Psalm 94 commentary

PSALM 94 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "SUBJECT. The writer sees evil doers in power, and smarts under
their oppressions. His sense of the divine sovereignty, of which he had been singing
in the previous Psalm, leads him to appeal to God as the great Judge of the earth;
this he does with much vehemence and importunity, evidently tingling under the
lash of the oppressor. Confident in God's existence, and assured of his personal
observation of the doings of men, the psalmist rebukes his atheistic adversaries, and
proclaims his triumph in his God: he also interprets the severe dispensation of
Providence to be in very deed most instructive chastisements, and so he counts those
happy who endure them. The Psalm is another pathetic form of the old enigmaâ
€”"Wherefore do the wicked prosper?" It is another instance of a good man
perplexed by the prosperity of the ungodly, cheering his heart by remembering that
there is, after all, a King in heaven, by whom all things are overruled for good.
DIVISIO S. In Psalms 94:1-7 the psalmist utters his complaint against wicked
oppressors. From Psalms 94:8-11 he reasons against their sceptical notion that God
did not notice the actions of men. He then shows that the Lord does bless his people
and will deliver them, though for a while they may be chastened, Psalms 94:12-15.
He again pleads for help in Psalms 94:16, and declares his entire dependence upon
God for preservation, Psalms 94:17-19; yet a third time urges his complaint, Psalms
94:20-21; and then concludes with the confident assurance that his enemies, and all
other wicked men, would certainly be made to reap the due reward of their deeds, â
€”"yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off."
ELLICOTT, "Psalms 94:5; Psalms 94:14, and, by implication, Psalms 94:10, show
that this psalm was the expression, not of individual, but of national, sense of wrong
and injustice. Yet the poet must, in his own person, have experienced the bitterness
of the trouble, from the reference he makes, towards the close, to his own
experiences. Apostate Jews may have been joined with the heathen oppressors. (See
ote, Psalms 94:6.) There is no indication on which to found a conjecture as to date
or authorship. The poetical form is regular.

1 The Lord is a God who avenges.
O God who avenges, shine forth.
BAR ES, "O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth ... - Margin, God of
revenges The idea is, that it pertains to God to take vengeance, or to punish for crimes.
See the notes at Rom_12:19. The appeal here is made to God in view of the crimes
committed by others, and which are referred to in the subsequent part of the psalm. God
is addressed as having the right to restrain and punish wicked people, and he is asked to
interpose and assert that right in a case which clearly demanded it. The appeal is
repeated to make it emphatic, or to denote “earnestness” in the petition.
Show thyself - Margin, as in Hebrew, “shine forth.” The meaning is, Manifest
thyself; come forth as such a God; prove thy right; display thy power, and show that thou
art a God opposed to crime and wrong. The same Hebrew word is used here which is
found in Psa_80:1, and which is there rendered “shine forth.” See the notes at that
passage.
CLARKE, "O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth - God is the author of
retributive justice, as well as of mercy. This retributive justice is what we often term
vengeance, but perhaps improperly; for vengeance with us signifies an excitement of
angry passions, in order to gratify a vindictive spirit, which supposes itself to have
received some real injury; whereas what is here referred to is that simple act of justice
which gives to all their due.
GILL, "O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth,.... As it does to God, and to
him only; not to Heathen deities, one of which has the name of Vengeance given it, Act_
28:4, nor to Satan, the enemy and avenger, and his spiteful principalities and powers;
nor to men, who are not to exercise private revenge on their fellow creatures; only to civil
magistrates, to whom public revenge belongs, they being God's viceregents, and
representing him; otherwise to God only it belongs, against whom sin is committed; and
he will, in his own time and way, execute it; he is "the God of revenges" (e), as the words
may be rendered; and this is applicable to Christ, who is the true Jehovah, and God over
all: it was he that took vengeance on Sodom and Gomorrah, and rained from the Lord
fire and brimstone on them; and who took vengeance on the inventions of the Israelites
in the wilderness; and when he came in the flesh, he came with vengeance to destroy
Satan and his works, as it was promised and prophesied he should, Isa_35:4, forty years
after his death, resurrection, and ascension, he came in his power and kingdom, and
took vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their unbelief and rejection of him, Luk_21:22,
and at the opening of the sixth seal his wrath came upon Rome Pagan in a manner
intolerable to them, for their cruel persecutions of his church and people; and the cry of
the souls under the altar was much like what is uttered in this psalm; see Rev_6:9, and

at the time of his spiritual coming and reign he will avenge the blood of his saints on
Rome Papal, or antichrist, whom he will destroy with the breath of his mouth, and the
saints will be called upon to rejoice, and will rejoice, when they see the vengeance, Rev_
18:20 and his personal coming will be in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that
know not God, and obey not his Gospel, and when all the wicked will suffer the
vengeance of eternal fire, 2Th_1:8.
O God, to whom vengeance belongeth; which is repeated to observe the certainty
of it, and to express the vehement and importunate desire of the psalmist, and those he
represents, that he would show himself to be so, follows:
show thyself; or "shine forth" (f), as in Psa_80:1 either at his incarnation, when he
appeared as the dayspring from on high; yea, as the sun of righteousness; or, in the
ministry of the Gospel, the great light which shone first on the inhabitants of Judea and
Galilee, and then on the Gentile world; or in his gracious presence with his people, which
is expressed by causing his face to shine upon them, Psa_80:7, or in the protection of
them, and destruction of their enemies; which is a showing himself strong on their
behalf, an appearing to the joy of the one, and the confusion of the other; and in this
manner will Christ show himself in the latter day.
HE RY, "I. A solemn appeal to God against the cruel oppressors of his people, Psa_
94:1, Psa_94:2. This speaks terror enough to them, that they have the prayers of God's
people against them, who cry day and night to him to avenge them of their adversaries;
and shall he not avenge them speedily? Luk_18:3, Luk_18:7. Observe here,
1. The titles they give to God for the encouraging of their faith in this appeal: O God! to
whom vengeance belongeth; and thou Judge of the earth. We may with boldness appeal
to him; for, (1.) He is judge, supreme judge, judge alone, from whom every man's
judgment proceeds. He that gives law gives sentence upon every man according to his
works, by the rule of that law. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He has indeed
appointed magistrates to be avengers under him (Rom_13:4), but he is the avenger in
chief, to whom even magistrates themselves are accountable; his throne is the last refuge
(the dernier ressort, as the law speaks) of oppressed innocency. He is universal judge,
not of this city or country only, but judge of the earth, of the whole earth: none are
exempt from his jurisdiction; nor can it be alleged against an appeal to him in any court
that it is coram non judice - before a person not judicially qualified. (2.) He is just. As he
has authority to avenge wrong, so it is his nature, and property, and honour. This also is
implied in the title here given to him and repeated with such an emphasis, O God! to
whom vengeance belongs, who wilt not suffer might always to prevail against right. This
is a good reason why we must not avenge ourselves, because God has said, Vengeance is
mine; and it is daring presumption to usurp his prerogative and step into his throne,
Rom_12:19. Let this alarm those who do wrong, whether with a close hand, so as not to
be discovered, or with a high hand, so as not to be controlled, There is a God to whom
vengeance belongs, who will certainly call them to an account; and let it encourage those
who suffer wrong to bear it with silence, committing themselves to him who judges
righteously.
2. What it is they ask of God. (1.) That he would glorify himself, and get honour to his
own name. Wicked persecutors thought God had withdrawn and had forsaken the earth.
“Lord,” say they, “show thyself; make them know that thou art and that thou art ready to
show thyself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are upright with thee.” The
enemies thought God was conquered because his people were. “Lord,” say they, “lift up

thyself, be thou exalted in thy own strength. Lift up thyself, to be seen, to be feared; and
suffer not thy name to be trampled upon and run down.” (2.) That he would mortify the
oppressors: Render a reward to the proud; that is, “Reckon with them for all their
insolence, and the injuries they have done to thy people.” These prayers are prophecies,
which speak terror to all the sons of violence. The righteous God will deal with them
according to their merits.
JAMISO , "
Psa_94:1-23. The writer, appealing to God in view of the oppression of enemies,
rebukes them for their wickedness and folly, and encourages himself, in the confidence
that God will punish evildoers, and favor His people.
God’s revenge is His judicial infliction of righteous punishment.
show thyself — (Compare Margin).
K&D 1-3, "The first strophe prays that God would at length put a judicial restraint
upon the arrogance of ungodliness. Instead of ַ‫יע‬ ִ‫ּופ‬‫ח‬ (a less frequent form of the
imperative for ַ‫ע‬ ֵ‫ּופ‬‫ה‬, Ges. §53, rem. 3) it was perhaps originally written ‫הופיעה‬ (Psa_80:2),
the He of which has been lost owing to the He that follows. The plural ‫ּות‬‫מ‬ ָ‫ק‬ְ‫נ‬ signifies not
merely single instances of taking vengeance (Eze_25:17, cf. supra Psa_18:48), but also
intensively complete revenge or recompense (Jdg_11:36; 2Sa_4:8). The designation of
God is similar to ‫ּות‬‫ל‬ ֻ‫מ‬ְ ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ in Jer_51:56, and the anadiplosis is like Psa_94:3, Psa_94:23,
Psa_93:1, Psa_93:3. ‫א‬ ֵ‫שׂ‬ָ ִ‫,ה‬ lift Thyself up, arise, viz., in judicial majesty, calls to mind
Psa_7:7. ‫מוּל‬ְ ‫יב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ה‬ is construed with ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ (cf. ְ‫,ל‬ Psa_28:4; 59:18) as in Joe_3:4. With ‫ים‬ ִ‫א‬ֵ
accidentally accord ᅊγαυός and κύδειʷ γαίων in the epic poets.
CALVI , "1O Jehovah! God of vengeances We know that the Jews were
surrounded by many neighbors who were not well affected towards them, and were
thus incessantly subject to the assaults and oppression of bitter enemies. As this
intestine persecution was even more afflictive than the rampant and unrestrained
violence of the wicked, we need not wonder that the Psalmist should earnestly
beseech God for deliverance from it. The expressions which he uses, calling upon
God to shine forth conspicuously, and lift himself up on high, amount in common
language to this, that God would give some actual manifestation of his character as
judge or avenger; for in that case he is seen ascending his tribunal to exact the
punishment due to sin, and demonstrate his power in preserving order and
government in the world. The phraseology is used only in reference to ourselves,
disposed as we are to feel as if he overlooked us, unless he stretched out his hand to
help us in some visible and open manner. In calling him twice successively the God
of vengeances, and then, judge of the earth, the Psalmist uses these titles as
applicable to the present situation in which he stood, reminding Him in a manner of
the office which belonged to him, and saying — O Lord! it is thine to take vengeance
upon sinners, and judge the earth — see how they take advantage of the impunity
which is extended to their guilt, and triumph audaciously in their wickedness! ot

