Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 94:23

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 94:23. Shall cut them off — This is repeated, to show that the destruction of the Babylonians was fixed and indubitable: and in reference to the Jews, the persecutors and murderers of our Lord and his apostles, it was not less so. Babylon is totally destroyed; not even a vestige of it remains. The Jews are no longer a nation; they are scattered throughout the world, and have no certain place of abode. They do not possess even one village on the face of the earth.

The last verse is thus translated and paraphrased in the old Psalter: -

Trans. And he sal yelde to thaim thair wickednes, and in thair malice he sall skater thaim: skater thaim sal Lorde oure God.

Par. Alswa say efter thair il entent, that thai wil do gude men harme; he sall yelde thaim pyne, and in thair malice thai sal be sundred fra the hali courte of hevene, and skatred emang the wiked fendes of hell.

For different views of several parts of this Psalm, see the Analysis.

ANALYSIS OF THE NINETY-FOURTH PSALM

In this Psalm the parts are, -

I. A petition for vengeance upon the wicked, Psalms 94:1-2.

II. A pitiful complaint, with the causes of it, which were two: -

1. The delay of God's judgments on them, Psalms 94:3-4.

2. Their insolence, oppression of the poor, and blasphemy against God, Psalms 94:4-7.

III. A sharp reprehension of their blasphemy and atheism, and the refutation of it.

IV. A consolation to all good men, that God will punish the wicked and defend the righteous, Psalms 94:12-23. Which is confirmed, -

1. From God's faithfulness, who hath promised, and will perform it, Psalms 94:14.

2. From David's own experience, Psalms 94:16-20.

3. From God's hatred of injustice, tyranny, and oppression, Psalms 94:20-21. 1. Which will cause him to be a rock and defence to his people, Psalms 94:22. 2. A severe revenger to the oppressors, Psalms 94:23.

1. He begins with a petition that God would take vengeance of the oppressors of his people: "O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, to whom vengeance belongs;" as if he had said, Thou art the most powerful Lord, a God of justice and power, and hast vengeance in thine own hand. Therefore now -

1. "Show thyself." Appear, shine forth evidently, and apparently show thy justice, Psalms 94:1.

2. "Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth." Do thy office of judicature; ascend thy throne and tribunal, as judges use to do when they give judgment.

3. "Render a reward unto the proud." For the proud humble themselves not unto thee; they repent not.

II. And now the prophet begins to complain that, by the delay of God's judgment, wicked men were hardened in their impiety, and gloried in their villany.

1. "How long? how long?" This thy forbearance seems tedious; especially since the wicked grow worse and worse by it, and insult over us the more.

2. "For they triumph in their strength." They glory in their prosperity, and in their wickedness.

3. "They utter and speak hard things." Boldly, rashly, proudly, they threaten ruin to thy Church.

4. "They are workers of iniquity, and they boast themselves." It is not sufficient for them to do ill, but they boast of it.

Now to what end do they make use of all these? The consequence is lamentable - the event sad. The effects are lamentable, for in their fury and injustice -

1. "They break in pieces thy people, O Lord." The people dedicated to thee.

2. "They afflict thine heritage." The people that thou hast chosen for thy possession.

3. "They slay the widow," destitute of the comfort of a husband - 1. "And the stranger." A man far from his friends and country. 2. "And murder the fatherless." All which thou hast taken into thy protection, and commanded that they be not wronged. Exodus 22:21-22; Deuteronomy 24:14; Deuteronomy 24:17-22. Yet such is their fury, that they spare neither sex, nor age, nor any condition of men.

"Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it." This is their impiety; this is their blasphemy; this is the true cause of all their injustice, tyranny, cruelty, and oppression.

III. Now our prophet sets himself seriously to reprehend and confute this. By an apostrophe he turns to them, and calls them fools; and proves by a manifest argument that they are fools; demonstrating, from the cause to the effect, that God is neither deaf nor blind, as they presumed and conceived: and urgeth them emphatically, -

1. "Understand, ye brutish among the people. O ye fools, when will ye be wise?" What! will ye be brutish always? will ye never have common sense in your heads?

2. "He planted the ear," caused you to hear; "and shall he not then hear?"

