod.
3. Drowsiness. “Watch and pray, that,” &c.
4. Carelessness.
5. The lantern untrimmed or insecure, so that it goes out or burns dimly.
III. The sure means for preservation. We have simply to cry to the Deliverer. How absurd would it be for a traveller to wait a moment before he cried for help, or took means to extricate himself from peril! Yet some are content merely to cry, “Lead us not into temptation,” when the Sabbath service is performed.
The secret of a secure and blessed life is constant ejaculatory prayer. The moment danger is even anticipated, to ask for timely assistance.—R. A. Griffin.
THE COMFORTS OF CHRISTIANS UNDER EITHER WORLDLY OR SPIRITUAL TRIALS
(Psa_94:19)
Consider—
I. Some of the distressing thoughts which are apt to oppress the mind of a good man. They may be considered as relating to—
1. The state of the world. When a good man surveys the general prevalence of irreligion and impiety, when he considers how few there are, comparatively, who seek after God, or are moved by any impression of a serious nature, he cannot but be affected. “I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved,” &c. (Psa_119:158; Psa_119:53). When, again, he considers whither such a course must tend, and in what it will possibly issue, the prospect is still more alarming. “Wide is the gate,” &c. (Mat_7:13).
2. The state of the Church. The palpable inconsistency between the lives of numerous professors of religion, and the real import of that profession, is the subject of much distressing reflection to the sincere follower of Christ. “Many walk of whom I have told you often,” &c. (Php_3:18-19).
3. His state as an individual. “The heart knoweth his own bitterness,” &c. We may advert to—
(1) Trials of a worldly nature. Under these religion neither demands nor boasts a perfect insensibility. The Psalmist displayed great vicissitude of feeling, arising from this quarter; he mourned under the calumny and oppression of his enemies, and gave utterance to cries and tears under his affliction. Psa_42:9-10. Job is another example.
(2) Trials of a spiritual nature. When we consider our low attainments in religion, compared with our opportunities, our latent corruption, and our frequent miscarriages and failures, we are often tempted to call in question the reality of our religion, and to fear that, after all, we are only “almost Christians.”
Under the hidings of God’s countenance how many painful thoughts arise!
In the prospect before him; in the contemplation of the dangers and temptations which still await him; while he feels himself nothing but frailty and weakness, how apt is he to apprehend some fatal overthrow! He is ready to cry, “I shall never see the King in His beauty, nor behold the land which is so far off.”
II. The consolations of God opposed to these uneasy thoughts.
1. Such as arise from the disordered state of the world. On this subject great consolation springs from the conviction that the Lord reigneth. There sit at the helm infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. They are in perpetual operation; and, in the final result, they will appear with ineffable splendour and beauty.
2. Under painful apprehensions respecting the state of the Church, the comforts of God are neither few nor small. Reflect: it is incomparably more His care than ours. As the Saviour bought it with His blood, He will not fail to guide and govern it in the best manner possible. His interpositions in its favour afford a pledge of what He will still accomplish. Isa_43:3-4; Mat_16:18. Afflictions are designed to purify the Church.
3. Under the distressing thoughts arising from the state of a Christian, as an individual, the Divine comforts are proposed. Affliction and privations are all ordered in infinite wisdom, and proceed from the purest benignity; they will issue in our advantage, and they will be but of short duration. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”—Robert Hall.—Abridged.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 We know what the eye and ear of man…
Psa 94:9
We know what the eye and ear of man are, what it is to have the eye or ear of a friend near to us, or the eye and the ear of a master watching over us. What a difference does it make at once in all our thoughts and feelings! Especially suppose it is a friend or a master whom we love and reverence very much, what a vast difference does his presence make! It is only for want of due attention and consideration that we do not thus think of Almighty God at all times. For, as the Psalmist asks, "He that made the ear, shall He not hear? He that made the eye, shall He not see?"
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Notice some points in which a reflection on the great truth which is contained in these words may be of use to us.
I. With regard to the many confusions that abound in the world, the manifold disorders of the times, which affect so seriously both the Church and nation, and perhaps every closer circle of life in which each of us is placed. What a reason for deep quietness of soul, for awful stillness and listening regard, is the consciousness of Him who is in the midst of us, though we see Him not!
II. The awful doctrine of God’s omnipresent ear and eye may greatly assist us in the work of self-amendment. It is the thought of this which makes the saints of God always remarkable for profound humility. Whatever else there may be in common in good men, there never was a man accepted of God but that acceptance was in proportion to his humility.