that God needs to be admonished of his duty, for he never resigns himself to
indifference, and even when he seems to delay his judgments, is only adjusting them
according to what he knows to be the best season; but his people conceive of him in
this way to themselves, and take occasion from this to embolden and stimulate
themselves to greater vehemency in prayer. (14) The same may be said of the
repetition which the Psalmist uses. When the wicked then indulge in unrestrained
excesses, we are to remember that God can never cease to assert his character as the
judge of the earth who takes vengeance upon iniquity. Does he seem in our carnal
apprehension to have at any time withdrawn and hidden himself? let us put up
without hesitation the prayer which is here taught us by the Holy Spirit, that he
would shine forth
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; 0 God, to
whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself: or, God of retribution, Jehovah, God of
retribution, shine forth! A very natural prayer when innocence is trampled down,
and wickedness exalted on high. If the execution of justice be a right thing, â€”and
who can deny the fact? â€”then it must be a very proper thing to desire it; not out of
private revenge, in which case a man would hardly dare to appeal to God, but out of
sympathy with right, and pity for those who are made wrongfully to suffer, Who
can see a nation enslaved, or even an individual downtrodden, without crying to the
Lord to arise and vindicate the righteous cause? The toleration of injustice is here
attributed to the Lord's being hidden, and it is implied that the bare sight of him
will suffice to alarm the tyrants into ceasing their oppressions. God has but to show
himself, and the good cause wins the day. He comes, he sees, he conquers! Truly in
these evil days we need a manifest display of his power, for the ancient enemies of
God and man are again struggling for the mastery, and if they gain it, woe unto the
saints of God.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.
Ver. 1. 0 LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth. It may perhaps seem to accord
too little with a lover of piety, so strenuously to urge upon God to show himself an
avenger against the wicked, and to rouse Him as if He were lingering and
procrastinating. But this supplication must be regarded in its proper bearing; for
David does not pray, neither should we pray, that God would take vengeance on the
wicked in the same way that men, inflamed with anger and hatred, are wont often to
avenge themselves of their enemies, but that He would punish them after his own
divine manner and measure. The vengeance of God is for the most part a medicine
for the evil; but ours is at times destruction even to the good. Therefore truly the
Lord is alone the God of revenges. For we, when we think we have inflicted a
penalty upon our enemy, are often much mistaken. What injury to us was the body
of our enemy? in depriving him of which we nevertheless express all our bitterness.
What wounded thee and wrought thee harm and shame, was the spirit of thine
enemy, and that thou art not able to seize and hold, but God is able; and He alone
has such power that in no way can the spirit escape his strength and force. Leave
vengeance with Him, and He will repay. He admonishes us, that if we ourselves wish
to be avengers of our own pains and injuries we may hurt ourselves more deeply
than our enemy: for when we take vengeance on him, we indeed wound and do
violence to his body, which in itself is vile and of little regard; but in our own best

and most precious part, that is, in our spirit; we ourselves, by losing patience,
receive a deep stain, because when virtue and humanity have been expelled thence,
we meanwhile incur faults to be atoned for therein. Wherefore God is entreated to
become Himself the avenger of our injuries, for He alone knows aright and is able to
avenge; and to become such an avenger that only the very thing which injured us
may be punished. Some greedy man has cheated thee in money, may He punish
avarice in him. A proud man has treated thee with scorn, may He destroy his pride,
etc... This is vengeance most worthy to be inflicted of God, and by us to be sought.
Jacopo Sadoleto. 1477-1547.
Ver. 1. I do not think that we sufficiently attend to the distinction that exists
between revenge and vengeance. "Revenge, "says Dr. Johnson, "is an act of passion,
vengeance of justice; injuries are revenged, crimes avenged." And it is from not
attending to this essential distinction that the scorner has been led into such profane
remarks, as if there were a vindictive spirit in the Almighty, and as if he found
delight in wreaking vengeance on an adversary. The call which the psalmist here
makes on God as a God to whom vengeance belongeth, is no other than if he had
said, "O God, to whom justice belongeth!" Vengeance indeed is not for man,
because with man's feelings and propensities it would ever degenerate into revenge.
"I wilt be even with him, "says nature; "I will be above him, "says grace. Barton
Bouchier.
Ver. 1. The two divine names (El and Jehovah, â€”God and Lord) recognize God as
almighty, eternal, self existent, bound by covenant to his people, and alone entitled
to take vengeance. J. A. Alexander.
Ver. 1-6.
"Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep, and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piemontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
Over all the Italian fields, where still doth sway
The triple Tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who having learned the way,
Early may fly the Babylonian woe." John Milton.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
PSALM 94
ISRAEL CRIES OUT FOR GOD TO JUDGE THE WORLD
We are unable to assign either a date or an occasion for this psalm; the author is
also unknown. Apparently, the sufferings of Israel in view here were not the result
of oppression by a foreign power, but due to the gross wickedness of Israel's own

government. If so, then the times either of Zedekiah or Manasseh would have been
suitable for such a complaint as this.
As proposed by Delitzsch, there are six paragraphs in the psalm.
Amos had specifically warned Israel against their oft-repeated cry for the coming of
the Judgment Day.
"Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of
Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear
met him; and he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent
bit him. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark,
and no brightness in it" (Amos 5:18-20)?
In spite of such a warning, it seems that Israel continued to cherish their illusions
about the Judgment Day.
Psalms 94:1-3
A PRAYER FOR GOD TO JUDGE RAMPA T WICKED ESS
"O Jehovah, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth,
Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.
Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth:
Render to the proud their desert.
Jehovah, how long shall the wicked,
How long shall the wicked triumph?"
"Shine forth" (Psalms 94:1). It is clear enough here that the psalmist is thinking of
the day of Jehovah, as indicated by this expression.
"Lift up thyself" (Psalms 94:2). This is a plea for, "God to rouse himself from
inaction, and to come and visit the earth as Judge."[1]
"How long shall the wicked triumph?" (Psalms 94:3). Although there is an element
of faith in such a cry, "It is a cry of weakness and impatience."[2] It also fails to
heed Amos' warning.
"This appeal has no sense of malice about it. It is a simple cry for recompense and a
plea that ungodly deeds should recoil upon the perpetrators."[3]
Verse 4
WHAT THE WICKED WERE DOI G

"They prate; they speak arrogantly:
All the workers of iniquity boast themselves.
They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah,
And afflict thy heritage.
They slay the widow and the sojourner,
And murder the fatherless.
And they say, Jehovah will not see,
either will the God of Jacob consider."
During the long reign of Manasseh, the Scriptures tell us that, "Manasseh shed
innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" (2
Kings 21:16).
"Throughout the ear East, the protection of widows, orphans and strangers was
held to be the most sacred duty of leaders."[4]
"They prate" (Psalms 94:4). To prate is to speak idly, to chatter. The wicked were
indulging in almost endless arrogant and idle speech against the righteous.
"Jehovah will not see ... the God of Jacob will not consider" (Psalms 94:7). Delitzsch
thought that oppressors here were foreign powers, but as Maclaren pointed out,
"There is nothing here to indicate that these oppressors were foreigners."[5]
Furthermore, the appearance here of the expression "the God of Jacob" strongly
indicates Israelites as the practical atheists in view here. As a matter of fact, Psalms
94:8, below, speaks of these evil-doers as being "among the people," that is, among
God's people.
Adam Clarke remarked on Psalms 94:7 here that, "This is their impiety; this is their
blasphemy; this is their practical atheism, and the cause of all their injustice,
cruelty, tyranny and oppression."[6]
BE SO , "Verses 1-4
Psalms 94:1-4. O God, to whom vengeance belongeth — To whom, as the supreme
Judge of the world, the patron and protector of the righteous, and the declared
enemy of all wickedness and wicked men, and to whom alone it belongs to take
revenge on those who oppress thy people when they should protect them; show
thyself — Make thy justice conspicuous, by speedily avenging thine elect, and
rendering a recompense to their enemies. Lift up thyself — To punish thy proud

enemies. Be exalted in thine own strength, and let those proud men, who have acted
as if they thought none could control them, know that they have a superior. How
long shall they utter — Pour forth freely, constantly, abundantly, as a fountain doth
water, (so ‫,יביעו‬ jabbignu, signifies,) and speak hard things — Grievous, insolent,
and intolerable words against thee and thy people; and all the workers of iniquity
boast themselves — Of their invincible power, and prosperous success in their
wicked designs.
EBC, "THE theme of God the Judge is closely allied to that of God the King, as
other psalms of this group show, in which His coming to judge the world is the
subject of rapturous praise. This psalm hymns Jehovah’s retributive sway, for
which it passionately cries, and in which it confidently trusts. Israel is oppressed by
insolent rulers, who have poisoned the fountains of justice, condemning the
innocent, enacting unrighteous laws, and making a prey of all the helpless. These
"judges of Sodom" are not foreign oppressors, for they are "among the people";
and even while they scoff at Jehovah’s judgments they call Him by His covenant
names of "Jah" and "God of Jacob." There is no need, therefore, to look beyond
Israel for the originals of the dark picture, nor does it supply data for fixing the
period of the psalm.
The structure and course of thought are transparent. First comes an invocation to
God as the Judge of the earth (Psalms 94:1-2); then follow groups of four verses
each, subdivided into pairs, -the first of these (Psalms 94:3-6) pictures the doings of
the oppressors; the second (Psalms 94:7-11) quotes their delusion that their crimes
are unseen by Jehovah, and refutes their dream of impunity, and it is closed by a
verse in excess of the normal number. emphatically asserting the truth which the
mockers denied. The third group declares the blessedness of the men whom God
teaches, and the certainty of His retribution to vindicate the cause of the righteous
(Psalms 94:12-15). Then follow the singer’s own cry for help in his own need, as one
of the oppressed community, and a sweet reminiscence of former aid, which calms
his present anxieties. The concluding group goes back to description of the lawless
lawmakers and their doings, and ends with trust that the retribution prayed for in
the first verses will verily be dealt out to them, and that thereby both the singer, as a
member of the nation, and the community will find Jehovah, who is both "my God"
and "our God," a high tower.
The reiterations in the first two verses are not oratorical embellishments, but reveal
intense feeling and pressing need. It is a cold prayer which contents itself with one
utterance. A man in straits continues to cry for help till it comes, or till he sees it
coming. To this singer, the one aspect of Jehovah’s reign which was forced on him
by Israel’s dismal circumstances was the judicial. There are times when no thought
of God is so full of strength as that He is "the God of recompenses," as Jeremiah
calls Him, [Jeremiah 51:56] and when the longing of good men is that He would
flash forth, and slay evil by the brightness of His coming. They who have no
profound loathing of sin, or who have never felt the crushing weight of legalised
wickedness, may shrink from such aspirations as the psalmist’s, and brand them as
ferocious; but hearts longing for the triumph of righteousness will not take offence

