Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 94:23
And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; [yea], the LORD our God shall cut them off.
And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity – The consequences of their sin. He shall punish them as they deserve. See the notes at Psa 7:16.
And shall cut them off in their own wickedness – As the result of their wickedness, and while they are engaged in perpetrating acts of sin.
Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off – Expressing, by the repetition of the sentiment, the utmost confidence that this would be so. This is in accordance with the prayer with which the psalm opens, and is expressive of entire faith that God will deal justly with the children of men. However the wicked may seem to prosper and to triumph, yet the day of vengeance is approaching, and all which they have deserved will come upon them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. Shall cut them off] This is repeated, to show that the destruction of the Babylonians was fixed and indubitable: and in reference to the Jews, the persecutors and murderers of our Lord and his apostles, it was not less so. Babylon is totally destroyed; not even a vestige of it remains. The Jews are no longer a nation; they are scattered throughout the world, and have no certain place of abode. They do not possess even one village on the face of the earth.
The last verse is thus translated and paraphrased in the old Psalter: –
Trans. And he sal yelde to thaim thair wickednes, and in thair malice he sall skater thaim: skater thaim sal Lorde oure God.
Par. Alswa say efter thair il entent, that thai wil do gude men harme; he sall yelde thaim pyne, and in thair malice thai sal be sundred fra the hali courte of hevene, and skatred emang the wiked fendes of hell.
For different views of several parts of this Psalm, see the Analysis.
ANALYSIS OF THE NINETY-FOURTH PSALM
In this Psalm the parts are, –
I. A petition for vengeance upon the wicked, Ps 94:1-2.
II. A pitiful complaint, with the causes of it, which were two: –
1. The delay of God’s judgments on them, Ps 94:3-4.
2. Their insolence, oppression of the poor, and blasphemy against God, Ps 94:4-7.
III. A sharp reprehension of their blasphemy and atheism, and the refutation of it.
IV. A consolation to all good men, that God will punish the wicked and defend the righteous, Ps 94:12-23. Which is confirmed, –
1. From God’s faithfulness, who hath promised, and will perform it, Ps 94:14.
2. From David’s own experience, Ps 94:16-20.
3. From God’s hatred of injustice, tyranny, and oppression, Ps 94:20-21. 1. Which will cause him to be a rock and defence to his people, Ps 94:22. 2. A severe revenger to the oppressors, Ps 94:23.
1. He begins with a petition that God would take vengeance of the oppressors of his people: “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs, to whom vengeance belongs;” as if he had said, Thou art the most powerful Lord, a God of justice and power, and hast vengeance in thine own hand. Therefore now –
1. “Show thyself.” Appear, shine forth evidently, and apparently show thy justice, Ps 94:1.
2. “Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth.” Do thy office of judicature; ascend thy throne and tribunal, as judges use to do when they give judgment.
3. “Render a reward unto the proud.” For the proud humble themselves not unto thee; they repent not.
II. And now the prophet begins to complain that, by the delay of God’s judgment, wicked men were hardened in their impiety, and gloried in their villany.
1. “How long? how long?” This thy forbearance seems tedious; especially since the wicked grow worse and worse by it, and insult over us the more.
2. “For they triumph in their strength.” They glory in their prosperity, and in their wickedness.
3. “They utter and speak hard things.” Boldly, rashly, proudly, they threaten ruin to thy Church.
4. “They are workers of iniquity, and they boast themselves.” It is not sufficient for them to do ill, but they boast of it.
Now to what end do they make use of all these? The consequence is lamentable – the event sad. The effects are lamentable, for in their fury and injustice –
1. “They break in pieces thy people, O Lord.” The people dedicated to thee.
2. “They afflict thine heritage.” The people that thou hast chosen for thy possession.
3. “They slay the widow,” destitute of the comfort of a husband – 1. “And the stranger.” A man far from his friends and country. 2. “And murder the fatherless.” All which thou hast taken into thy protection, and commanded that they be not wronged. Ex 22:21-22; De 24:14; De 24:17-22. Yet such is their fury, that they spare neither sex, nor age, nor any condition of men.
“Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.” This is their impiety; this is their blasphemy; this is the true cause of all their injustice, tyranny, cruelty, and oppression.