III. As our ideas of God’s knowledge and watchfulness are taken from the eyes and ears of men, so may we apply also to the same matter human affections also, which are often signified by these. Thus it is said that "the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers." What is there in the world so encouraging, so consoling, so supporting, as the eye and ear of a friend? It was in thus looking upon God as their sure and present Friend that the faith of the patriarchs and of that noble army of martyrs, and prophets, and saints mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews consisted, in that, as is there said of Moses, they endured "as seeing Him who is invisible."
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. ii., p. 224.
References: Psa 94:9.—J. Culross, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 330. Psa 94:10.—S. W. Skeffington, Our Sins or our Saviour, p. 183.
Psa 94:12
I. The highest love is marked by its severity, for the absolute condition of it is that it will never rest till it has lifted up the man whom it reaches to a level with itself. The lower love will often shrink from giving pain, nay will rightly do so unless it knows that the pain will purify, but not so the love of God. His love cannot be content to leave us to be mere creatures of our own appetites and passions, of the whim of the moment, or of the besetting sin which has fastened on our souls, or of a mere worldly purpose. There is no such thing as forgiveness without cleansing, and the cleansing is in itself the punishment of the sin which it cleans.
II. Human love must be controlled ever by such love as this. No human love is true which puts the lower above the higher, or drags down what it loves from the path of honour or of duty.
III. Those who have been most touched with a sense of this have not prayed to be spared, but rather the contrary. Anything, everything, is welcome to those men which makes them more and more the true sons of God, which refines them to that purity which they themselves delight in. So, too, do men most deeply feel what is the meaning of the death of Christ. He suffered for us, indeed, but that suffering is all strange to us till we begin to suffer too.
Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, 2nd series, p. 39.
References: Psa 94:12.—E. Garbett, The Soul’s Life, p. 144. Psa 94:16.—H. R. Reynolds, Notes of the Christian Life, p. 283; J. Budgen, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii., p. 219. Psa 94:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 883, and vol. xix., No. 1116. Psalm 94—S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. vi., p. 273.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 The appeal of righteousness to power.
The appeal of righteousness to power.
The introduction gives us, as already said, the cry of the righteous, -the appeal of righteousness to power. As the Lord says: "And shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry day and night unto Him; though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily" (Luk 18:7-8). And in Revelation (Rev 8:3-5) the angel takes the censer from which the smoke of the incense has gone up to God with the prayers of the saints, and fills it with the fire of the altar, and casts it to the earth, and there follow thunders and voices and lightnings and an earthquake -the answering judgments of God upon their persecutors.
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1. Such is the cry then here: "God of vengeances, Jehovah" -covenant God of Thy people, pledged to take up their cause -"God of vengeances, shine forth." The lightning-stroke is yet the revelation of the light: "Lift up Thyself, Thou Judge of the earth! render recompense to the proud."
Aye, it is pride which calls for abasement. "The day of Jehovah of hosts shall be upon all that is proud and lofty, and upon all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall. . . . And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day" (Isa 2:12-17).
Thus the cry here is in perfect accordance with the demands of holiness, and with the manner of the coming judgment. Pride is the very essence of sin; the creature lifted up out of its place and God dethroned from His; and for this the stroke must come. Here then is the prevailing plea.
2. The detailed catalogue of crime follows: continuous, and, as it would seem, triumphant rebellion; arrogant words pouring from their lips -boastings of utter vanity; Jehovah’s people and inheritance the object of attack; the widow, stranger, fatherless, all that have no strength to resist. And the patience of Jehovah scoffingly insulted, -the God of this poor despised Jacob. Enmity to Him is at the bottom of it all, and the heart that seeks its own things without regard to others.
3. The psalmist turns to expostulate with them, though they be like brutes that possess no faculty for knowing God. Does not the formation of the ear testify to One who hears? of the eye, to One who beholds? And is there not a moral government of the world which manifests itself, such as the Teacher of all human knowledge must possess -the rod of the Master? Ah, Jehovah knoweth well the thoughts of men that they are vanity; and happy is the man who knows the restraint of His government, and the teaching of His law. Kept in quiet from the fear of evil, he waits for the sure end of the wicked.
4. This leads him to affirm the judgment of experience, in which the faithfulness of God, realized as to His own; assures the soul that the reign of evil shall not continue. "Judgment" that has slipped away from righteousness, as Moses, rod (the sign of authority) out of his hand became a serpent. But as, after all, he retained authority over it, so that when he put forth his hand to take it, it became again a rod in his hand, so judgment shall return again to righteousness and all the upright in heart shall follow it: it shall be pursued in peace by these without the hindrance that now exists from the presence of evil.