at them.
PULPIT, "THIS psalm is primarily (Psalms 94:1-11) a "cry for vengeance on
Israel's oppressors, passing into an appeal for more faith to God's own people"
(Cheyne). In the latter half (Psalms 94:12-23) the psalmist comforts himself with the
thought that God will assuredly protect his own, and bring destruction upon the evil
doers (Psalms 94:12-23). Metrically, the psalm is made up of four strophes—the first
of seven verses (Psalms 94:1-7); the next of four (Psalms 94:8-11); the third of eight
(Psalms 94:12-19); and the last of four (Psalms 94:20-23).
Psalms 94:1-7
The cry for vengeance. Israel is suffering oppression—not, however, from foreign
enemies, but from domestic tyrants (Psalms 94:4-6). Innocent blood is shed; the
widow and the orphan are trodden down. God, it is supposed, will not see or will not
regard (Psalms 94:7). The psalmist, therefore, cries out to God to manifest himself
by taking signal vengeance on the evil doers (Psalms 94:1, Psalms 94:2).
Psalms 94:1
O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth (comp. Deuteronomy 32:35, "To me
belongeth vengeance and recompence;" and Jeremiah 51:56, where God is called
"the Lord God of reeompences," as he is here—literally—"the Lord God of
vengeances"). O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself; or, "shine
forth"—make thy justice to appear; show thyself in thy character of a God who will
by no means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:7).
BI 1-23, "O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth . . . show Thyself.
Persecutors and their victims
I. The awful condition of the wicked persecutor. The persecutors referred to (Psa_94:1-
10) are represented as “proud,” speaking “hard things,” as “workers of iniquity,” as
“breaking in pieces” the people of God, as “slaying the widow and the stranger,” and
“murdering the fatherless.” Every age and country has abounded with such oppressors,
they are rife even in this land of liberty.
1. They are prayed against by their godly victims (Psa_94:1-2).
2. They are understood by their godly victims, who saw in their hearts—
(1) Atheism (Psa_94:7).
(2) Brutality (Psa_94:8).
(3) Folly (Psa_94:8-10).
II. The blessed condition of their pious victims. These victims regarded their
persecution—
1. As a Divine chastisement (Psa_94:12). All afflictions even when they come by the
cruel persecution of men are employed by the Almighty Father as chastisements and
corrections. Although He does not originate the evil He directs it and uses it for

good.
2. As a Divine chastisement that would come to an end (Psa_94:13). The afflictions
will not continue for ever, a long and blessed repose will ensue. The persecutors will
fall into the pit which they have dug. The sinner is ever his own destroyer; with every
crime he is sinking his own dark bottomless pit into which he must fall.
3. As a chastisement under which they were guaranteed Divine support. The pious
victims experienced
(1) Divine help (Psa_94:17-18).
(2) Divine consolation (Psa_94:19).
4. As a Divine chastisement that would end in the ruin of their enemies (Psa_94:20-
23). (Homilist.)
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth;
pay back to the proud what they deserve.
BAR ES, "Lift up thyself - Be exalted or lifted up so as to be manifest in thy true
character. The idea is that God was, as it were, sitting at his ease, or as if he were
indifferent to what was occurring in the world. See the notes at Psa_3:7.
Thou Judge of the earth - Ruler of the world; to whom it pertains to exercise
judgment over all classes of people, and in all circumstances. The meaning here is, that
as he was the Ruler of the whole earth, this matter came without doubt under his
jurisdiction. It was a case for his interposition.
Render a reward to the proud - A just recompence to the people who are
confident in their own strength, and who are manifesting their pride in depriving others
of their rights.
CLARKE, "Lift up thyself - Exert thy power.
Render a reward to the proud - To the Babylonians, who oppress and insult us.
GILL, "Lift up thyself, thou, O Judge of the earth,.... A title very proper to Christ,
and which is given him by Abraham, Gen_18:25, who then appeared to him in an human

form, and with whom he was conversing; he judges his own people on earth, all
judgment being committed to him by the Father; he judges and chastises them, that they
may not be condemned with the world; he judges and distinguishes between them and
the world; he protects and defends them, he pleads their cause, and avenges them on
their enemies: and for this purpose he is requested to "lift up" himself; being in the
apprehension of his people as one laid down and asleep, quite negligent and careless of
them; and therefore they desire that he would awake and arise, and exert his power, and
show himself higher than their enemies; that he would mount his throne, and execute
justice and judgment on the wicked, agreeably to his character and office:
render a reward to the proud; an evil reward, as the Targum; to proud persecutors
of the church, who through their pride persecute the poor saints; and to render
tribulation to them is but just with the Lord; to antichrist, that exalts himself above all
that is called God, and to all his haughty and ambitious dependents and followers,
cardinals, bishops, priests, &c.
JAMISO , "Lift up thyself — or, “Arise,” both figures representing God as
heretofore indifferent (compare Psa_3:7; Psa_22:16, Psa_22:20).
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth. Ascend thy judgment
seat and be acknowledged as the ruler of men: and, moreover, raise thyself as men
do who are about to strike with all their might; for the abounding sin of mankind
requires a heavy blow from thy hand.
Render a reward to the proud, give them measure for measure, a fair retaliation,
blow for blow. The proud look down upon the gracious poor and strike them from
above, as a giant might hurl down blows upon his adversary; after the same
manner, O Lord, lift up thyself, and "return a recompense upon the proud, "and let
them know that thou art far more above them than they can be above the meanest of
their fellow men. The psalmist thus invokes the retribution of justice in plain speech,
and his request is precisely that which patient innocence puts up in silence, when
her looks of anguish appeal to heaven.
3 How long, Lord, will the wicked,
how long will the wicked be jubilant?
BAR ES, "Lord, how long shall the wicked ... - As if there were to be no end to
their exaltation; their joy; their success. How long would God allow this? How long
would he sit by and see it done? Was he disposed to let them go on forever? Would he

never interpose, and arrest them in their career? How often do we wonder that God does
not interpose! How often does it seem inexplicable that a Being of almighty power and
infinite goodness does not interfere with respect to the wickedness, the oppression, the
slavery, the wrong, the cruelty, the fraud, the violence of the world - and put an end to it!
Nay, how entirely are we overwhelmed at the thought that he does not put an end to
iniquity in the universe altogether; that he never “will” thus interpose, and put an end to
sin and sorrow! Such things are too high for us now; perhaps will be always so. Things
on earth are not as we should suppose they would be; and we can only pause and adore
where we cannot comprehend!
CLARKE, "How long shall the wicked triumph? - The wicked are often in
prosperity; and this only shows us of how little worth riches are in the sight of God,
when he bestows them on the most contemptible of mortals. But their time and
prosperity have their bounds.
GILL, "Lord, how long shall the wicked,.... The reign of antichrist is thought long
by the saints, being the space of forty two months, or 1260 days or years and this tries
the faith and patience of the church of Christ, Rev_13:5.
how long shall the wicked triumph? in their prosperity, and in the ruins of the
interest of Christ; the Targum is,
"how long shall they sit in tranquillity, or prosperity?''
the triumphing of the wicked may seem long, but it is but short, Job_20:5, the
inhabitants of the Romish jurisdiction will triumph when the witnesses are slain, and
send gifts to one another, as a token of their joy; but this will not last long, no more than
three days, or three years and a half; and while antichrist is saying, I sit a queen, and
shall know no sorrow, her plagues shall come upon her in one day, Rev_11:10.
HE RY 3-6, " A humble complaint to God of the pride and cruelty of the oppressors,
and an expostulation with him concerning it, Psa_94:3-6. Here observe,
1. The character of the enemies they complain against. They are wicked; they are
workers of iniquity; they are bad, very bad, themselves, and therefore they hate and
persecute those whose goodness shames and condemns them. Those are wicked indeed,
and workers of the worst iniquity, lost to all honour and virtue, who are cruel to the
innocent and hate the righteous.
2. Their haughty barbarous carriage which they complain of. (1.) They are insolent,
and take a pleasure in magnifying themselves. They talk high and talk big; they triumph;
they speak loud things; they boast themselves, as if their tongues were their own and
their hands too, and they were accountable to none for what they say or do, and as if the
day were their own, and they doubted not but to carry the cause against God and
religion. Those that speak highly of themselves, that triumph and boast, are apt to speak
hardly of others; but there will come a day of reckoning for all their hard speeches which
ungodly sinners have spoken against God, his truths, and ways, and people, Jud_1:15.
(2.) They are impious, and take a pleasure in running down God's people because they
are his (Psa_94:5): “They break in pieces thy people, O Lord! break their assemblies,
their estates, their families, their persons, in pieces, and do all they can to afflict thy