3. He formed the eye with all the tunicles, and put into it the faculty of vision by which you see; "and shall he not see?" To say the contrary, is as if you should affirm that the fountain that sends forth the stream had no water in it; or the sun that enlightens the world had no light; or the fire that warms, no heat. Are these affirmations fit for wise men? Neither is it, that the God of Jacob doth not hear nor see.

4. "He chastiseth the heathen," as Sodom, Gomorrah, c., or he chastises them by the checks of their own conscience "and shall not he then correct you," who go under the name of his people, and yet so impiously blaspheme?

5. "He that teacheth man knowledge" - hath endued him with a reasonable soul, and made him capable of all arts and sciences; is he stupid? is he without understanding? "Shall not he know?" He looks into your hearts, and knows your thoughts and counsels, and findeth them all vain: "The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vanity." With which he concludes his reprehension.

IV. And so from them he comes to the good man, and shows his happiness, whom he labours to comfort in his extremities, pronouncing him blessed: "Blessed is the man." And his blessedness lies in three things: -

1. In his sufferings; because when he is punished, he is but chastised, and his chastisements are from the Lord: "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest."

2. In his teaching, for when he is chastised, he is but taught obedience to the law of God, taught out of thy law.

3. In consideration of the end; that he feel not, but bear more moderately, the injuries of the wicked; for the end why God chastiseth and teacheth thee out of his law is: That he may give thee rest - a quiet and even soul, from the days of adversity; and that thou shouldst expect with patience, till the pit be digged up for the ungodly. Such a day there is, and the day will come. Hell is as ready to receive the sinner, as a grave digged up for a dead body. Expect therefore, their punishment and thy deliverance with a quiet mind. For which he gives three reasons: -

The first reason is, that though God for a time seem to be angry, and suffer his people to be afflicted, yet he will not utterly neglect and forsake them: -

1. "For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance."

2. A day of judgment and execution of justice shall come, "when judgment shall return unto righteousness."

A second confirmation of the comfort he gave to the Church in affliction is drawn from his own experience, Psalms 94:16-20.

1. Object. Yea, but this time of judgment may be long; in the meanwhile it is necessary to have some helper and help against the persecutions and injuries of cruel men. Who will arise for me, and labour to protect me in so great a concourse of devils or mischievous men? "Who will stand up for me, and defend me against the workers of iniquity?"

Resp. Even he that then stood up for me. No man, but God alone. He did it; and "unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence;" I had been laid in the grave among the dead, saith David, Psalms 94:17.

2. If I said, and complained to him, that I was in any danger, my foot slips - I was tempted and ready to fall, thy mercy, O Lord. held me up; in mercy he lent me his hand, and sustained me.

3. "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul:" -

(1) The thoughts within me were sorrows of heart, and many they were, occasioned from within, from without; a multitude of them.

(2) "Thy comforts delight my soul." As were the troubles in the flesh, so were comforts in my soul.

His third reason, to comfort the Church in affliction, is drawn from the nature of God, to whom all iniquity is hateful.

1. "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee?" Thou art a just God, and wilt thou have any thing to do, any society, with those that sit upon thrones and seats of justice, and execute injustice?

2. "Which frame mischief by a law," i.e. frame wicked laws; or, under the colour of law and justice, oppress the innocent. With those who do injustice by the sword of justice, God will have no fellowship.

3. And yet there is a third pretense of wicked men to colour their proceedings against innocent men. The first was their throne, the second was the law, and the third is their council, and consultations in them. These they call to that end. They meet by troops as thieves; they assemble, they convene in synods; "they gather themselves together," and that to a most wicked end: -

1. "Against the soul of the righteous." θηρευσαι, To hunt. - Septuagint.

2. "To condemn the innocent blood." Their laws are Draco's laws. Now what shall the poor innocent do in such a case? How shall he be comforted? Help he must not expect from man; from man it cannot come; it must come from heaven; and therefore let him say with David, Though my enemies rage as they list, and exercise all cruelties towards me, under a pretence of zeal, piety, and legal justice; yet

1. "The Lord is my defence," so that their treachery and plots shall not hurt me.

2. "My God is the rock of my refuge," on whom my hope shall safely rely.

3. "I am fully assured, for I have his word and his promise engaged for it."

