Psalms 94

The matter of this Psalm plainly declares the occasion of it to be the oppressions and persecutions of Gods people by wicked and cruel Tyrants and Enemies, against whom he prays for the divine aid.

O LORD God to whom vengeance belongeth 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.: O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thy self.

Lift up thy self Either 1. ascend thy tribunal to pronounce the sentence. Or 2. arise from thy seat and bestir thy self, to punish thy proud Enemies, as it here follows., thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph!

How long shall they utter Or pour forth freely, constantly, abundantly, as a Fountain does Waters, as this Hebrew word signifies., and speak hard things Grievous and insolent and intolerable words against thee and thy people, blasphemous, malicious, contemptuous and minatory words.! and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves Boast of their invincible power and prosperous success in their wicked designs..

They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage Those righteous persons whom thou hast chosen for thy portion or inheritance..

They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless Whom common humanity obliged them to spare, and pity and resieve..

Yet they say, The LORD shall not see Their impunity and prosperity in their impious and barbarous practices makes them ready to doubt of, or to deny the Providence of God in the government of his Church and of the World.: neither shall the God of Jacob So they call him sarcastically, He who taketh that name to himself, but has no regard to his people, but gives up his Iacob to the spoil, and to the rage of their Enemies. regard it.

Understand, ye brutish among the people You who though you think your selves the wisest of men, yet in truth are the most brutish of all people; For the Hebrews oft express their superlatives in this manner, as Prov. 30. 30. Cant. 1. 8. &c. You that have only the shape, but not the understanding, of a man in you.: and ye fools, when will ye be wise!

He that planted The word is very emphatical signifying the excellent structure of the Ear, or the several Organs or Instruments belonging to the sense of Hearing, and the exact position and firm settlement of all those parts in their proper places; which is justly admired by all that understand it. the ear, shall he not hear He must necessarily hear. The truth of the inference depends upon that evident and undeniable principle in reason, that nothing can give to another that which it has not either formally or more eminently in it self, and that no effect can exceed the virtue of its cause.! he that formed By which word he seems to intimate the accurate and most curious workmanship of the Eye; which is observed by all that write upon that subject. the eye shall he not see!

He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct He who, when he pleaseth, can and does punish the Gentiles or Nations of the World, is he not able to punish you for your wicked speeches and actions? Or, He that instructeth, or teacheth (as this word signifies, Prov. 9. 7. Isa. 8. 11. &c.) the nations (not only the Jews, but all other people, all mankind, as this clause is explained by the next, he that teacheth man knowledge) shall not he correct or reprove? and therefore must not he discern and know all your hard speeches and wicked actions? Thus the consequent seems to be put for the antecedent, as is frequent in Scripture, and that not without emphasis, to Imply that God does not know their sins with a simple or speculative knowledge, but so as to proceed upon that knowledge to judge and punish them.! he that teacheth man knowledge By giving him understanding and the knowledge of many excellent things by the light of nature., shall not he know To wit, mens thoughts, of which see v. 11. and their words and actions, of which he spoke, v. 6, 7. These words are not in the Hebrew Text, but are easily understood out of the foregoing clause. And the like defects we find elsewhere, as 2 Sam. 5. 8. comp. with 1 Chron. 11. 6. especially in vehement commotions of the mind, when a mans passion stops his speech, as it is here and Psal. 6. 3. and in other Authors.!

The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man This is an answer to the foregoing Question, shall not he know? Yes, he knoweth all things, yea even the most secret things, as the thoughts of men; and in particular your atheistical thoughts, and much more does he know your wicked practices, which you said he did not see, v. 6, 7. And he knows that they are generally vain and foolish, and that whilest you mock God and applaud your selves in such thoughts, you do not relieve, but only delude, your selves with them., that they are vanity.

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy Law And whereas these ungodly persons esteem themselves the only happy men, and conclude thy people to be of all men the most miserable, because of the manifold persecutions and afflictions which they commonly suffer, and upon this account dispute against thy providence, so far is their opinion from the truth, that the contrary is most certain, that as their prosperity is a real mischief to them, so those afflictions of good men which are accompanied with divine instructions are great and true blessings to them, themselves being judges.:

That thou may'st give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked For their present and short troubles prepare them for and lead them to true rest and blessedness, whilest the seeming felicities of the wicked make way for those tremendous judgments which God has prepared for them..

For the LORD will not cast off his people Though God may for a time correct his people, yet he will not utterly destroy them, as he will their Enemies, but will in his time put an end to all their Calamities., neither will he forsake his inheritance.

But judgment shall return unto righteousness But although the World is now full of unrighteous judgments, and even God himself seems not to judge and administer things justly, because he suffers his people to be oppressed and the wicked to triumph over them, yet the state of things shall be otherwise ordered, God will declare himself to be a righteous Judge, and will advance and establish justice in the earth, and especially among his people.: and all the upright in heart shall follow it To wit, just judgment restored, they will all approve of it and imitate this justice of God in all their actions, whereas the wicked will still do wickedly, as is said Dan. 12. 10. and in a land and state of uprightness will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the lord, as it is Isa. 26. 10. Oth. shall follow him, to wit, the Lord, expressed, v. 14. whose act it is to bring judgment to justice. Whilest the wicked forsake God, these will cleave to him, as being confident that, howsoever he may suffer them to be oppressed for a season, yet he will in due time plead their cause and bring forth their righte ousness.:

Who will rise up for me To defend and help me. I looked hither and thither' and called to my Friends for their help, saying, who will, &c But none of them appeared, but God alone helped me, as he says in the next Verse., against the evil doers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence In the place of silence, to wit, the grave. Compare Iob 3. 17, 18. Psal. 88. 13. and 115. 17..

When I said, My foot slippeth I am now upon the point of falling into mischief and utter destruction.: thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

In the multitude of my thoughts Whilest my heart was filled with various and perplexing thoughts, as this Hebrew word signifies, and tormented with cares and fears about my future state. within me, thy comforts Thy promises contained in thy word and set home by thy spirit upon my soul, and the remembrance of my former experiences of thy care and kindness to me. Comp. Psal. 119. 50, 76. delight my soul.

Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee Wilt thou take part with the unrighteous powers of the World who oppress thy people? It is true they partake of thy name, being called gods, Psal. 82. 1. but, I know, thou wilt not afford them thy Protection and Patronage, but wilt manifest thy justice and displeasure against them. This seems to have been one of those comfortable thoughts wherewith the Psalmist delighted his soul, as he now said., which frameth mischief Who devise wicked devices and lay heavy burdens upon men that are more righteous than themselves. by a law Either by virtue of those unrighteous decrees which they have made in form of Laws: Or, by false pretences of law. Or, against law, against all right and the laws both of God and men.!

They gather themselves together against the soul Against the life, as the soul commonly signifies, and as the next clause explains it. They are not satisfied with the spoil of their estates, but do also thirst after their lives. of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood They shed the blood of those innocent persons whom they have wickedly condemned. Innocent blood is here put for the blood or life of an innocent person, as it is also 1 Sam. 19. 5. Mat. 27. 4..

But the LORD is my defence: and my God is the rock of my refuge.

And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity i. e. The fruit and punishment of their sins., and shall cut them off in their own wickedness Either in the midst of their sins: Or, by their own wicked devices, the mischief whereof he will cause to fall upon their own heads.: yea, the LORD our God The God of Iacob, of whom they said that he did not see nor regard them, but now they find the contrary proved to their cost. shall cut them off.