heritage, to grieve them, to crush them, to run them down, to root them out.” God's
people are his heritage; there are those that, for his sake, hate them, and seek their ruin.
This is a very good plea with God, in our intercessions for the church: “Lord, it is thine;
thou hast a property in it. It is thy heritage; thou hast a pleasure in it, and out of it the
rent of thy glory in this world issues. And wilt thou suffer these wicked men to trample
upon it thus?” (3.) They are inhuman, and take a pleasure in wronging those that are
least able to help themselves (Psa_94:6); they not only oppress and impoverish, but they
slay the widow and the stranger; not only neglect the fatherless, and make a prey of
them, but murder them, because they are weak and exposed, and sometimes lie at their
mercy. Those whom they should protect from injury they are most injurious to, perhaps
because God has taken them into his particular care. Who would think it possible that
any of the children of men should be thus barbarous?
JAMISO , "In an earnest expostulation he expresses his desire that the insolent
triumph of the wicked may be ended.
CALVI , "3O Jehovah! how long shall the wicked? The Psalmist justifies himself in
this verse for the fervent importunity which he showed in prayer. There was need of
immediate help, when the wicked had proceeded to such an extent of audacity. The
necessity of our case may justly embolden us in our requests, which must be all the
more readily heard as they are reasonable; and here the Psalmist insists that his
complaints were not without cause, nor originated in trifling reasons, but were
extorted by injuries of the most flagrant description. otice is taken of the length of
time during which their persecutions had lasted, as an aggravating circumstance.
They had become hardened under the long-continued forbearance of God, and had
in consequence contracted a shamelessness, as well as obstinacy of spirit, imagining
that he looked upon their wickedness with an eye of favor. The term how long twice
repeated, implies the extent of impunity which had been granted, that it was not as
if they had newly started upon their career, but that they had been tolerated for a
length of time, and had become outrageously flagitious. It was thus that in former
times wicked men tyrannized to such a degree over the Church, while yet God did
not interfere to apply a remedy; and we need not be surprised that he should subject
her now to protracted persecutions, nor should we conclude that, because he does
not immediately proceed to cure existing evils, he has utterly forsaken her. The term
triumph denotes that fullness of audacious and boasting exultation which the
wicked feel when they are intoxicated with continued prosperity, and conceive that
they may indulge in every excess without restraint.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked
triumph? Shall wrong for ever rule? Are slavery, robbery, tyranny, never to cease?
Since there is certainly a just God in heaven, armed with almighty power, surely
there must be sooner or later an end to the ascendancy of evil, innocence must one
day find a defender. This "how long?" of the text is the bitter complaint of all the
righteous in all ages, and expresses wonder caused by that great enigma of
providence, the existence and predominance of evil. The sound "how long?" is very
akin to howling, as if it were one of the saddest of all the utterances in which misery

bemoans itself. Many a time has this bitter complaint been heard in the dungeons of
the Inquisition, at the whipping posts of slavery, and in the prisons of oppression. In
due time God will publish his reply, but the full end is not yet.
Ver. 3. How long shall the wicked, how long, etc. Twice he saith it, because the
wicked boast day after day, with such insolence and outrage, as if they were above
control. John Trapp.
Ver. 3. How long shall the wicked triumph? For "triumph, "the Hebrew word is
wzley which signifies to exalt. That is, they give themselves vain applause on account
of their prosperity, and declare their success both with words and with the gestures
of their body, like peacocks spreading their feathers. How long shall they utter? etc.
For "utter" the Hebrew is weyby, they shall flow, they shall cast forth. The
metaphor is taken from fountains springing out of the rock with a rush and
abundance of water. Where the abundance of words is noted, their rashness, their
waste and profusion, their sound and eagerness, their continuance and the difficulty
of obstructing them. Le Blanc.
Ver. 3. How long shall the wicked triumph? What answer shall we give, what date
shall we put to this, "How long?" The answer is given in Psalms 94:23, "He shall
bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness,
"etc. As if he had said, Except the Lord cut them off in their wickedness, they will
never leave off doing wickedly. They are men of such a kind that there is no curing
of them, they will never have done doing mischief until they be cut off by death,
therefore God threatens death to deter men from sin. A godly man saith, "If God
kill me, yet will I trust in him; "and some wicked men say (in effect, if not in the
letter), Till God kills us we will sin against him. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 3-4. Triumph, utter and speak, boast. In the very terms wherein the Psalmist
complains of the continued prevalence of the wicked, there is matter of comfort, for
we have three (rather four, as in the authorised version) words to denote speaking,
and only one, workers, to denote action, showing us that they are far more powerful
with their tongues than with their hands. Hugo Cardinalis, quoted by eale.
EBC, "The first group (Psalms 94:3-6) lifts the cry of suffering Faith, which has
almost become impatience, but turns to, not from, God, and so checks complaints of
His delay, and converts them into prayer. "How long, O Lord?" is the burden of
many a tried heart; and the Seer heard it from the souls beneath the altar. This
psalm passes quickly to dilate on the crimes of the rulers which forced out that
prayer. The portrait has many points of likeness to that drawn in Psalms 73:1-28.
Here, as there, boastful speech and haughty carriage are made prominent, being put
before even cruelty and oppression. "They well out, they speak arrogance": both
verbs have the same object. Insolent self-exaltation pours from the fountain of their
pride in copious jets. "They give themselves airs like princes." The verb in this
clause may mean to say among themselves or to boast, but is now usually regarded
as meaning to behave like a prince-i.e., to carry oneself insolently. Vainglorious
arrogance manifest in boasting speech and masterful demeanour characterises
Eastern rulers, especially those who have risen from low origin. Every little village
tyrant gave himself airs, as if he were a king; and the lower his rank, the greater his
insolence. These oppressors were grinding the nation to powder, and what made

their crime the darker was that it was Jehovah’s people and inheritance which they
thus harassed. Helplessness should be a passport to a ruler’s care, but it had become
a mark for murderous attack. Widow; stranger, and orphan are named as types of
defencelessness.
4 They pour out arrogant words;
all the evildoers are full of boasting.
BAR ES, "How long shall they utter and speak hard things? - The word
rendered utter means to pour forth - as water from a fountain; to pour forth copiously.
The meaning is, that they seemed to be full, and that they poured forth evil words as a
fountain pours forth water. The phrase “hard things” means proud, unfeeling, insolent
things; things which are unjust, unkind, severe, harsh.
And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? - Boast of their power and
their success. How long shall they be permitted to have such success as may seem to
justify them in their exultation?
CLARKE, "They utter and speak - ‫יביאו‬ yabbiu, their hearts get full of pride and
insolence; and then, from the abundance of such vile hearts, the mouth speaks; and the
speech is of hard things, threatening which they are determined to execute, boastings of
their power, authority, etc.
GILL, "How long shall they utter and speak hard things?,.... Against Christ, his
person and offices, his ministers, his people, his truths and ordinances; this is very
applicable to antichrist, who has a mouth speaking blasphemies, and which he opens,
and with it blasphemes God, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in it, Rev_13:5. The
Targum is,
"will they utter and speak reproachful words?''
contumelies or calumnies; and such are uttered by the antichristian party against the
true professors of religion in great abundance, as water out of a fountain, as the first
word (a) used signifies; see Jud_1:15,

and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves; the just character of the
followers of antichrist, who work an abomination, and make a lie, and whose whole
course of life, and even of religion, is a series of sin and iniquity, Rev_21:27, these lift up
themselves against, the Lord, like the high branches of a tree, as Aben Ezra; or praise
themselves, as Jarchi; being proud, they are boasters; boast of their antiquity and
precedence, of their wealth and riches, of their power and authority, of infallibility, and
works of supererogation, and the like.
K&D 4-7, "The second strophe describes those over whom the first prays that the
judgment of God may come. ַ‫יע‬ ִ ִ‫ה‬ (cf. ‫יף‬ ִ ִ‫)ה‬ is a tropical phrase used of that kind of speech
that results from strong inward impulse and flows forth in rich abundance. The poet
himself explains how it is here (cf. Psa_59:8) intended: they speak ‫ק‬ ָ‫ת‬ ָ‫,ע‬ that which is
unrestrained, unbridled, insolent (vid., Psa_31:19). The Hithpa. ‫ר‬ ֵ ፍ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬ Schultens
interprets ut Emiri (Arab. 'mır, a commander) se gerunt; but ‫יר‬ ִ‫מ‬ፎ signifies in Hebrew the
top of a tree (vid., on Isa_17:9); and from the primary signification to tower aloft,
whence too ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬ፎ, to speak, prop. effere = effari, ‫ר‬ ֵ ፍ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫,ה‬ like ‫ר‬ ֵ ַ‫י‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬ in Isa_61:6, directly
signifies to exalt one's self, to carry one's self high, to strut. On ‫אוּ‬ ְⅴ ַ‫ד‬ְ‫ו‬ cf. Pro_22:22; Isa_
3:15; and on their atheistical principle which ‫רוּ‬ ְ‫ּאמ‬ ַ‫ו‬ places in closest connection with
their mode of action, cf. Psa_10:11; Psa_59:8 extrem. The Dagesh in ָ, distinct from the
Dag. in the same word in Psa_94:12, Psa_118:5, Psa_118:18, is the Dag. forte conjunct.
according to the rule of the so-called ‫.דחיק‬
CALVI , "4They pour forth, they speak hard things (15) He shows in still clearer
terms, how their fierceness in persecution was such that they did not scruple to
glory in their guilt. The Hebrew verb ‫,נבע‬ nabang, means more than to speak.
Literally it signifies to rush or boil forth, and comes to denote figuratively the
uttering of reckless or rash words. We see how wicked men are instigated by pride
and vain-glory, to demean and disgrace themselves so far as to boast vain-gloriously
of their power, breathing forth threatenings of bloodshed, violence, and monstrous
cruelty. It is to such ebullitions that the Psalmist refers, when men who are lost to all
sense of shame and modesty boast of the wickedness which they can perpetrate at
will. This is what he means by their speaking hard things, uttering discourse which
is under no restraint of fear, or prudential consideration, but which launches into
the most unbridled license. As the Lord’s people had formerly to endure the heavy
trial of seeing the Church subjected to this wild tyranny and misrule, we should
account it no strange thing to see the Church suffering still under miserable
misgovernment, or positive oppression, but should pray for help from God, who,
though he connives at wickedness for a time, eventually comes to the deliverance of
his children.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. How long shall they utter and speak hard things? The
ungodly are not content with deeds of injustice, but they add hard speeches,

boasting, threatening, and insulting over the saints. Will the Lord for ever endure
this? Will he leave his own children much longer to be the prey of their enemies?
Will not the insolent speeches of his adversaries and theirs at last provoke his justice
to interfere? Words often wound more than swords, they are as hard to the heart as
stones to the flesh; and these are poured forth by the ungodly in redundance, for
such is the force of the word translated utter; and they use them so commonly that
they become their common speech (they utter and speak them) â€”will this always
be endured?
And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? â€”they even soliloquise and talk
to themselves, and of themselves, in arrogance of Spirit, as if they were doing some
good deed when they crush the poor and needy, and spit their spite on gracious men.
It is the nature of workers of iniquity to boast, just as it is a characteristic of good
men to be humbleâ€”will their boasts always be suffered by the great Judge, whose
ear hears all that they say? Long, very long, have they had the platform to
themselves, and loud, very loud, have been their blasphemies of God, and their
railings at his saintsâ€”will not the day soon come when the threatened heritage of
shame and everlasting contempt shall be meted out to them?
Thus the oppressed plead with their Lord, and shall not God avenge his own elect?
Will he not speak out of heaven to the enemy and say, "Why persecutest thou me"?
5 They crush your people, Lord;
they oppress your inheritance.
BAR ES, "They break in pieces thy people - They tread down; they grind; they
crush. The Hebrew word is often used as meaning to crush under foot; to trample on;
and hence, it means to oppress. Lam_3:34; Isa_3:15.
And afflict - To wit, by oppression and wrong. If this refers to foreigners, it means
that they did this by invasion and by the ravages of war.
Thine heritage - Thy people, regarded as an inheritance or possession. See Psa_
28:9, note; Psa_33:12, note; Psa_68:9, note; Psa_74:2, note; Isa_19:25, note; Isa_47:6,
note; 1Pe_5:3, note.
CLARKE, "They break in pieces thy people - This was true af the Babylonians.
Nehuchadnezzar slew many; carried the rest into captivity; ruined Jerusalem;
overturned the temple; sacked, pillaged, and destroyed all the country.