1. "That he shall bring upon them their own iniquity;" that is, that the iniquity of the wicked man shall return upon his own head.

2. "And shall cut them off in their own wickedness;" not so much for their sin as for the malice of it.

3. Which for assurance of it he repeats, and explains who it is that shall do it: "Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off;" the Lord, whose providence they derided; "our God," the God of Jacob, whom they contemned, Psalms 94:7, he "shall cut them off;" they shall have no part with his people.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 94:0 God the judge of all

The psalmist, tired of the oppression caused by the proud and the wicked, calls for a fitting divine punishment on all those who oppose God and his ways (1-3). They brutally crush the poor and the helpless, thinking that God does not see them (4-7). How foolish of them. They forget that God is the one who made them. He knows what they are and what they do. He controls their destinies and will punish them for their wrongdoing (8-11).
God does not desert the godly in their troubles, and may even use their troubles to teach them lessons of patience and love. Then, when he sees the time has come to intervene, he punishes the tormentors and gives relief to their victims (12-15). But until that day comes, the suffering believer has no defence against the wicked and no source of comfort except in God alone (16-19). The wicked are in places of authority, but they oppose God whose law they should be administering. The believer’s only hope is to trust in the overruling government of God (20-23).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

REJOICING IN THE PROSPECT OF ANSWERED PRAYER

In this final division, “The poet expects the inevitable divine retribution for which he had earnestly prayed in the introduction.”F. Delitzsch, op. cit., p. 83.

“Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee, Which frameth mischief by statute? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood. But Jehovah hath been my high tower; And my God the rock of my refuge. And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity, And will cut them of in their own wickedness; Jehovah our God will cut them off.”

“Which frameth mischief by statute” This most certainly speaks of one of Israel’s wicked kings; of these, of course, there were many; but the condemnation of “the innocent” (Psalms 94:21) strongly suggests the wicked reign of Manasseh.

“Jehovah hath been my high tower” The psalmist here identifies himself as being among the “true seed” of Abraham. “An Israelite in whom there is no guile,” as Jesus said of Nathaniel. Throughout the history of Israel, such persons were always a small minority, called by Isaiah, “The Righteous Remnant.” It was because of them that God was able, eventually, to bring into mankind the Dayspring from on High via the Seed of Abraham, as he had promised.

“He hath brought upon them their own iniquity” This is prophetic tense, setting forth what God “will do,” as indicated in the parallel verse adjacent to it. “Jehovah our God will cut them off.”

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity - The consequences of their sin. He shall punish them as they deserve. See the notes at Psalms 7:16.

And shall cut them off in their own wickedness - As the result of their wickedness, and while they are engaged in perpetrating acts of sin.

Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off - Expressing, by the repetition of the sentiment, the utmost confidence that this would be so. This is in accordance with the prayer with which the psalm opens, and is expressive of entire faith that God will deal justly with the children of men. However the wicked may seem to prosper and to triumph, yet the day of vengeance is approaching, and all which they have deserved will come upon them.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 94:1-23 :

O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth ( Psalms 94:1 );

Now, it's hard for us to remember that. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" ( Romans 12:19 ). So often we try to take vengeance ourselves against the evil that is done to us. So often we say or hear said, "I'll get even with him," as though it is our place to take vengeance.

But LORD God, vengeance belongeth to thee ( Psalms 94:1 ),

But he said now,

show yourself ( Psalms 94:1 ).

And take vengeance, Lord.

Lift up thyself, 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 and speak hard things? and all of the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, they afflict your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it ( Psalms 94:2-7 ).

Somehow there is that kind of feeling with those who are guilty of unrighteousness that God doesn't see. No fear of the Lord in them. They do not realize that though they may get by with it here, someday they are going to answer for those things that they have done. Vengeance belongs to God and God is going to come in judgment to bring vengeance upon the workers of iniquity. But what fools they are thinking that God doesn't see or that God doesn't regard what they are doing.

Understand, you brutish among the people: you fools, when will ye be wise? ( Psalms 94:8 )

When you going to wise up?

He that has created the ear, do you think he can't hear? the one that created your eye, you think he can't see? He that chastens the heathen, shall he not correct? he that teaches man knowledge, you think he doesn't know? The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness. Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O LORD, and teach him out of your law; That you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto the righteous: and the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? 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 ( Psalms 94:9-17 ).

