Psalm 94

¹O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—

O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

²Rise up, O Judge of the earth;

Render punishment to the proud.

³Lord, how long will the wicked,

How long will the wicked triumph?

⁴They utter speech, and speak insolent things;

All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.

⁵They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,

And afflict Your heritage.

⁶They slay the widow and the stranger,

And murder the fatherless.

⁷Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,

Nor does the God of Jacob understand.”

⁸Understand, you senseless among the people;

And you fools, when will you be wise?

⁹He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?

He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

¹⁰He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct,

He who teaches man knowledge?

¹¹The Lord knows the thoughts of man,

That they are futile.

¹²Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord,

And teach out of Your law,

¹³That You may give him rest from the days of adversity,

Until the pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴For the Lord will not cast off His people,

Nor will He forsake His inheritance.

¹⁵But judgment will return to righteousness,

And all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?

Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷Unless the Lord had been my help,

My soul would soon have settled in silence.

¹⁸If I say, “My foot slips,”

Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.

¹⁹In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul.

²⁰Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,

Have fellowship with You?

²¹They gather together against the life of the righteous,

And condemn innocent blood.

²²But the Lord has been my defense,

And my God the rock of my refuge.

²³He has brought on them their own iniquity,

And shall cut them off in their own wickedness;

The Lord our God shall cut them off.

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—

O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!

²Rise up, O Judge of the earth;

Render punishment to the proud.

³Lord, how long will the wicked,

How long will the wicked triumph?

The cry of all the saints down through the ages is now heard in heaven (consider Heb. 11; Rev. 6:11). Their cry (our cry) is that the Lord God our God to whom vengeance belongs shine forth! That He make manifest His Person and render punishment to the proud. For the wicked have triumphed in this world, they have been the exalted ones of it.

Vs. 4-7 ⁴They utter speech, and speak insolent things;

All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.

⁵They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,

And afflict Your heritage.

⁶They slay the widow and the stranger,

And murder the fatherless.

⁷Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,

Nor does the God of Jacob understand.”

The case is now made against them, which begins with their mouths, mouths that utter speech; not clear concise speech that instructs and edifies, but deceptive, misleading, and or manipulative speech, whether this is speaking contemptuous things against the righteous (Psalm 31:18), or their fearlessly boasting of all their wicked endeavors, their mouths are governed by no one. Humility and restraint is a foreign language to them. Indeed they boost in themselves as if their lives and strength are in their own hands, as if no judgment can come to them. And so, they break us Your people, O Lord in pieces, they afflict us who are Your heritage. They prey upon the defenseless, the widow, the stranger, (anyone who has none to help), these they slay. Even the fatherless child is murdered by them (in their lust for control and power). But are not these the ones Your eyes are most fixed upon to bring forth Your justice and Judgment for (Exodus 22:21-24; Deut. 10:17-18). And yet they dare to openly say of You, 

“The Lord does not see, 

Nor does the God of Jacob understand.”

Vs. 8-11 ⁸Understand, you senseless among the people;

And you fools, when will you be wise?

⁹He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?

He who formed the eye, shall He not see?

¹⁰He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct,

He who teaches man knowledge?

¹¹The Lord knows the thoughts of man,

That they are futile.

Therefore, a Godly rebuke is now given them. For they are utterly senseless who oppress and mistreat the poor, they are only fools who think they can walk by their boastful mouths with immunity in the earth. For God who formed the ear does hear them, even those things that they speak in “secret”, and He remembers. And just as God hears with His ears, so He sees with His eyes. Yes, He who forms mankind and gives him hearing and sight also sees and hears them most clearly! Therefore, the Sovereign Lord God who instructs the nations, who raises up one and puts down another, shall He not correct them. Indeed, He who teaches man knowledge, who gives him the ability to learn, understand, and comprehend already knows all their thoughts, that they are futile. For they cannot outwit Him, nor can they save themselves by them, only He can.

Vs. 12-13 ¹²Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord,

And teach out of Your law,

¹³That You may give him rest from the days of adversity,

Until the pit is dug for the wicked.

How blessed then are we who know Him, who know His law, His Word by which He instructs us. For it is by the Word of the Lord that one understands justice and prudence (vs. 12). Indeed, by God’s Word we are not only given rest, but we are preserved and sanctified, “until the pit is dug for the wicked.” For Day of the Lord shall come, suddenly it shall come, like a thief in the night, and no one who is unprepared for Him shall escape. 

Vs. 14-15 ¹⁴For the Lord will not cast off His people,

Nor will He forsake His inheritance.

¹⁵But judgment will return to righteousness,

And all the upright in heart will follow it.

The Scripture now reaffirms God’s Promise to all His people that He will not cast them off, nor will He forsake His inheritance. “But judgment will return to the righteous and all the upright in heart will follow it.” For when the Lord has dealt with the wicked (especially the wicked rulers) of this world, He will fill this world with righteousness, all the upright in heart will follow it.

Vs. 16 “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?

Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?”

Therefore, the question is now asked of us all, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” This then is a duty of us while we sojourn down here, to be voices for truth and justice, to be voices for God’s Word truths, to be people who bring moral and spiritual clarity by expounding God’s Word’s truth’s and not the degenerate ideals of man.

Vs. 17-19 ¹⁷Unless the Lord had been my help,

My soul would soon have settled in silence.

¹⁸If I say, “My foot slips,”

Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.

¹⁹In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul.

In concluding this psalm their is a reflection upon the Lord's faithfulness to us all. For no one can save themselves, and this the realization that every believer comes to of themselves. Therefore it is stated for us all to reflect upon, "Unless the Lord had been my help, My soul would've soon settled in silence." For time and again the Lord has proven Himself faithful to us. From our deliverance from eternal damnation to our deliverance from…, the Lord has been my help time and again. Even when we have stumbled into sin the Lord's mercies have upheld us, opening the door for us to return to Him. Even in the midst of our many anxieties, (yes believers have anxieties), the Lord’s comforts delight my soul (vs. 19)., because knowing Him, knowing that He is always for us, always triumphs and trumps all my fears.

Vs. 20-21 ²⁰Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,

Have fellowship with You?

²¹They gather together against the life of the righteous,

And condemn innocent blood.

A question is now asked the Lord about the wicked and oppressive rulers of this world who devise evil by law (consider Isaiah 10:1-4; antithesis Isaiah 11:1-5), who legalize and legitimize sin and shame, who gather themselves together against the life of the righteous and condemn innocent blood. For those who oppose them by standing up for what is right will only become their victims. Therefore the question is now asked of God shall these have fellowship with You? The answer is clear, God will have never fellowship with them, they will never see the Lord nor His Kingdom, for just as they gather against the life of the righteous and condemn innocent blood, in the end then when He Judges the world in righteousness, He will deal with them all, and repay them according to their works and according to their ways!

Vs. 22-23 ²²But the Lord has been my defense,

And my God the rock of my refuge.

²³He has brought on them their own iniquity,

And shall cut them off in their own wickedness;

The Lord our God shall cut them off.

The Psalmist though afflicted and oppressed by them now, triumphantly declares that the Lord has been his defense and that our God is the rock of his refuge. And now he foresees the day when the Lord brings them down for their own iniquity, the day when the Lord cuts them all off for their own wickedness, this assured for it is stated twice that “The Lord our God shall cut them off.”

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.