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94. Psalm 94

¹ The LORD is a God who avenges.
   O God who avenges, shine forth.
² Rise up, Judge of the earth;
   pay back to the proud what they deserve.
³ How long, LORD, will the wicked,
   how long will the wicked be jubilant?

    ⁴ They pour out arrogant words;
   all the evildoers are full of boasting.
⁵ They crush your people, LORD;
   they oppress your inheritance.
⁶ They slay the widow and the foreigner;
   they murder the fatherless.
⁷ They say, “The LORD does not see;
   the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

    ⁸ Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
   you fools, when will you become wise?
⁹ Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
   Does he who formed the eye not see?
¹⁰ Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
   Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?
¹¹ The LORD knows all human plans;
   he knows that they are futile.

    ¹² Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD,
   the one you teach from your law;
¹³ you grant them relief from days of trouble,
   till a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the LORD will not reject his people;
   he will never forsake his inheritance.
¹⁵ Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
   and all the upright in heart will follow it.

    ¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
   Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ Unless the LORD had given me help,
   I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
   your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.
¹⁹ When anxiety was great within me,
   your consolation brought me joy.

    ²⁰ Can a corrupt throne be allied with you—
   a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?
²¹ The wicked band together against the righteous
   and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the LORD has become my fortress,
   and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
²³ He will repay them for their sins
   and destroy them for their wickedness;
   the LORD our God will destroy them.

16. Who will rise up for me against my adversaries? Here the Psalmist points out, in a lively and graphic manner, how destitute he was of all human aid. As if at the moment in danger, he cries out — Who will stand up for me? Who will oppose himself to my enemies? And immediately afterwards he replies, that had not God helped him, he must have despaired of safety. In declaring that he had been thus miraculously rescued from death, when deserted by all the world, he commends the more God’s kindness and grace. When men aid us, they are only instruments by which the grace of God works; but we are apt not to recognize God’s hand when we see any subordinate agency in the deliverance. He speaks of his life dwelling in silence, (verse 17) for the dead lie in the grave without feeling or strength. Thus the Psalmist owns that there was no means by which his life could have been preserved, had not God interposed without delay.