Meanwhile the destitution of other help only shuts one up to God all the more. And the soul knows what help He has already given. Had it not been for this he would have already been dwelling in silence. But even when he had realized that his foothold was already gone, a Stronger than he, and with heart, not merely hand, supported him. Thus amid a multitude of anxieties within him, the comforts of God soothed -or, in the vivid imagery that he uses, "caressed" -his soul.
5. But this only gives him confidence the more to turn to Him as to the state of things which are still unanswered. He puts a question which seems bold to rashness, but it is only an appeal to righteousness which, amid all exercise, he knows full well to be in Him who is Supreme. Can He go on as if in partnership with a throne of iniquity* which makes wickedness into law? The dread figure of the "Lawless one" is evidently before us here, and makes one realize what energy could be thrown into such questions. "They band together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood."
{*"Depths."}
But he comforts himself in God: "Jehovah will be a high tower for me, and my God my Rock of refuge." And the end is that which will test where God is. He will return upon them their iniquity; He will cut them off: Jehovah our God will cut them off."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 This is a national Ps., written at a time…
This is a national Ps., written at a time when Israel was oppressed by foreign enemies. It may be connected either with the days of the exile or with some later period of national distress. The opening vv. appeal to God to show Himself as judge of the earth (Psa_94:1-2). The misdeeds of the oppressors are next described (Psa_94:3-7), and a rebuke is addressed to certain Israelites who were tempted to give up their faith in God (Psa_94:8-11). The next vv. speak of the blessings of adversity (Psa_94:12-13), and the certainty that God will not forsake His people (Psa_94:14-15). The Psalmist has found in God his only refuge and comfort (Psa_94:16-19), and concludes his Ps. with the conviction that He will overthrow the wicked (Psa_94:20-23).
1. Shew thyself] RV 'Shine forth.'
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2. A reward] RV 'their desert.'
4. How long, etc.] RV 'They prate, they speak arrogantly,' etc. The v. is a statement, not a question.
7. The oppressors not only injure Israel, but despise Israel's God.
8. Understand] RV 'consider.' Brutish.. fools] These words refer to Israelites who are tempted to adopt the heathen point of view.
9. 10. These vv. form an argument for the knowledge and effectual government of God.
10. Heathen] RV 'nations.' Shall not he know?] These words are supplied to complete the sense. The Psalmist breaks off bis argument abruptly.
11. This v. is quoted with some modification in 1Co_3:20.
14. The first clause is quoted in Rom_11:2.
15. Return unto righteousness] shall again be just.
17. Almost] RV 'soon.' Silence] the grave, or Sheol.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Psalm 94-100
Psalm 94-100
Psalm 94
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Prayer for the Execution of the Vengeance of God
1. The Prayer on account of the enemy (Psa 94:1-7)
2. Expostulation with the wicked (Psa 94:8-13)
3. The comfort of the righteous (Psa 94:14-23)
The seven Psalms which follow lead on to the full establishment of the kingdom on earth and most of these Psalms celebrate His judgment reign, and the blessings of the age to come. We start once more with a Psalm which pictures vividly the trials of the days which precede the coming of the Lord and the coming of His kingdom. The Spirit of God has arranged these Psalms, as we have by this time learned, in such a manner as to lead from suffering to glory, the path which He went and which His people are appointed to follow also. Hence we see in this Psalm the wicked persecuting and breaking in pieces the people of God, and the righteous remnant is calling to the God to whom vengeance belongeth to show Himself, that is, to manifest His glory in their behalf. The voice of faith we hear also, the assurance that the Lord will not forsake His people nor His inheritance, that the Lord will intervene in behalf of His own and cut off the wicked.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Against Tyrants in the Church.
Against Tyrants in the Church.
The psalmist, whose name is not given, appeals to God in view of the oppression of the adversaries, who included not only the enemies from without, but also the tyrants within the external organization of the Church.
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v. 1. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show Thyself. The statement yielding all judicial power to the Lord alone is followed by the request that He should shine forth, make known His judicial authority by inflicting a righteous punishment upon the oppressors.
v. 2. Lift up Thyself, arising, as from an indifferent attitude, Thou Judge of the earth, in the almighty exaltation of His judicial power; render a reward to the proud, punishing the arrogant pride of the adversaries.
v. 3. Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? Note the force of the figure of repetition in emphasizing the insolence of the wicked and the increasing impatience of the believers in awaiting the interference of the Lord.
v. 4. How long shall they utter, bubbling and sputtering, and speak hard things, spouting arrogance against the Lord, and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves, exalting themselves as though the Lord would not or could not keep them in check?
v. 5. They break in pieces Thy people, O Lord, crushing the believers by their tyranny, and afflict Thine heritage, the Church of God being known by this designation, and the affliction including every form of oppression and hindering of the work of the Church.