III. Now our prophet sets himself seriously to reprehend and confute this. By an apostrophe he turns to them, and calls them fools; and proves by a manifest argument that they are fools; demonstrating, from the cause to the effect, that God is neither deaf nor blind, as they presumed and conceived: and urgeth them emphatically, –
1. “Understand, ye brutish among the people. O ye fools, when will ye be wise?” What! will ye be brutish always? will ye never have common sense in your heads?
2. “He planted the ear,” caused you to hear; “and shall he not then hear?”
3. He formed the eye with all the tunicles, and put into it the faculty of vision by which you see; “and shall he not see?” To say the contrary, is as if you should affirm that the fountain that sends forth the stream had no water in it; or the sun that enlightens the world had no light; or the fire that warms, no heat. Are these affirmations fit for wise men? Neither is it, that the God of Jacob doth not hear nor see.
4. “He chastiseth the heathen,” as Sodom, Gomorrah, c., or he chastises them by the checks of their own conscience “and shall not he then correct you,” who go under the name of his people, and yet so impiously blaspheme?
5. “He that teacheth man knowledge” – hath endued him with a reasonable soul, and made him capable of all arts and sciences; is he stupid? is he without understanding? “Shall not he know?” He looks into your hearts, and knows your thoughts and counsels, and findeth them all vain: “The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vanity.” With which he concludes his reprehension.
IV. And so from them he comes to the good man, and shows his happiness, whom he labours to comfort in his extremities, pronouncing him blessed: “Blessed is the man.” And his blessedness lies in three things: –
1. In his sufferings; because when he is punished, he is but chastised, and his chastisements are from the Lord: “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest.”
2. In his teaching, for when he is chastised, he is but taught obedience to the law of God, taught out of thy law.
3. In consideration of the end; that he feel not, but bear more moderately, the injuries of the wicked; for the end why God chastiseth and teacheth thee out of his law is: That he may give thee rest – a quiet and even soul, from the days of adversity; and that thou shouldst expect with patience, till the pit be digged up for the ungodly. Such a day there is, and the day will come. Hell is as ready to receive the sinner, as a grave digged up for a dead body. Expect therefore, their punishment and thy deliverance with a quiet mind. For which he gives three reasons: –
The first reason is, that though God for a time seem to be angry, and suffer his people to be afflicted, yet he will not utterly neglect and forsake them: –
1. “For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.”
2. A day of judgment and execution of justice shall come, “when judgment shall return unto righteousness.”
A second confirmation of the comfort he gave to the Church in affliction is drawn from his own experience, Ps 94:16-20.
1. Object. Yea, but this time of judgment may be long; in the meanwhile it is necessary to have some helper and help against the persecutions and injuries of cruel men. Who will arise for me, and labour to protect me in so great a concourse of devils or mischievous men? “Who will stand up for me, and defend me against the workers of iniquity?”
Resp. Even he that then stood up for me. No man, but God alone. He did it; and “unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence;” I had been laid in the grave among the dead, saith David, Ps 94:17.
2. If I said, and complained to him, that I was in any danger, my foot slips – I was tempted and ready to fall, thy mercy, O Lord. held me up; in mercy he lent me his hand, and sustained me.
3. “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul:” –
(1) The thoughts within me were sorrows of heart, and many they were, occasioned from within, from without; a multitude of them.
(2) “Thy comforts delight my soul.” As were the troubles in the flesh, so were comforts in my soul.
His third reason, to comfort the Church in affliction, is drawn from the nature of God, to whom all iniquity is hateful.
1. “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee?” Thou art a just God, and wilt thou have any thing to do, any society, with those that sit upon thrones and seats of justice, and execute injustice?
2. “Which frame mischief by a law,” i.e. frame wicked laws; or, under the colour of law and justice, oppress the innocent. With those who do injustice by the sword of justice, God will have no fellowship.
3. And yet there is a third pretense of wicked men to colour their proceedings against innocent men. The first was their throne, the second was the law, and the third is their council, and consultations in them. These they call to that end. They meet by troops as thieves; they assemble, they convene in synods; “they gather themselves together,” and that to a most wicked end: –
1. “Against the soul of the righteous.” , To hunt. – Septuagint.
2. “To condemn the innocent blood.” Their laws are Draco’s laws. Now what shall the poor innocent do in such a case? How shall he be comforted? Help he must not expect from man; from man it cannot come; it must come from heaven; and therefore let him say with David, Though my enemies rage as they list, and exercise all cruelties towards me, under a pretence of zeal, piety, and legal justice; yet
1. “The Lord is my defence,” so that their treachery and plots shall not hurt me.