I would have been wiped out.

When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frames mischief by the law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off ( Psalms 94:18-23 ).

So the psalm is out of a troubled heart because of the oppression of the wicked, but the acknowledgment that God is the God of vengeance and God will avenge, and God will uphold the righteous. But those that have been guilty of wickedness shall be brought in judgment one day. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 94

This psalm, which begins as a national lament (Psalms 94:1-15) and ends as an individual lament (Psalms 94:16-23), calls on God to avenge the righteous whom the wicked oppress unjustly. It manifests faith in the justice of God.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. A reason for consolation 94:16-23

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The power of the wicked could not endure because God’s power will prevail-even though His enemies made alliances with other evil men to oppress the innocent. The psalm closes with a reaffirmation of the writer’s commitment to Yahweh. He would trust in the Lord until God executed vengeance on the wicked.

This psalm is a good example of not taking vengeance but waiting for God to take it in His own time and way (Deuteronomy 32:35; 1 Samuel 24-26; Romans 12:19; et al.). The writer committed the situation to God in prayer, called on Him to judge righteously, and continued to trust and obey the Lord. He did not take vengeance himself.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity,.... The just punishment of it; or cause the mischief they designed to others to fall upon themselves; or make retaliation to them; that whereas they had drank the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, blood should be given them to drink; or their own blood should be shed, Revelation 16:6, the Jews i say, that the Levites stood on their desks, and recited this passage, both at the precise time of the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar, and of the second by the Romans:

and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; in the midst of it, while slaying the witnesses, and triumphing over them, Revelation 18:7, yea,

the Lord our God shall cut them off; the God of Jacob, who, they said, did not see nor regard what they did, Psalms 94:7, and so this latter part of the psalm fulfils the former, and proves that God is a God of vengeance, to whom it belongs; and he will exercise it in due time.

i Seder Olam Rabba, c. 30. p. 92.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him 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 the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.   15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.   16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?   17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.   18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.   19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.   20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?   21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.   22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.   23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

      The psalmist, having denounced tribulation to those that trouble God's people, here assures those that are troubled of rest. See 2 Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:7. He speaks comfort to suffering saints from God's promises and his own experience.

      I. From God's promises, which are such as not only save them from being miserable, but secure a happiness to them (Psalms 94:12; Psalms 94:12): Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest. Here he looks above the instruments of trouble, and eyes the hand of God, which gives it another name and puts quite another color upon it. The enemies break in pieces God's people (Psalms 94:5; Psalms 94:5); they aim at no less; but the truth of the matter is that God by them chastens his people, as the father the son in whom he delights, and the persecutors are only the rod he makes use of. Howbeit they mean not so, neither doth their heart think so,Isaiah 10:5-7. Now it is here promised,

      1. That God's people shall get good by their sufferings. When he chastens them he will teach them, and blessed is the man who is thus taken under a divine discipline, for none teaches like God. Note, (1.) The afflictions of the saints are fatherly chastenings, designed for their instruction, reformation, and improvement. (2.) When the teachings of the word and Spirit go along with the rebukes of Providence they then both manifest men to be blessed and help to make them so; for then they are marks of adoption and means of sanctification. When we are chastened we must pray to be taught, and look into the law as the best expositor of Providence. It is not the chastening itself that does good, but the teaching that goes along with it and is the exposition of it.

      2. That they shall see through their sufferings (Psalms 94:13; Psalms 94:13): That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity. Note, (1.) There is a rest remaining for the people of God after the days of their adversity, which, though they may be many and long, shall be numbered and finished in due time, and shall not last always. He that sends the trouble will send the rest, that he may comfort them according to the time that he has afflicted them. (2.) God therefore teaches his people by their troubles, that he may prepare them for deliverance, and so give them rest from their troubles, that, being reformed, they may be relieved, and that the affliction, having done its work, may be removed.

      3. That they shall see the ruin of those that are the instruments of their sufferings, which is the matter of a promise, not as gratifying any passion of theirs, but as redounding to the glory of God: Until the pit is digged (or rather while the pit is digging) for the wicked, God is ordering peace for them at the same time that he is ordaining his arrows against the persecutors.

