Psalm 94

Authorship

This Psalm is anonymous.

Outline

(This began as Wendland's Expository Outline, but may be adapted.)

I. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs: (1-2)

A. Show Yourself.

B. Lift up Yourself, judge of the earth.

C. Render a reward to the proud.

II. Lord, how long? (3-4)

A. How long shall the wicked triumph?

B. How long shall they utter and speak hard things?

C. How long shall the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

III. The wicked: (5-7)

A. Break in pieces Thy people.

B. They afflict Thy heritage.

C. They slay the widow, the stranger, and the fatherless.

D. They say, “The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.”

IV. Understand, you brutish and you fools, when will ye be wise? (8-11)

A. He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?

B. He that formed the eye, shall He not see?

C. He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not He correct?

D. He that teaches man knowledge, shall not He know?

E. The Lord knows the vain thoughts of man.

V. Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord: (12-15)

A. You teach him out of Thy law.

B. You give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.

C. You do not cast him off or forsake him.

D. Judgment shall return unto the righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

VI. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers and stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (16-19)

A. Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

B. When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

C. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul.

VII. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? (20-21)

A. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous.

B. They condemn the innocent blood.

VIII. But the Lord is my defence: (22-23)

A. My God is the rock of my refuge.

B. He shall bring upon them their own iniquity.

C. He shall cut them off in their own wickedness.

Textual Criticism

The following is from Barthélemy's Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament volume on the Psalms. For a key to the various symbols and abbreviations, click here.

Ps 94,10 דָּעַת {A}

Ps 94,15 צֶדֶק {B} MT, G, Hebr, T // assim-ctext: m, σ'(?), S צדיק

Ps 94,21 יָגוֹדּוּ {A} MT, σ' // assim-ctext: G --> S / incert: Hebr, T

Ps 94,23 יַצְמִיתֵם יַצְמִיתֵם {B} MT, g, Hebr, S, T // abr-styl: G clav יַצְמִיתֵם