GILL, "They break in pieces thy people, O Lord,.... Not the Israelites, as Kimchi;
but the church of Christ, by their anathemas, cruel edicts, and persecutions; by
confiscating their goods, imprisoning their persons, putting them to cruel deaths; and by
such means think to "wear out" the saints of the most High, the Lord's covenant and
peculiar people; which is mentioned as an aggravation of their sin, and as an argument
with the Lord to arise on their behalf:
and afflict thine heritage; the church, styled God's heritage, 1Pe_5:3, whom the Lord
has chosen for his inheritance; and are dear to him, as his portion, his jewels, and even
as the apple of his eye; and yet these are afflicted all manner of ways by their persecuting
enemies, as Israel was of old in Egypt.
JAMISO 5-6, "thy people [and] thine heritage — are synonymous, the people
being often called God’s heritage. As justice to the weak is a sign of the best government,
their oppression is a sign of the worst (Deu_10:18; Isa_10:2).
CALVI , "5They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah! Having spoken of their
discourse or language as vain-glorious and shameless, he proceeds to speak of their
deeds, in cruelly persecuting the Church. It is hard that even the subjects of heathen
princes should be subjected to unjust persecution, but a more intolerable thing still,
that those who are God’s own people, his peculiar inheritance, should be trampled
under the foot of tyranny. The prayer before us is one which, as I have already
remarked, is given with the intention that we should prefer it ourselves, when we or
others may be persecuted by wicked men, and especially intestine enemies. Our
safety is dear to the Lord, not only as we are men, the workmanship of his hand, but
as we are his peculiar heritage; and this should lead us, when wronged at any time,
to betake ourselves to God with the more confidence. It is farther added — that they
spare not the widow, and the orphan, and murder the stranger God, while he has
commanded us in general to cultivate equity and justice in our common intercourse,
has commended the orphan, widow, and stranger, to our peculiar care, as being
more exposed to injury, and therefore more entitled to humanity and compassion.
To treat such objects with cruelty argues a singular degree of impiety, and contempt
of divine authority, and is not only an outrage of common justice, but the infraction
of a privilege of special protection which God has condescended to cast around
them. (16) They who are chargeable with such conduct, particularly provoke the
divine anger. As to little children especially, their helplessness and tender age will
even protect them from being attacked by dogs and wild beasts. And what shall we
think of the monstrous inhumanity of men, who would make them the objects of
their assault? We have here a specimen of the dreadful state of matters which must
then have prevailed in the Church of God. The law was there, and the ordinances of
divine appointment, yet we see to what an awful extent every species of wickedness
abounded. Let us beware lest we fall into a similar state of corruption, and should it
so happen under our own observation that men persecute the stranger, seize the
widow, and rob the fatherless, let us, in imitation of the Psalmist, who would have us
alleviate their misfortunes, pray God to undertake their defense.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, grinding them
with oppression, crushing them with contempt. Yet the men they break in pieces are
God's own people, and they are persecuted because they are so; this is a strong plea
for the divine interposition.
And afflict thine heritage, causing them sorrowful humiliation and deep depression
of heart. The term, "thine heritage, "marks out the election of the saints, God's
peculiar interest and delight in them, his covenant relation, of long standing, to them
and their fathers; this also is a storehouse of arguments with their faithful God. Will
he not defend his own? Will a man lose his inheritance, or permit it to be
contemptuously despoiled? Those who are ground down, and trampled on, are not
strangers, but the choice and chosen ones of the Lord; how long will he leave them
to be a prey to cruel foes
Ver. 5. They break in pieces thy people. They tread down; they grind; they crush.
The Hebrew word is often used as meaning to crush under foot; to trample on; and
hence it means to oppress. La 3:34, Isaiah 3:15. Albert Barnes.
BE SO , "Psalms 94:5-7. They afflict thy heritage — Those righteous persons
whom thou hast chosen for thy portion or inheritance. They slay the widow, &c. —
Whom common humanity obliged them to spare, pity, and relieve. Yet they say, The
Lord shall not see — Their meeting with impunity and prosperity in their impious
and barbarous practices makes them ready to doubt, or to deny, the providence of
God in the government of his church and of the world. either doth the God of
Jacob regard it — Though there are such evident demonstrations of the divine
interpositions in favour of Jacob, and of his watchful care over them as his people,
yet, for all that, they fancy he does not regard, nor will call them to any account for
their doings.
6 They slay the widow and the foreigner;
they murder the fatherless.
BAR ES, "They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the
fatherless - To do this is everywhere represented as a special crime, and as especially
offensive to God from the fact that these classes are naturally feeble and unprotected.
See the notes at Isa_1:17; Psa_68:5; Psa_82:3.

CLARKE, "They slay the widow - Nebuchadnezzar carried on his wars with great
cruelty. He carried fire and sword every where; spared neither age, sex, nor condition.
The widow, the orphan, and the stranger, persons in the most desolate condition of life,
were not distinguished from others by his ruthless sword.
GILL, "They slay the widow and the stranger,.... Who are so both in a literal and
figurative sense, such who are weak and feeble, helpless and friendless; or who are
deprived of their faithful pastors, who were as husbands and fathers to them, and who
profess themselves pilgrims and strangers here; these the followers of the man of sin
have inhumanly put to death, supposing they did God good service:
and murder the fatherless; having slain the parents in a cruel and barbarous
manner, murder their infants; or figuratively such who are as orphans, destitute of their
spiritual fathers, who were the instruments of begetting them in Christ, and of
nourishing them with the words of faith and good doctrine; with the blood of these the
whore of Rome has often made herself drunk, and therefore blood shall be given her to
drink, Rev_17:5.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the
fatherless. They deal most arrogantly with those who are the most evident objects of
compassion. The law of God especially commends these poor ones to the kindness of
good men, and it is peculiar wickedness which singles them out to be the victims not
only of fraud but of murder. Must not such inhuman conduct as this provoke the
Lord? Shall the tears of widows, the groans of strangers, and the blood of orphans
be poured forth in vain? As surely as there is a God in heaven, he will visit those
who perpetrate such crimes; though he bear long with them, he will yet take
vengeance, and that speedily.
Ver. 6. Widow; fatherless. An old Jewish writer (Philo Judaeus) has pointed out
how aptly the titles of widow and orphan befitted the Hebrew nation, because it had
no helper save God only, and was cut off from all other people by its peculiar rites
and usages, whereas the Gentiles, by their mutual alliances and intercourse, had, as
it were, a multitude of kindred to help them in any strait. J. M. eale.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

BAR ES, "Yet they say - By their conduct; or, they seem to say.
The Lord shall not see - In the original, ‫יה‬ Yâhh. This is an abbreviation of the
word ‫יהוה‬ Yahweh. See Psa_68:4, note; Psa_83:18, note. On the impious sentiment here
expressed, see the notes at Psa_10:11.
Neither shall the God of Jacob regard it - Implying that God was indifferent to
the conduct of people; that he would not punish the wicked; that sinners have nothing to
fear at his hand. This sentiment is very common still, either as an article in their creed,
or as implied in their conduct. The doctrine of universal salvation is really founded on
this opinion; and most people ACT as if it were their belief that the wicked are in no
danger of being punished, and that there is no such attribute in God as justice.
CLARKE, "The Lord shall not see - This was either the language of infidelity or
insult. Indeed, what could the Babylonians know of the true God? They might consider
him as the God of a district or province, who knew nothing and did nothing out of his
own territories.
GILL, "Yet they say, the Lord shall not see,.... The blood they shed, the murders
they commit, the mischief they do, the wickedness they are guilty of, so flattering
themselves with impunity; such atheism reigns at Rome, but God sees all their
abominations, and he will let them know one day that he does behold them; see Psa_
10:10,
neither shall the God of Jacob regard it; the same as before; this title of "the God
of Jacob" may be considered either as put in by the psalmist, as an argument
strengthening the faith of the church of God; that being their covenant God, he would
take notice and care of them, and resent the injuries done them, and avenge them: or
else as mentioned by their enemies, sneering at their confidence in God, whom they
called their covenant God; that notwithstanding he would not regard or take any notice
of what was done unto them, so as to appear in their behalf; all this has been said, if not
openly with the mouth, yet secretly in the heart; the language of their actions has
abundantly declared this gross atheism of antichrist, and his abettors, who are
addressed as follows.
HE RY, " A modest pleading with God concerning the continuance of the
persecution: “Lord, how long shall they do thus?” And again, How long? When shall this
wickedness of the wicked come to an end?
III. A charge of atheism exhibited against the persecutors, and an expostulation with
them upon that charge.
1. Their atheistical thoughts are here discovered (Psa_94:7): Yet they say, The Lord
shall not see. Though the cry of their wickedness is very great and loud, though they
rebel against the light of nature and the dictates of their own consciences, yet they have
the confidence to say, “The Lord shall not see; he will not only wink at small faults, but
shut his eyes at great ones too.” Or they think they have managed it so artfully, under
colour of justice and religion perhaps, that it will not be adjudged murder. “The God of