      4. That, though they may be cast down, yet certainly they shall not be cast off, Psalms 94:14; Psalms 94:14. Let God's suffering people assure themselves of this, that, whatever their friends do, God will not cast them off, nor throw them out of his covenant or out of his care; he will not forsake them, because they are his inheritance, which he will not quit his title to nor suffer himself to be disseised of. St. Paul comforted himself with this, Romans 11:1.

      5. That, bad as things are, they shall mend, and, though they are now out of course, yet they shall return to their due and ancient channel (Psalms 94:15; Psalms 94:15): Judgment shall return unto righteousness; the seeming disorders of Providence (for real ones there never were) shall be rectified. God's judgment, that is, his government, looks sometimes as if it were at a distance from righteousness, while the wicked prosper, and the best men meet with the worst usage; but it shall return to righteousness again, either in this world or at the furthest in the judgment of the great day, which will set all to-rights. Then all the upright in heart shall be after it; they shall follow it with their praises, and with entire satisfaction; they shall return to a prosperous and flourishing condition, and shine forth out of obscurity; they shall accommodate themselves to the dispensations of divine Providence, and with suitable affections attend all its motions. They shall walk after the Lord,Hosea 11:10. Dr. Hammond thinks this was most eminently fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem first, and afterwards of heathen Rome, the crucifiers of Christ and persecutors of Christians, and the rest which the churches had thereby. Then judgment returned even to righteousness, to mercy and goodness, and favour to God's people, who then were as much countenanced as before they had been trampled on.

      II. From his own experiences and observations.

      1. He and his friends had been oppressed by cruel and imperious men, that had power in their hands and abused it by abusing all good people with it. They were themselves evil-doers and workers of iniquity (Psalms 94:16; Psalms 94:16); they abandoned themselves to all manner of impiety and immorality, and then their throne was a throne of iniquity,Psalms 94:20; Psalms 94:20. Their dignity served to put a reputation upon sin, and their authority was employed to support it, and to bring about their wicked designs. It is a pity that ever a throne, which should be a terror to evil-doers and a protection and praise to those that do well, should be the seat and shelter of iniquity. That is a throne of iniquity which by the policy of its council frames mischief, and by its sovereignty enacts it and turns it into a law. Iniquity is daring enough even when human laws are against it, which often prove too weak to give an effectual check to it; but how insolent, how mischievous, is it when it is backed by a law! Iniquity is not the better, but much the worse, for being enacted by law; nor will it excuse those that practise it to say that they did but do as they were bidden. These workers of iniquity, having framed mischief by a law, take care to see the law executed; for they gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, who dare not keep the statutes of Omri nor the law of the house of Ahab; and they condemn the innocent blood for violating their decrees. See an instance in Daniel's enemies; they framed mischief by a law when the obtained an impious edict against prayer (Daniel 6:7), and, when Daniel would not obey it, they assembled together against him (Psalms 94:11; Psalms 94:11) and condemned his innocent blood to the lions. The best benefactors of mankind have often been thus treated, under colour of law and justice, as the worst of malefactors.

      2. The oppression they were under bore very hard upon them, and oppressed their spirits too. Let not suffering saints despair, though, when they are persecuted, they find themselves perplexed and cast down; it was so with the psalmist here: His soul had almost dwelt in silence (Psalms 94:17; Psalms 94:17); he was at his wits' end, and knew not what to say or do; he was, in his own apprehensions, at his life's end, ready to drop into the grave, that land of silence. St. Paul, in a like case, received a sentence of death within himself,2 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:9. He said, "My foot slippeth (Psalms 94:18; Psalms 94:18); I am going irretrievably; there is no remedy; I must fall. I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul. My hope fails me; I do not find such firm footing for my faith as I have sometimes found." Psalms 73:2. He had a multitude of perplexed entangled thoughts within him concerning the case he was in and the construction to be made of it, and concerning the course he should take and what was likely to be the issue of it.

