In between Psalms 93 and 95, both calling the listener to worship, is this psalm of supplication. If not written by David, it is certainly in the spirit of many of his psalms.
Psalm 94:1-2, Rise up!
O LORD, the God who avenges,
O God who avenges, shine forth.
Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
pay back to the proud what they deserve.
The psalmist calls for YHWH God to stand up and judge the earth, especially the dangerous proud. Alter says that the first line, calling for the God of Vengeance, is sharp and strong. (The strong Hebrew root neqamah, translated here "who avenges", is "fudged" by English translations, says Alter.)
Psalm 94:3-4, How long?
How long will the wicked, O LORD,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?
They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.
The wicked and the arrogant are the same here; they have no concerns about God and boast of their wickedness. The plaintive "how long", followed by frustrations about the arrogant and wicked, is certainly a common theme in David's psalms.
Psalm 94:5-7, Oppressors! Murderers!
They crush your people, O LORD;
they oppress your inheritance.
They slay the widow and the alien;
they murder the fatherless.
They say, "The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob pays no heed."
The psalm continues with a global perspective, concerned about the people of Israel. The wicked are not just arrogant. They oppress the people of God; they oppress and murder the vulnerable. Their taunt is that YHWH does not see and that YHWH ignores their wickedness. The response to this taunt is in the next passage.
Psalm 94:8-9, The One Who makes the ear, hears!
Take heed, you senseless ones among the people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
Does he who implanted the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
The challenge in the last verse -- can you believe the God who made the ear cannot, Himself, hear? Or that the God who made the eye cannot, Himself, see?
Psalm 94:10, The One Who teaches, judges!
Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?
The questioning verse about ears and eyes continues with a question about justice -- all justice and knowledge flow out of God and so as He can see and hear, he can also judge the nations.
Psalm 94:11, Man's thoughts are futile.
The LORD knows the thoughts of man;
he knows that they are futile.
Following on to the questions about judgment, a verdict is rendered. Indeed, man's thoughts are futile.
Psalm 94:12-15, But those who follow YHWH...
Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD,
the man you teach from your law;
you grant him relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the LORD will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
As the singer focuses on those who are followers of YHWH, the psalm turns. Among the people in the previous verses, the individual who leans on YHWH and so receives YHWH's discipline and teaching, is blessed and protected from the punishment coming to the wicked. Of special interest are the people of Israel, God's "inheritance."
Psalm 94:16-17, Back to the wicked
Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
Unless the LORD had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
The psalmist struggles to focus on YHWH and the blessing for His followers. The attention of our singer is quickly pulled back to the problems of the wicked. Only YHWH really gives him help; without YHWH the psalmist would have descended into death.
Psalm 94:18-19, When my foot was slipping
When I said, "My foot is slipping,"
your love, O LORD, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Back and forth the psalmist goes, walking a narrow path of peace and consolation, then weary of the success of evil, sliding off that path, then grabbed and pulled back onto the ledge where consolation and joy ease his anxiety. The last few verses are no longer global but personal, in first person.
Psalm 94:20, No corrupt throne!
Can a corrupt throne be allied with you--
one that brings on misery by its decrees?
All of this makes a king alert to the need for justice and not corruption.
Psalm 94:21-23, Band, fortress, resolution
They band together against the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
But the LORD has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.
He will repay them for their sins
and destroy them for their wickedness;
the LORD our God will destroy them.
In contrast to the typical parallelism of two stichs (lines), the last verse has three stichs building an emphasis, God YHWH will indeed destroy them!, to close out the psalm.
Some Random Thoughts
I have been working through this psalm while acutely aware of the injustice in the world. A Russian dictator bombs hospitals and schools in Ukraine while a US media celebrity worships at his feet. A corrupt former US president tells a multitude of lies and his political power only grows even stronger. A US political party (to which I once belonged) bows down to him; many people who identify as Christians seem to worship him. Meanwhile Hamas gleefully massacres innocent civilians in Israel and Israel responds with bombings that kills thousands of noncombatants, many of them women and children.
How can this continue? How long, O Lord?
I am very familiar with our singer's line in verse 18, as he comes close to slipping. Everyday I am slipping; everyday I am anxious and angry at the wicked. And so I must be consoled by this psalm -- God is ultimately in charge, and I am a member of His kingdom!
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