v. 6. They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless, such outrages being reported from almost every period of the Church’s history.
v. 7. Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, would deliberately ignore their wickedness, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it, that they might continue their insolent outrages unpunished. The psalmist now turns to the wicked in a sharp rebuke of their folly.
v. 8. Understand, ye brutish among the people, on a level with the irrational beasts on account of their folly; and ye fools, when will ye be wise? For the arrogant behavior of the wicked showed a lack of ordinary common sense, of the simplest form of observation.
v. 9. He that planted the ear, giving it its position and causing it to function as one of the senses of the body, shall He not hear? Would the wicked actually be so dense as to think that this Creator of the sense of hearing could not hear their insolent taunts? He that formed the eye, fashioning it to serve for the sense of sight, shall He not see? Did the tyrants believe that their acts of oppression were really unnoticed by the omniscient God?
v. 10. He that chastiseth the heathen, punishing entire nations for their sins, shall not He correct? punishing the enemies for their wicked deeds. He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not He know? Before Him, the Source of all wisdom and knowledge, nothing is hidden.
v. 11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, He is familiar with even the inmost workings of tile minds of men, that they are vanity, all their objects and intentions by nature being vain. Cf 1Co 3:20.
v. 12. Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, correcting him in the manner in which a father chastises his child, and teachest him out of Thy law, giving him true understanding out of His eternal Word,
v. 13. that Thou mayest give him, as a consequence of the saving knowledge thus gained, rest from the days of adversity, those of real evil, of being rejected from the face of the Lord, until the pit be digged for the wicked, until they receive their well-deserved punishment, the result being the relief of the faithful.
v. 14. For the Lord will not cast off His people, the believers being His in spite of the present oppression, neither will He forsake His inheritance, His Church.
v. 15. But judgment shall return unto righteousness, the latter being bound to be vindicated and set upright once more; and all the upright in heart shall follow it, eagerly hailing the restoration of right and justice after such a long period of oppression.
v. 16. Who will rise up for me, in behalf of the petitioner, taking his part, against the evil-doers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? This rhetorical question emphasizes the answer given in the next verse.
v. 17. Unless the Lord had been my Help, upholding and defending him in the midst of his troubles, my soul had almost dwelt in silence, namely, in that of death.
v. 18. When I said, in a complaint and prayer to tile Lord, My foot slippeth, when there was danger of his falling as a result of the enemy’s oppression, Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up, sustaining him in the midst of all dangers.
v. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, as worries and anxious cares multiply in his heart, Thy comforts delight my soul, reassuring and refreshing it for cheerfully enduring the afflictions of this life.
v. 20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, the judgment-seat of destruction, the tribunal of wicked rulers being allied with God, their boast being that God Himself sanctioned their oppression, which frameth mischief by a law? by abusing the divine right for iniquitous procedure, by using the name and Word of God as a cloak for their oppression. It has often been the case that tyrants quoted the Bible in support of their attacks on the Church, trying to defend their unjust measures by appealing to Holy Writ.
v. 21. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, planning his destruction, and condemn the innocent blood, laying the penalty of the law upon the believers with a show of right.
v. 22. But the Lord is my Defense, a Fortress against such attacks; and my God is the Rock of my refuge, protecting the believer against all enemies.
v. 23. And He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, paying them back in their own coin, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness, destroy them for all the evil done by them; yea, the Lord, our God, shall cut them off. This psalm is clearly written for all periods of the Church’s history and will therefore give consolation to the believers whenever they are beset by difficulties and persecutions.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 22 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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shine over us
Here "shine" is a metaphor for God revealing himself. AT: "show yourself" or "reveal your glory" (See: Metaphor)
Rise up, judge of the earth, give to the proud what they deserve
"Come, judge of the earth, and punish the proud"
Rise up
The psalmist speaks of starting to do something as getting up. If your language has a word for beginning to act, use it here. AT: "Take action" or "Do something" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
God
avenge
raise
judge, judges
earth
proud
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18 Ps 94 This plea for the Lord’s justice includes…
Ps 94 This plea for the Lord’s justice includes both communal and individual expressions of lament (94:1-7, 16-23). The psalmist gives voice to the pain and suffering caused by the wicked, but he also depicts the comfort and stability of the Lord’s protection. He calls on the Lord to avenge the needy against the arrogant and foolish, he rebukes such people for their folly (94:8-11), and he pronounces a blessing on the wise (94:12-15).
94:1-7 After the community falls victim to the wicked (94:5-7), they pray that the Lord will render justice (see 7:11; 9:12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.