1 O Jehovah God to whom vengeance belongeth, O God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.
2 Lift up thyself, judge of the earth; render desert to the proud.
3 Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They prate, they speak arrogantly; all the workers of iniquity boast themselves.
5 They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah, and afflict thine heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
7 And they say, Jah will not see, nor will the God of Jacob consider.
8 Consider, ye brutish among the people, and 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 disciplineth the nations, shall he not correct—he that teacheth man knowledge?
11 Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, that they [are] vanity.
12 Blessed [is] the man whom thou disciplinest, O Jah, and teachest 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 Jehovah will not cast off his people, nor will he forsake his inheritance.
15 For judgment shall return unto righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against evildoers.? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless Jehovah [had been] my help, my soul had soon dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Jehovah, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by statute?
21 They gather themselves against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But Jehovah hath been my high tower, and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 And he bringeth upon them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own evil; Jehovah our God will cut them off.
Notes on Psalm 94
It is the cry of a righteous remnant anticipating and longing for the establishment of Jehovah’s righteous rule on the earth, as the preceding psalm proclaimed the great principles succinctly: Jehovah reigning, not Satan as now (John 14:30,30Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30) 2 Cor. 4:4,4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4) Eph. 2:2, 6:12); His testimony very sure before His power is displayed superior to all opposition; holiness becoming His house forever on earth, as well as in heaven. This draws out the appeal for His vengeance on the evil then undisguised towering to heaven, and blasphemers in pride; and its folly is exposed before their brethren that believe not. But their own hearts take the comforts of His discipline, as yet in vain for the Gentiles, but in faithful keeping for His own. The return of righteousness to judgment is assured if He reign, and the impossibility of fellowship between Himself and the throne of iniquity. Such will be the blessedness when He brings in the First-begotten into the inhabited earth; and such in view of it the earnest prayer of the godly Israelite.
The next six Psalms may be viewed as completing the group which began with 93; yet of themselves they make an evident and well ordered progress. The first of the six (95) summons the people of God, in the Spirit of prophecy which animated the godly, to rejoice in Jehovah no longer to be hidden but revealed in Christ Who brings in salvation, glory, and rest; but no blessing is without hearing His voice. In the second the summons goes forth beyond Israel to the nations and peoples; as the third is the new song that is sought. The fourth demands a new song of Israel; and the fifth is the answer. This is completed by Psalm 100, which expresses Israel in the joy of grace, while owning their own portion, inviting all the earth to shout aloud to Jehovah, and with enlarged hearts welcoming into His gates with thanksgiving those whose approach they used jealously to fend off as dogs.