Jacob, though his people pretend to have such an interest in him, does not regard it
either as against justice or as against his own people; he will never call us to an account
for it.” Thus they deny God's government of the world, banter his covenant with his
people, and set the judgment to come at defiance.
JAMISO , "Their cruelty is only exceeded by their wicked and absurd presumption
(Psa_10:11; Psa_59:7).
CALVI , "7.And they have said, God shall not see When the Psalmist speaks of the
wicked as taunting God with blindness and ignorance, we are not to conceive of
them as just exactly entertaining this imagination of him in their hearts, but they
despise his judgments as much as if he took no cognisance of human affairs. Were
the truth graven upon men’s hearts that they cannot elude the eye of God, this
would serve as a check and restraint upon their conduct. When they proceed to such
audacity in wickedness as to lay the hand of violence upon their fellow-creatures, to
rob, and to destroy, it shows that they have fallen into a state of brutish security in
which they virtually consider themselves as concealed from the view of the
Almighty. This security sufficiently proves at least, that they act as if they never
expected to be called to an account for their conduct. (20) Though they may not then
be guilty of the gross blasphemy of asserting in so many words that God is ignorant
of what goes forward in the world, a mere nothing in the universe — the Psalmist
very properly charges them with denying God’s providential government, and,
indeed, avowedly stripping him of the power and function of judge and governor,
since, if they really were persuaded as they ought of his superintending providence,
they would honor him by feeling a reverential fear — as I have elsewhere observed
at greater length. He intends to express the lowest and most abandoned stage of
depravity, in which the sinner casts off the fear of God, and rushes into every excess.
Such infatuated conduct would have been inexcusable even in heathens, who had
never heard of a divine revelation; but it was monstrous in men who had been
brought up from infancy in the knowledge of the word, to show such mockery and
contempt of God.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 7. Yet they say, the Lord shall not see. This was the reason of
their arrogance, and the climax of their wickedness: they were blindly wicked
because they dreamed of a blind God. When men believe that the eyes of God are
dim, there is no reason to wonder that they give full license to their brutal passions.
The persons mentioned above not only cherished an infidel unbelief, but dared to
avow it, uttering the monstrous doctrine that God is too far away to take notice of
the actions of men.
either shall the God of Jacob regard it. Abominable blasphemy and transparent
falsehood If God has actually become his people's God, and proved his care for
them by a thousand acts of grace, how dare the ungodly assert that he will not notice
the wrongs done to them? There is no limit to the proud man's profanity, reason
itself cannot restrain him; he has broken through the bounds of common sense.
Jacob's God heard him at the brook Jabbok; Jacob's God led him and kept him all
his life long, and said concerning him and his family, "Touch not mine anointed,

and do my prophets no harm; "and yet these brutish ones profess to believe that he
neither sees nor regards the injuries wrought upon the elect people! Surely in such
unbelievers is fulfilled the saying of the wise, that those whom the Lord means to
destroy he leaves to the madness of their corrupt hearts.
Ver. 7. They say, the Lord shall not see. As if they had said, Though God should set
himself to search us out, and would greatly wish to see what we are doing, yet he
shall not. We will carry it so closely and cunningly, that the eye of God shall not
reach us. Their works were so foul and bloody, that the sun might be ashamed to
look upon them, and they were so secret that they believed God could not look upon
them, or bring them to shame for them. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 7. The LORD... the God of Jacob. The divine names are, as usual, significant.
That the self existent and eternal God should not see, is a palpable absurdity; and
scarcely less so, that the God of Israel should suffer his own people to be slaughtered
without even observing it. The last verb means to mark, note, notice. J. A.
Alexander.
ELLICOTT, "7) The Lord.—In original, “Jah.” This carelessness of heaven to
injustice and crime, which, in the mouth of the heathen (or, perhaps, of apostate
Jews), appeared so monstrous to the Hebrews, was a doctrine of the philosophy of
ancient times. It appears in the saying of Seneca: “Stoicus deus nec cor nec caput
habet.” And in the Homeric hymn to Demeter men are represented as only enduring
the gifts of the gods because they are stronger, and give only grudgingly. (Comp.
Lucretius, .) The feeling has been well caught in Tennyson’s Lotus Eaters:
“Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind,
In the hollow Lotus-land to live and lie reclined,
On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind.”
EBC, " othing in this strophe indicates that these oppressors are foreigners. or
does the delusion that Jehovah neither saw nor cared for their doings. which the
next strophe (Psalms 94:7-11) states and confutes imply that they were so. Cheyne,
indeed, adduces the name "God of Jacob," which is put into their mouths, as
evidence that they are pictured as knowing Jehovah only as one among many tribal
or national deities; but the name is too familiar upon the lips of Israelites, and its
use by others is too conjectural, to allow of such a conclusion. Rather, the language
derives its darkest shade from being used by Hebrews, who are thereby declaring
themselves apostates from God as well as oppressors of His people. Their mad,
practical atheism makes the psalmist blaze up in indignant rebuke and impetuous
argumentation. He turns to them, and addresses them in rough, plain words,
strangely contrasted with their arrogant utterances regarding themselves. They are
"brutish" {cf. Psalms 73:22} and "fools." The psalmist, in his height of moral
indignation, towers above these petty tyrants, and tells them home truths very
profitable for such people, however dangerous to their utterer. There is no

obligation to speak smooth words to rulers whose rule is injustice and their religion
impiety. Ahab had his Elijah, and Herod his John Baptist. The succession has been
continued through the ages.
PULPIT, "Yet they say, The Lord shall not see (comp. Psalms 10:11, Psalms 10:13).
Foreign enemies did not suppose that Jehovah would not see, but trusted that their
own gods were stronger than he, and would protect them (2 Kings 18:33-35).
either shall the God of Jacob regard it. "The God of Jacob" would not be a
natural expression in the mouth of Israel's foreign foes. They knew nothing of
Jacob. But it was an expression frequently used by Israelites (Genesis 49:24; Psalms
20:1; Psalms 46:7; Psalms 75:9; Psalms 76:6; Psalms 81:1, Psalms 81:4; Isaiah 2:3;
Isaiah 41:21; Micah 4:2, etc.).
8 Take notice, you senseless ones among the
people;
you fools, when will you become wise?
BAR ES, "Understand, ye brutish among the people - See Psa_73:22. The
meaning here is, “You who are like the brutes; you who see and understand no more of
the character and plans of God than the wild beasts of the desert.” The meaning is, that
they did not employ their reason in the case; they acted like beasts, regardless of the
consequences of their conduct - as if God would treat people as he does the beasts; as if
there were no retribution in the future world.
And ye fools, when will ye be wise? - How long is this stupidity to continue?
When will you attend to the truth; when will you act as immortal beings; when will you
suffer your rational nature to lead you up to just views of God? It is implied that this
folly had been manifested for a long period, and that it was time they should arouse from
this condition, and act like people. With what propriety may this language be addressed
still to the great mass of mankind! What numbers of the human race are there now, who
in respect to God, and to the purpose for which they were made, evince no more wisdom
than the brutes that perish! Oh, if people were truly wise, what a beautiful world would
this be; how noble and elevated would be our now degraded race!
CLARKE, "Understand, ye brutish - These are the same expressions as in Psa_
92:6 (note), on which see the note.

GILL, "Understand, ye brutish among the people,.... Or the most brutish and
stupid of all people; especially that profess themselves to be the people of God, or
Christians, as the Papists do; and who seem to be the persons here addressed: "brutish";
to murder the servants of the Lord, and drink their blood, till inebriated with it; stupid
to the last degree to think that hereby they did God good service: hence the pope, the
head of them, is represented both in his secular and ecclesiastical power by two beasts;
the one rising out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns, a monster in nature, most
like a leopard, his feet as a bear's, and his mouth as a lion's, having the fierceness and
cruelty of them all; and the other coming out of the earth with two horns like a lamb, but
spake like a dragon, Rev_13:1, the exhortation to these brutish creatures supposes them
to be without understanding, like the beasts by whom they are represented; or, however,
that they did not make use of those intellectual powers which God had given them; had
they, they would have learned more humanity to their fellow creatures, and more
religion towards God; they would have known more of him than to have said and done
what is before declared; wherefore they are called upon to "consider" (so the word (b) is
sometimes rendered, Psa_50:22) the reasonings about it to be laid before them:
and ye fools, when will ye be wise? "fools" they are to worship stocks and stones,
the images of the Virgin Mary, and other saints; to give into the gross atheism they do; to
disbelieve the omniscience of God and his providence, at least to behave as though they
did; and think to do the vilest actions with impunity; wherefore it would be their wisdom
to relinquish such stupid notions, and do no more such foolish and wicked actions.
HE RY, " They are here convicted of folly and absurdity. He that says either that
Jehovah the living God shall not see or that the God of Jacob shall not regard the
injuries done to his people, Nabal is his name and folly is with him; and yet here he is
fairly reasoned with, for his conviction and conversion, to prevent his confusion (Psa_
94:8): “Understand, you brutish among the people, and let reason guide you.” Note, The
atheistical, though they set up for wits, and philosophers, and politicians, yet are really
the brutish among the people; if they would but understand, they would believe. God, by
the prophet, speaks as if he thought the time long till men would be men, and show
themselves so by understanding and considering: “You fools, when will you be wise, so
wise as to know that God sees and regards all you say and do, and to speak and act
accordingly, as those that must give account?” Note, None are so bad but means are to
be used for the reclaiming and reforming of them, none so brutish, so foolish, but it
should be tried whether they may not yet be made wise; while there is life there is hope.
To prove the folly of those that question God's omniscience and justice the psalmist
argues,
JAMISO , "ye brutish — (Compare Psa_73:22; Psa_92:6).
K&D 8-11, "The third strophe now turns from those bloodthirsty, blasphemous
oppressors of the people of God whose conduct calls forth the vengeance of Jahve, to
those among the people themselves, who have been puzzled about the omniscience and
indirectly about the righteousness of God by the fact that this vengeance is delayed. They
are called ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֲ‫ֽע‬ּ‫ב‬ and ‫ים‬ ִ‫יל‬ ִ‫ס‬ ְ‫כ‬ in the sense of Psa_73:21. Those hitherto described against
whom God's vengeance is supplicated are this also; but this appellation would be too
one-sided for them, and ‫ם‬ ָ‫ע‬ ָ refers the address expressly to a class of men among the

people whom those oppress and slay. It is absurd that God, the planter of the ear (‫ע‬ ַ‫ּט‬ ַ‫,ה‬
like ‫ע‬ ַ‫ּס‬‫שׁ‬ in Lev_11:7, with an accented ultima, because the praet. Kal does not follow the
rule for the drawing back of the accent called ‫אחור‬ ‫)נסוג‬ and the former of the eye (cf. Psa_
40:7; Exo_4:11), should not be able to hear and to see; everything that is excellent in the
creature, God must indeed possess in original, absolute perfection.
(Note: The questions are not: ought He to have no ear, etc.; as Jerome pertinently
observes in opposition to the anthropomorphites, membra tulit, efficientias dedit.)
The poet then points to the extra-Israelitish world and calls God ‫ם‬ִ‫ּוי‬ ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּס‬‫י‬, which cannot be
made to refer to a warning by means of the voice of conscience; ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּס‬‫י‬ used thus without
any closer definition does not signify “warning,” but “chastening” (Pro_9:7). Taking his
stand upon facts like those in Job_12:23, the poet assumes the punitive judicial rule of
God among the heathen to be an undeniable fact, and presents for consideration the
question, whether He who chasteneth nations cannot and will not also punish the
oppressors of His church (cf. Gen_18:25), He who teacheth men knowledge, i.e., He who
nevertheless must be the omnipotent One, since all knowledge comes originally from
Him? Jahve - thus does the course of argument close in Psa_94:11 - sees through ( ַ‫ע‬ ֵ‫ּד‬‫י‬ of
penetrative perceiving or knowing that goes to the very root of a matter) the thoughts of
men that they are vanity. Thus it is to be interpreted, and not: for they (men) are vanity;
for this ought to have been ‫ה‬ ָ ֵ‫ה‬ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ִⅴ, whereas in the dependent clause, when the
predicate is not intended to be rendered especially prominent, as in Ps 9:21, the
pronominal subject may precede, Isa_61:9; Jer_46:5 (Hitzig). The rendering of the lxx
(1Co_3:20), ᆋτι εᅶσᆳ µάταιοι (Jerome, quoniam vanae sunt), is therefore correct; ‫ה‬ ָ ֵ‫,ה‬
with the customary want of exactness, stands for ‫ה‬ָ ֵ‫.ה‬ It is true men themselves are ‫;הבל‬ it
is not, however, on this account that He who sees through all things sees through their
thoughts, but He sees through them in their sinful vanity.
CALVI , "8Understand, ye stupid among the people As it was execrable impiety to
deny God to be Judge of the earth, the Psalmist severely reprimands their folly in
thinking to elude his government, and even succeed by artifices in escaping his view.
The expression, stupid among the people, is stronger than had he simply condemned
them as foolish. It rendered their folly more inexcusable, that they belonged to the
posterity of Abraham, of whom Moses said,
“What people is there so great, who have their gods so near unto them, as the Lord
thy God hath this day come down unto thee? For this is your understanding and
wisdom before all nations, to have God for your legislator.” (Deuteronomy 4:7)
(21) Perhaps, however, he may be considered as addressing the rulers and those who
were of higher rank in the community, and styling them degraded among the
people, that is, no better than the common herd of the vulgar. Proud men, who are
apt to be blinded by a sense of their importance, require to be brought down, and
made to see that in God’s estimation they are no better than others. He puts them on
a level with the common people, to humble their self-complacency; or we may

suppose that he hints with an ironical and sarcastic allusion to their boasted
greatness, that they were distinguished above others chiefly for pre-eminent folly —
adding, at the same time, as an additional aggravation, that they were obstinate in
their adherence to it; for as much is implied in the question, When will ye be wise?
We might consider it an unnecessary assertion of Divine Providence to put the
question to the wicked, Shall not he who made the ear hear? because there are none
so abandoned as openly to deny God’s cognisance of events; but, as I have observed
above, the flagrant audacity and self-security which most men display in
contradicting his will, is a sufficient proof that they have supplanted God from their
imaginations, and substituted a mere dead idol in his place, since, did they really
believe him to be cognisant of their actions, they would at least show as much regard
to him as to their fellow-creatures, in whose presence they feel some measure of
restraint, and are prevented from sinning by fear and respect. To arouse them from
this stupidity, the Psalmist draws an argument from the very order of nature,
inferring that if men both see and hear, by virtue of faculties which they have
received from God the Creator, it is impossible that God himself, who formed the
eye and the ear, should not possess the most perfect observation.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 8. Understand, ye brutish among the people. They said that
God did not note, and now, using the same word in the original, the psalmist calls on
the wicked to note, and have regard to the truth. He designates them as boors,
boarish, swinish men, and well was the term deserved; and he bids them understand
or consider, if they can. They thought themselves to be wise, and indeed the only
men of wit in the world, but he calls them "boars among the people": wicked men
are fools, and the more they know, the more foolish they become. " o fool like a
learned fool" is a true proverb. When a man has done with God, he has done with
his manhood, and has fallen to the level of the ox and the ass, yea, beneath them, for
"the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib." Instead of being humbled
in the presence of scientific infidels, we ought to pity them; they affect to look clown
upon us, but we have far more cause to look down upon them.
And ye fools, when will ye be wise? Is it not high time? Ye know the ways of folly,
what profit have ye in them? Have ye no relics of reason left? no shreds of sense? If
as yet there lingers in your minds a gleam of intelligence, hearken to argument, and
consider the questions now about to be proposed to you.
Ver. 8-11. In these words the following particulars are to be observed. (1.) A certain
spiritual disease charged on some persons, viz. darkness, and blindness of mind,
appearing in their ignorance and folly. (2.) The great degree of this disease; so as to
render the subjects of it fools. Ye fools, when will ye be wise? And so as to reduce
them to a degree of brutishness. Ye brutish among the people. This ignorance and
folly were to such a degree as to render men like beasts. (3.) The obstinacy of this
disease; expressed in that interrogation, When will ye be wise? Their blindness and
folly were not only very great, but deeply rooted and established, resisting all
manner of cure. (4.) Of what nature this blindness is. It is especially in things
pertaining to God. They were strangely ignorant of his perfections, like beasts: and
had foolish notions of him, as though he did not see, nor know: and as though he
would not execute justice, by chastising and punishing wicked men. (5.) The

unreasonableness and sottishness of the notion they had of God, that he did not
hear, did not observe their reproaches of him and his people, is shown by observing
that he planted the ear. It is very unreasonable to suppose that he who gave power
of perceiving words to others, should not perceive them himself. And the sottishness
of their being insensible of God's all seeing eye, and particularly of his seeing their
wicked actions, appears, in that God is the being who formed the eye, and gave
others a power of seeing. The sottishness of their apprehension of God, as though he
did not know what they did, is argued from his being the fountain and original of all
knowledge. The unreasonableness of their expecting to escape God's just
chastisement and judgments for sin, is set forth by his chastising even the heathen,
who did not sin against that light, or against so great mercies, as the wicked in Israel
did; nor had ever made such a profession as they. (6.) We may observe, that this
dreadful disease is ascribed to mankind in general. The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of MA , that they are vanity. The psalmist had been setting forth the vanity and
unreasonableness of the thoughts of some of the children of men; and immediately
upon it he observes, that this vanity and foolishness of thought is common and
natural to mankind. From these particulars we may fairly deduce the following
doctrinal observation: That there is an extreme and brutish blindness in things of
religion, which naturally possesses the hearts of mankind. Jonathan Edwards.
Ver. 8-15. God hath ability, bowels, verity. Ability, He that made the eye, cannot he
see? He that planted the ear, cannot he hear?, Psalms 94:8-11.
Bowels, He doth but chasten his, not cast them off, Psalms 94:12-14. Verity, this is
but until a pit be made for the wicked, Psalms 94:13. Mordecai is frowned upon, but
till a gallows be made for Haman, and then judgment returns unto righteousness.
icholas Lockyer.
COFFMA , "THE PRACTICAL ATHEISTS REFUTED
"Consider, ye brutish among the people;
And ye fools, when will ye be wise?
He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?
He that formed the eye, shall he not see?
He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct,
Even he that teacheth men knowledge?
Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of men,
That they are vanity."
"Consider, ye brutish ... and ye fools" (Psalms 94:8). The persons addressed here
are unmistakably the persons of Psalms 94:7 who thought that God could neither
hear nor see their crimes.

"Among the people" (Psalms 94:8). This identifies the practical atheists of this
passage as Israelites. The wrong-doers were not among the nations (Gentiles), but
among the people, that is, God's people.
The refutation here is thoroughly conclusive. The argument is that God who made
both eyes and ears is most certainly not devoid of the ability both to see and to hear
what evil men say and do.
"Shall not he correct, even he that teacheth men knowledge?" (Psalms 94:10). This
is a third argument, shall not the all-wise God who teaches men knowledge, shall he
not correct stubborn, godless Israelites who disobey him?
"That they are vanity" (Psalms 94:11). These evil men do not appear to God as they
appear to themselves. "They are vain and foolish. That is their character, and to
know them truly is to know this of them."[7]
ELLICOTT, "Verses 8-10
(8-10) The reality of a Divine Providence is proved both from nature and history—
from the physical constitution of man and the moral government of the world. The
psalmist’s question is as powerful against modern atheism, under whatever
philosophy it shelters itself, as against that of his day. Whatever the source of
physical life or moral sense, their existence proves the prior existence of an original
mind and will.
BE SO , "Verse 8-9
Psalms 94:8-9. Understand, ye brutish — Hebrew, ‫,בערים‬ bognarim; ye who are
governed by your lusts and appetites, as the word signifies; who have only the
shape, but not the understanding, reason, or judgment of men in you, or are not
directed and governed thereby; who, though you think yourselves the wisest of men,
yet, in truth, are the most brutish of all people; he that planted the ear — The word
planted (Hebrew, ‫,נשׂע‬ notang) is very emphatical, signifying the excellent structure
of the ear, or of the several organs belonging to the sense of hearing, and the wise
position of all those parts in their proper places; 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 hath
not either formally or more eminently in itself, and that no effect can exceed the
virtue of its cause. He that formed the eye, &c. — By the word formed, (Hebrew, ‫יצר‬
, jotzer, concerning which see note on Genesis 2:7,) he seems to intimate the accurate
and most curious workmanship of the eye, which is observed by all who write on the
subject.
EBC, "Delitzsch and others, who take the oppressors to be foreigners, are obliged to
suppose that the psalmist turns in Psalms 94:8 to those Israelites who had been led
to doubt God by the prosperity of the wicked; but there is nothing, except the
exigencies of that mistaken supposition, to show that any others than the deniers of