      3. In this distress they sought for help, and succour, and some relief. (1.) They looked about for it and were disappointed (Psalms 94:16; Psalms 94:16): "Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Have I any friend who, in love to me, will appear for me? Has justice any friend who, in a pious indignation at unrighteousness, will plead my injured cause?" He looked, but there was none to save, there was none to uphold. Note, When on the side of the oppressors there is power it is no marvel if the oppressed have no comforter, none that dare own them, or speak a good word for them, Ecclesiastes 4:1. When St. Paul was brought before Nero's throne of iniquity no man stood by him,2 Timothy 4:16. (2.) They looked up for it, Psalms 94:20; Psalms 94:20. They humbly expostulate with God: "Lord, shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee? Wilt thou countenance and support these tyrants in their wickedness? We know thou wilt not." A throne has fellowship with God when it is a throne of justice and answers the end of the erecting of it; for by him kings reign, and when they reign for him their judgments are his, and he owns them as his ministers, and whoever resist them, or rise up against them, shall receive to themselves damnation; but, when it becomes a throne of iniquity, it has no longer fellowship with God. Far be it from the just and holy God that he should be the patron of unrighteousness, even in princes and those that sit in thrones, yea, though they be the thrones of the house of David.

      4. They found succour and relief in God, and in him only. When other friends failed, in him they had a faithful and powerful friend; and it is recommended to all God's suffering saints to trust in him. (1.) God helps at a dead lift (Psalms 94:17; Psalms 94:17): "When I had almost dwelt in silence, then the Lord was my help, kept me alive, kept me in heart; and unless I had made him my help, by putting my trust in him and expecting relief from him, I could never have kept possession of my own soul; but living by faith in him has kept my head above water, has given me breath, and something to say." (2.) God's goodness is the great support of sinking spirits (Psalms 94:18; Psalms 94:18): "When I said, My foot slips into sin, into ruin, into despair, then thy mercy, O Lord! held me up, kept me from falling, and defeated the design of those who consulted to cast me down from my excellency," Psalms 62:4. We are beholden not only to God's power, but to his pity, for spiritual supports: Thy mercy, the gifts of thy mercy and my hope in thy mercy, held me up. God's right hand sustains his people when they look on their right hand and on their left and there is none to uphold; and we are then prepared for his gracious supports when we are sensible of our own weakness and inability to stand by our own strength, and come to God, to acknowledge it, and to tell him how our foot slips. (3.) Divine consolations are the effectual relief of troubled spirits (Psalms 94:19; Psalms 94:19): "In the multitude of my thoughts within me, which are noisy like a multitude, crowding and jostling one another like a multitude, and very unruly and ungovernable, in the multitude of my sorrowful, solicitous, timorous thoughts, thy comforts delight my soul; and they are never more delightful than when they come in so seasonably to silence my unquiet thoughts and keep my mind easy." The world's comforts give but little delight to the soul when it is hurried with melancholy thoughts; they are songs to a heavy heart. But God's comforts will reach the soul, and not the fancy only, and will bring with them that peace and that pleasure which the smiles of the world cannot give and which the frowns of the world cannot take away.

      5. God is, and will be, as a righteous Judge, the patron and protector of right and the punisher and avenger of wrong; this the psalmist had both the assurance of and the experience of. (1.) He will give redress to the injured (Psalms 94:22; Psalms 94:22): "When none else will, nor can, nor dare, shelter me, the Lord is my defence, to preserve me from the evil of my troubles, from sinking under them and being ruined by them; and he is the rock of my refuge, in the clefts of which I may take shelter, and on the top of which I may set my feet, to be out of the reach of danger." God is his people's refuge, to whom they may flee, in whom they are safe and may be secure; he is the rock of their refuge, so strong, so firm, impregnable, immovable, as a rock: natural fastnesses sometimes exceed artificial fortifications. (2.) He will reckon with the injurious (Psalms 94:23; Psalms 94:23): He shall render to them their own iniquity; he shall deal with them according to their deserts, and that very mischief which they did and designed against God's people shall be brought upon themselves: it follows, He shall cut them off in their wickedness. A man cannot be more miserable than his own wickedness will make him if God visit it upon him: it will cut him in the remembrance of it; it will cut him off in the recompence of it. This the psalm concludes with the triumphant assurance of: Yea, the Lord our God, who takes our part and owns us for his, shall cut them off from any fellowship with him, and so shall make them completely miserable and their pomp and power shall stand them in no stead.