2. “My God is the rock of my refuge,” on whom my hope shall safely rely.
3. “I am fully assured, for I have his word and his promise engaged for it.”
1. “That he shall bring upon them their own iniquity;” that is, that the iniquity of the wicked man shall return upon his own head.
2. “And shall cut them off in their own wickedness;” not so much for their sin as for the malice of it.
3. Which for assurance of it he repeats, and explains who it is that shall do it: “Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off;” the Lord, whose providence they derided; “our God,” the God of Jacob, whom they contemned, Ps 94:7, he “shall cut them off;” they shall have no part with his people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Their own iniquity, i.e. the fruit and punishment of their sins.
In their own wickedness; either in the midst of their sins; or by their own wicked devices, the mischief whereof he will cause to fall upon their own heads.
The Lord our God; the God of Jacob, of whom they said that lie did not see nor regard them, but now they find the contrary proved to their cost.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. bring . . . iniquity(ComparePsa 5:10; Psa 7:16).
in their . . .wickednesswhile they are engaged in evil doing.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity,…. The just punishment of it; or cause the mischief they designed to others to fall upon themselves; or make retaliation to them; that whereas they had drank the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, blood should be given them to drink; or their own blood should be shed, Re 16:6, the Jews i say, that the Levites stood on their desks, and recited this passage, both at the precise time of the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar, and of the second by the Romans:
and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; in the midst of it, while slaying the witnesses, and triumphing over them, Re 18:7, yea,
the Lord our God shall cut them off; the God of Jacob, who, they said, did not see nor regard what they did, Ps 94:7, and so this latter part of the psalm fulfils the former, and proves that God is a God of vengeance, to whom it belongs; and he will exercise it in due time.
i Seder Olam Rabba, c. 30. p. 92.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23. He shall bring upon them their own iniquity The iniquity of their own devising. “He shall return that mischief on them which they designed to bring on others, and by making their sins their scourges and certain ruin, manifest his fatherly care over his obedient and faithful servants.” Hammond.
Psa 94:23. Bring upon them Or, Render them.
REFLECTIONS.1st, There is an Almighty Judge to whom the oppressed may appeal, and who will vindicate their cause.
The Psalmist lodges his appeal with God against his adversaries. O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, who hath the power to avenge the oppressed, and whose holiness engages him to exert it, shew thyself, or shine forth, appear in behalf of thy suffering people, and confound with the light of truth the works of darkness. Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth, that those who say the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and with confidence of impunity grow daring in wickedness, may be dismayed, and that God’s people may be comforted by his appearing. Note; Under every present oppression it becomes God’s people patiently to endure, and wait the day when he who judgeth righteously shall arise to avenge them speedily.
2nd, Verily there is a reward for the righteous; they shall be comforted in, and be delivered from, all their troubles. 2. He will help and defend his faithful people, and make them at last more than conquerors. Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? The Psalmist speaks in the person of God’s suffering church and people, describing the character of their enemies, evil-doers and workers of iniquity, who made no difficulty of committing all manner of abominations, and therefore the more to be feared; while the question put intimates the weakness of God’s people to struggle with their mightier foes, unless God himself interpose; for indeed, when we consider our enemies spiritual and temporal, we shall find ourselves a very unequal match for them, and may well say, Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost, or must quickly have, dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth, I am sinking, help, Lord, I perish; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up; mercy which never fails toward those who sincerely seek it, and then appears most precious when extended to us in the time of need: let no afflicted child of God therefore despond, but look to him who glorifies his grace in delivering the souls appointed unto death. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, perplexed and distressed, as God’s dearest people sometimes may be, thy comforts delight my soul; comforts arising from a sense of the transcendantly rich and free grace of God, derived from Jesus, and by his Spirit shed abroad in the heart; comforts, not like those poor pleasures that the world can minister to sooth the melancholy; which often are ineffectual to dispel the gloom; and when successful, are but like the momentary relief procured by an opiate, while the disease remains rooted as ever; but these comforts delight the soul, are solid, substantial, abiding, enjoyed independent of all that the world can give or take away, and the foretastes of eternal consolation. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee? No, that God abhors; and most abhors those, who, in his name, pretend authority for committing iniquity. But the Lord is my defence from every assault, and my God is the rock of my refuge, where the soul of the faithful is safe, founded on Christ who will protect his people, and punish their cruel enemies. He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, the just punishment of it; and, for the blood which they have shed, give them blood to drink, Rev 16:6 and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off; and then woe unto their souls, they must perish without hope; their wickedness will follow them to their graves, witness against them in judgment, and thrust them down into the belly of hell. Such is the end of the ungodly.