God’s providence who have just been quoted are addressed as "among the people."
Their denial was the more inexcusable, because they belonged to the people whose
history was one long proof that Jehovah did see I and recompense evil. Two
considerations are urged by the psalmist, who becomes for the moment a
philosophical theologian, in confutation of the error in question. First, he argues
that nothing can be in the effect which is not in the cause, that the Maker of men’s
eyes cannot be blind, nor the Planter of their ears deaf. The thought has wide
applications. It hits the centre, in regard to many modern denials as well as in
regard to these blunt, ancient ones. Can a universe plainly full of purpose have come
from a purposeless source? Can finite persons have emerged from an impersonal
Infinity? Have we not a right to argue upwards from man’s make to God his maker,
and to find in Him the archetype of all human capacity. We may mark that, as has
been long ago observed, the psalm avoids gross anthropomorphism, and infers not
that the Creator of the ear has ears, but that He hears. As Jerome (quoted by
Delitzsch) says, "Membra sustulit, efficientias dedit."
9 Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
BAR ES, "He that planted the ear - He that made the ear. The word here used in
the original is a participle. “Shall not he planting the ear;” that is, the “planter” of the
ear. The idea seems to have been taken from the act of making a “hole” in the ground
when we set out a plant - as if, in like manner, a “hole” had been made in the side of the
head to insert the ear.
Shall he not hear? - He could not have created the faculty of hearing, without
possessing it himself. Or, it is reasonable to suppose that he who has made man capable
of hearing, must be able to hear himself. We have nothing in our nature which is not
possessed in an infinitely higher measure by God.
He that formed the eye - This, too, is a participle: “He forming the eye;” that is, the
Former of the eye. The word used here is frequently employed in reference to a “potter;”
and the idea is that God has moulded or formed the eye as the potter fashions the clay.
The more the eye is studied in its structure, the more deeply shall we be impressed with
the wonderful skill and wisdom of God. See this beautifully illustrated in Paley’s Natural
Theology.
Shall he not see? - He that made the eye to see must himself be able to see. He must

see all that the eye itself can see; he must see all that all eyes see; he must have the power
of sight far beyond what there is in the mere organ which he has made.
CLARKE, "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? - This is allowed to be
an unanswerable mode of argumentation. Whatever is found of excellence in the
creature, must be derived from the Creator, and exist in him in the plenitude of infinite
excellence. God, says St. Jerome, is all eye, because he sees all; he is all hand, because he
does all things; he is all foot, for he is every where present. The psalmist does not say, He
that planted the ear, hath he not an ear? He that formed the eye, hath he not eyes? No;
but, Shall he not hear? Shall he not see! And why does he say so? To prevent the error of
humanizing God, of attributing members or corporeal parts to the infinite Spirit. See
Calmet.
GILL, "He that planted the ear,.... In the human body, with so much art and skill, in
so convenient a place, so capacious of receiving sounds, and fitted it with organs suited
for such a purpose:
shall he not hear? the atheism spoke in the heart, in the actions and by the mouths of
such blasphemers of him; the hard speeches spoken against his Son, his person and
offices; and against his Spirit, his being, and operations; and against his people, the
saints of the most High; in short, all those blasphemies and evil speakings of God, of his
tabernacle, and those that dwell therein: it would be monstrous stupidity to imagine,
that that God, that communicates a faculty of hearing to his creatures, should not hear
himself; for none can give that which they have not:
he that formed the eye: in so curious a manner, with such exquisite parts; with such
fine humours, nerves, and tunics; so adapted to receive all objects, and take the impress
of them in so wonderful a manner:
shall he not see? all persons and things, all the ways and actions of men; certainly he
must: clouds, rocks, and hills, are no obstruction to him; the darkness and the light are
both alike to him; his eyes are everywhere, and all things are naked and open before him:
it is the height of madness and folly to think that that God cannot see what men are
doing here below, who has given to men eyes to see the heavens above, and all their host;
and in this so small a compass to take in the sight of the largest mountains, as well as the
most minute things: since the seeing eye, and the hearing ear, are both from the Lord, it
may be most strongly concluded that he hears all that is said, and sees all that is done,
against him and his people; see Pro_20:12. A Heathen (c) could say,
"truly there is a God, who hears and sees all that we do.''
HE RY, "From the works of creation (Psa_94:9), the formation of human bodies,
which as it proves that there is a God, proves also that God has infinitely and
transcendently in himself all those perfections that are in any creature. He that planted
the ear (and it is planted in the head, as a tree in the ground) shall he not hear? No
doubt he shall, more and better than we can. He that formed the eye (and how curiously
it is formed above any part of the body anatomists know and let us know by their
dissections) shall he not see? Could he give, would he give, that perfection to a creature
which he has not in himself? Note, [1.] The powers of nature are all derived from the

God of nature. See Exo_4:11. [2.] By the knowledge of ourselves we may be led a great
way towards the knowledge of God - if by the knowledge of our own bodies, and the
organs of sense, so as to conclude that if we can see and hear much more can God, then
certainly by the knowledge of our own souls and their noble faculties. The gods of the
heathen had eyes and saw not, ears and heard not; our God has no eyes nor ears, as we
have, and yet we must conclude he both sees and hears, because we have our sight and
hearing from him, and are accountable to him for our use of them.
JAMISO , "The evidence of God’s providential government is found in His creative
power and omniscience, which also assure us that He can punish the wicked in regard to
all their vain purposes.
SBC, "We know what the eye and ear of man are, what it is to have the eye or ear of a
friend near to us, or the eye and the ear of a master watching over us. What a difference
does it make at once in all our thoughts and feelings! Especially suppose it is a friend or
a master whom we love and reverence very much, what a vast difference does his
presence make! It is only for want of due attention and consideration that we do not thus
think of Almighty God at all times. For, as the Psalmist asks, "He that made the ear, shall
He not hear? He that made the eye, shall He not see?"
Notice some points in which a reflection on the great truth which is contained in these
words may be of use to us.
I. With regard to the many confusions that abound in the world, the manifold disorders
of the times, which affect so seriously both the Church and nation, and perhaps every
closer circle of life in which each of us is placed. What a reason for deep quietness of
soul, for awful stillness and listening regard, is the consciousness of Him who is in the
midst of us, though we see Him not!
II. The awful doctrine of God’s omnipresent ear and eye may greatly assist us in the work
of self-amendment. It is the thought of this which makes the saints of God always
remarkable for profound humility. Whatever else there may be in common in good men,
there never was a man accepted of God but that acceptance was in proportion to his
humility.
III. As our ideas of God’s knowledge and watchfulness are taken from the eyes and ears
of men, so may we apply also to the same matter human affections also, which are often
signified by these. Thus it is said that "the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and
His ears are open unto their prayers." What is there in the world so encouraging, so
consoling, so supporting, as the eye and ear of a friend? It was in thus looking upon God
as their sure and present Friend that the faith of the patriarchs and of that noble army of
martyrs, and prophets, and saints mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the
Hebrews consisted, in that, as is there said of Moses, they endured "as seeing Him who
is invisible."
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times" vol. ii., p. 224.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He fashioned that
marvellous organ, and fixed it in the most convenient place near to the brain, and is
he deaf himself? Is he capable of such design and invention, and yet can he not
discern what is done in the world which he made? He made you hear, can he not

himself hear? Unanswerable question! It overwhelms the sceptic, and covers him
with confusion.
He that formed the eye, shall he not see? He gives us vision; is it conceivable that he
has no sight himself? With skilful hand he fashioned the optic nerve, and the
eyeball, and all its curious mechanism, and it surpasses all conception that he can
himself be unable to observe the doings of his creatures. If there be a God, he must
be a personal intelligent being, and no limit can be set to his knowledge.
Ver. 9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? etc. The psalmist does not say, He
that planteth the ear, hath he not an ear? He that formed the eye, hath he not eyes?
o; but, Shall he not hear? Shall he not see? And why does he say so? To prevent
the error of humanizing God, of attributing members or corporeal parts to the
infinite Spirit. Adam Clarke.
Ver. 9. Planted the ear. The mechanism of the ear, like a root planted in the earth, is
sunk deep into the head, and concealed from view. Bagster's Comprehensive Bible.
Ver. 9. The planting or deep seated position of the ear, as well as its wonderful
construction, are illustrated by the following extract: â€”"The organ or instrument
of hearing is in all its most important parts so hidden within the head, that we
cannot perceive its construction by a mere external inspection. What in ordinary
language we call the ear, is only the outer porch or entrance vestibule of a curious
series of intricate, winding passages, which, like the lobbies of a great building, lead
from the outer air into the inner chambers. Certain of these passages are full of air;
others are full of liquid; and their membranes are stretched like parchment curtains
across the corridors at different places, and can be thrown into vibration, or made
to tremble, as the head of a drum or the surface of a tambourine does when struck
with a stick or the fingers. Between two of these parchment like curtains, a chain of
very small bones extends, which serves to tighten or relax these membranes, and to
communicate vibrations to them. In the innermost place of all, rows of fine threads,
called nerves, stretch like the strings of a piano from the last points to which the
tremblings or thrillings reach, and pass inwards to the brain. If these threads or
nerves are destroyed, the power of hearing as infallibly departs as the power to give
out sound is lost by a piano or violin when its strings are broken."
We know far less, however, of the ear than of the eye. The eye is a single chamber
open to the light, and we can see into it, and observe what happens there. But the
ear is many chambered, and its winding tunnels traversing the rock like bones of the
skull are narrow, and hidden from us as the dungeons of a castle are, like which,
also, they are totally dark. Thus much, however, we know, that it is in the innermost
recesses of these unilluminated ivory vaults, that the mind is made conscious of
sound. Into these gloomy cells, as into the bright chamber of the eye, the soul is ever
passing and asking for news from the world without; and ever and anon, as of old in
hidden subterranean caverns where men listened in silence and darkness to the
utterance of oracles, reverberations echo along the surrounding walls, and responses
come to the waking spirit, while the world lifts up its voice and speaks to the soul.
The sound is that of a hushed voice, a low but clear whisper; for as it is but a dim
shadow of the outer world we see; so it is but a faint echo of the outer world we
hear. George Wilson, in "The Five Gateways of Knowledge, "1861.
Ver. 9. He that planted the ear, &c. Shall the Author of these senses be senseless?

Psalm 94 commentary

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