REFLECTIONS
How blessed it is, that the Lord hath reserved in his own hands the judgment and punishment of his enemies! And however we may be led to think that we are doing the cause of Christ good, when at any time we feel constrained to take vengeance of his enemies, yet here we learn to leave the whole with the Lord. Vengeance is mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord.
But amidst all the exercises with which the faithful are tried, from the oppression and malice of the world, what a blessed relief is it to have a covenant God to fly unto, and to lodge all complaints in his almighty hands. Precious Jesus! thy comforts are a rich cordial to the soul, amidst the host of sorrows with which thy people groan in the present state. Thy blood and righteousness, thy grace, and the sweet influences of thine Holy Spirit; the fulness, fitness, suitableness, and all-sufficiency that is in thee, become a most powerful balance to bear up the mind under all the pressure of the sins and sorrows of life. I bespeak, Lord, an interest in thee, and communion with thee, and every suited grace from thee, against a dark and trying hour. Do thou, gracious Lord, by thine Holy Spirit, grant me continual, daily, hourly relief, to bear up against all despondency. And oh! Lord, grant me such faith, and in such lively exercise, that my soul may at all times rejoice in the consolation! Give me to find comfort in thee, and then, sure I am, I shall find assurance in thy great salvation. Return to thy rest, O my soul (will then be the language of my heart) for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
Psa 94:23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; [yea], the LORD our God shall cut them off.
Ver. 23. And he shall bring upon them, &c. ] See Psa 7:15-16 .
And he: Psa 7:16, Psa 9:16, Psa 9:17, Psa 55:23, Psa 64:8, Est 7:10, Pro 1:31, Pro 2:22, Pro 5:22, Dan 7:24
cut them: Psa 12:3, 1Sa 26:10, 1Sa 26:11, Pro 14:32, Eze 18:24, Dan 9:26
Reciprocal: Jdg 9:56 – God rendered Psa 9:15 – General Psa 34:21 – Evil Psa 73:18 – thou castedst Psa 139:19 – Surely Psa 140:9 – let the mischief
94:23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall {o} cut them off in their own wickedness; [yea], the LORD our God shall cut them off.
(o) It is a great token of God’s judgment when the purpose of the wicked is broken, but most, when they are destroyed in their own malice.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. God will bless them in all their sufferings; though their enemies for a time are permitted to prevail, they are but the rod in God’s hand, and lifted up with the most gracious design for the good of the people of God. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest; every child of God may expect corrections in the course of the divine providence; they are absolutely necessary, and a proof of his adoption; and, so far from complaining of them as hard, he should regard them as some of the kindest instances of paternal tenderness: and teachest him out of thy law, afflictions being designed for our instruction and improvement; God by his word and Spirit teaching his children how to profit under his correcting hand; and we are then blessed indeed, when by our trials we gain a surer evidence of our sonship, and grow more conformed to the image of our crucified Master: that then mayst give him rest from the days of adversity, or evil; for this works peaceable fruits of righteousness to those who are exercised thereby: the Lord also sweetly supports the souls of his saints under their troubles, till the end for which they were sent is answered, and then he delivers them safely out of them; and he will shortly bring his faithful ones to his eternal rest, where their enemies shall for ever cease from troubling: until the pit be digged for the wicked, whose end is destruction, eternal torment their portion, and the abyss of hell their accursed abode. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance; so that the faithful may confidently trust him, and wait in hope: But judgment shall return unto righteousness; the seeming disorders of providence shall be rectified, when in the last days all the antichristian persecutors of God’s people shall have their plagues poured out upon them; and in the day of final retribution God will appear righteous in all his judgments: and all the upright in heart shall follow it; either the judgment of God with their praises, acknowledging the glory of his justice, Rev 16:6-7; Rev 19:1-2 or righteousness, approving themselves before him in all holy conversation and godliness; or, as the words may be rendered, all the upright in heart shall be after him, as the flock of his pasture attending their shepherd, and following the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth, with their unceasing praises.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes