Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 94:16
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? [or] who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
16. Who will rise up &c.] Who will stand up as my champion? It is not a question of doubt or unbelief, but an emphatic form of assertion that Israel has no helper but Jehovah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
16 19. Israel has no champion but Jehovah. Experience has proved His goodness. The Psalmist is partly speaking in the name of the people even when he uses the singular ( Psa 94:16-18; Psa 94:23, our God), partly expressing his own personal feelings ( Psa 94:19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers?… – This is the language of the psalmist. It is what he had said in the circumstances referred to in the first part of the psalm, when the wicked seemed to triumph; when they had come in upon the land, and laid waste the heritage of God, Psa 94:3-6. At that time, full of anxiety and trouble, and deeply impressed with a sense of danger, he had anxiously looked around for help, and had asked with deep concern who would stand up for him and defend him. The following verses Psa 94:17-18 show what was then his reliance, and in what way confidence in God had kept him from falling into despair.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 94:16
Who will rise up for Me against the evil-doers?
or who will stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?
The summons to holy work
It is hardly possible to read this psalm through without feeling that the inspired voice in it denounces the unbelief of the heathen world. When a man has come to a deep conviction of the Oneness of Jehovah every other worship is to him an abomination, for such worship must either be an awful rivalry to Him whose glory cannot be given to another, or must involve a total misconception of His nature and a blasphemous corruption of His name.
I. Characteristics of these evil-doers.
1. Not more than one-seventh of the human race is even nominally Christian; and among these Christians are reckoned all the populations of Austria, France, Russia, America, and Spain; the Greeks, the Copts, and the Armenians; the priest-ridden inhabitants of Brazil and Mexico, and all the crowds of our English cities; the Sabbath-breakers, the despisers of Gods love, the haters of Gods law, the drunkard, the harlot, the miser, the dotard, and the fool. Verily, an accumulation of sin, a multitude of evil-doers, are to be found in so-called Christendom! But let us turn from the one-seventh to the six-sevenths of this worlds population. Here, notwithstanding all our grievous imperfections, we are passing out of Goshen into Egyptian darkness.
2. Their variety. In one place there is subtle speculation, in another gross vice; here utter indifference, there wild fanaticism; in one tribe crushing ignorance, in another daring philosophy and luxuriant imagination. Some there are who, under the stimulus of history and myth, are virtual adorers of humanity, as the Confucianist and the Northern Buddhist; others, without traditions, or love, or duty, cherish no reverence, and fear no evil. The regiments of the prince of this world wear various uniforms; the mutineers in Gods army are widespread and bear divers colours: they speak a hundred dialects or tongues, and are scattered over the whole world. Amid the varieties that we have to contend against, and the sins that we know to be grieving the heart of Immanuel, let us not omit to notice the men who find in the variety of the mutineers some arguments against the legitimacy of the Great King, who give to these forms of evil-doing gentle names, who are hopeless about the work of their reduction, and give it up in despair.
3. Their organization. The differences of which we have spoken in race, position, language, religion, philosophical character, take great leading types, and have prominent characteristics. Take away caste from the Brahmin, and you deprive him of his birthright. Take away caste from the mind of the Hindu, and you take away his living God. The most acute minds, and the best educated of the native populations, fight against all that we can believe to be sacred and holy, with the desperation of men who are contending for the altar, the homesteads, the graves of their fathers.
4. Their depravity. We would not blacken our poor humanity beyond its deserts, but nowhere, not even amid the most polished provinces of India and China, can we find a righteous class, or discover anything approximating a moral elevation–a standard of excellence which can excite the faintest hope that heathenism has within itself the elements of improvement or the seeds of life. Even the few exceptions of men whose virtues have been notorious, whose temptations have been overcome, whose philosophy, whose affections, or whose patriotism have triumphed over their lust, and been mighty enough to redeem them by Gods grace from the universal pollution, do after all shed the most terrible light over the corruption that is untouched, and reveal throughout the wide extent of man the presence of a power and of possibilities, of a conscience, a freedom, and a spirit in man which leave him, as the apostle says, without excuse.
II. The course which God has taken with these evil-doers, and also what is involved in the appeal here uttered. Who will rise up for Me against the evil-doers? Who is on the Lords side? Whom shall we send, and who will go for us? By these appeals to the heart of His people, God seems to tell us that He is not going to crush, or destroy, or convert, or save these evil-doers by any fiat of omnipotence, by any touch of His imperial sceptre, His method has always been to teach men by men; to uproot error by truth; to overturn and undermine evil influence by good influence; to conquer darkness by light; to drive out hatred by love. He took up the manhood of Jesus into His own Godhead, and made that great light henceforth to rule the day, and He made the reflections of His glory–as all lesser lights really are–to rule the night; and ever since the exaltation of Jesus, when He intends to reach the hearts and conquer the wills of men by His love, He calls the sons of men, the brethren of Jesus, to His help against the mighty.
III. The response which is made to this appeal. Science, commerce, luxury, a polished language and unlimited resources, have had their day and utterly failed, having miserably succumbed in revelry, suicide and hell. Never let us hope that we can save Africa with cotton, or India with railways; the Moslem is not softened by a telegraph, nor the Dyak of Borneo purified by geometry. God calls for other helpers; and lo! by the side of all these shadowy forms, an angel of light (Rev 10:1-2). The thunders utter their voices, and another angel appears, having the everlasting Gospel, etc. Wheresoever this power has gone it has gained victories. Every sanctuary, every log-cabin where the name of Jesus has been breathed, is a scene where a battle has been fought against evil-doers, and a victory has been won. With whatsoever individual, class, or nation it comes fairly into contact, the evil is driven out, the tendencies to good sublimed and purified. It is the Gospel which shows the only way of meeting the clamour of insulted conscience, and supplies motives strong enough to lift the soul into harmony with its own moral law. (H. Reynolds, B.A.)
Zeal for Christian enterprise
When Dr. Beecher, the father of Mr. Beecher-Stowe, lay dying, his sons said to him, Would you rather go to heaven, or begin the battle on earth again? The eyes of the old warrior in the cause of Christ sparkeled as he replied, Boys, if I had the choice I would choose the battle. If all professing Christians were as eager to fight for their King against the forces of darkness, the world would soon be won to the Saviour. Alas! too many seem to think more about going to heaven than seeking to lead others there. (The Quiver.)
Help anywhere
During one of the great battles of the American Civil War a recruit who had lost his company in the tumult of strife approached General Sheridan and timidly asked where he would step in, Step in? thundered Sheridan, in a voice that frightened the already terrified recruit almost as much as the roar of cannonading and musketry. Step in anywhere; theres fighting all along the line. An accident occurred recently that very forcibly brought Sheridans words to mind. A heavy piece of machinery was being moved into a building by means of a block and tackle. Suddenly one of the ropes parted and the machine began to slide backward. The two men who had charge of the work sprang to stay its progress, but it was more than they were capable of doing. Give us a lift, one of them shouted to a bystander. Where shall I take hold? asked the man thus addressed, unmindful of the fact that both men were exerting every muscle to control the machine and that there was not a second to lose. Grab hold anywhere! yelled the mover. But another had already seen the necessity for instant action, and rendered the necessary assistance. It may be that we are in a field of Christian enterprise where we are unaccustomed to work, and are timidly asking where we shall Step in. We may find our answer in the words of Sheridan, Step in anywhere; theres fighting all along the line. (Christian World.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Who will rise up for me] Who is he that shall be the deliverer of thy people? Who will come to our assistance against these wicked Babylonians?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To defend and help me. I looked hither and thither, and called to my friends for their help, saying,
Who will, & c.? but none of them appeared, but God alone helped me, as he saith in the next verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. These questions imply thatnone other than God will help (Ps60:9),
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?…. These are the words of the psalmist, representing the church of God, under sore persecutions from the antichristian party; called “evildoers”, because of their thefts, murders, idolatries, sorceries, and all manner of wickedness committed by them, Re 9:21, intimating that she had looked all around her, and could not observe any that she could hope for assistance from, to fight her battles for her with the enemy, and deliver her out of his hands: the Targum is,
“who will rise up, for me, to make war with the evildoers?”
what the church here seems to say in a despairing way, the followers of antichrist say in a triumphant and insulting manner; “who is like unto the beast who is able to make war with him?” Re 13:4, or “who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” to contend or strive with them, as the Targum; suggesting, that she had no friends to appear for her, that had either courage or strength to engage in such a warfare; her case was like that of the oppressed, Solomon speaks of, Ec 4:1, or the Apostle Paul’s, when none stood with him; but all forsook him, excepting the Lord, 2Ti 4:16 and so here the church had none to rise up, and stand by her, but the Lord; Michael, the great Prince that stands for the children and people of God, and who is a match for all the enemies of his church; and he will rise and stand up for them, and fight their battles; and overcome the beast and false prophet, with the kings of the earth, Da 12:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the fifth strophe the poet celebrates the praise of the Lord as his sole, but also trusty and most consolatory help. The meaning of the question in Psa 94:16 is, that there is no man who would rise and succour him in the conflict with the evil-doers; as in Exo 14:25; Jdg 6:31, and (without or the like) in the sense of contra, as in Psa 55:19, cf. 2Ch 20:6. God alone is his help. He alone has rescued him from death. is to be supplied to : if He had not been, or: if He were not; and the apodosis is: then very little would have been wanting, then it would soon have come to this, that his soul would have taken up its abode, etc.; cf. on the construction Psa 119:92; Psa 124:1-5; Isa 1:9, and on with the praet. Psa 73:2; Psa 119:87; Gen 26:10 (on the other hand with the fut. Psa 81:15). is, as in Psa 115:17, the silence of the grave and of Hades; here it is the object to , as in Psa 37:3, Pro 8:12, and frequently. When he appears to himself already as one that has fallen, God’s mercy holds him up. And when thoughts, viz., sad and fearful thoughts, are multiplied within him, God’s comforts delight him, viz., the encouragement of His word and the inward utterances of His Spirit. , as in Psa 139:23, is equivalent to , from , , Arab. sb , to split, branch off ( Psychology, S. 181; tr. p. 214). The plural form , like the plural of the imperative in Isa 29:9, has two Pathachs, the second of which is the “independentification” of the Chateph of .
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
16. Who will rise up for me against my adversaries? Here the Psalmist points out, in a lively and graphic manner, how destitute he was of all human aid. As if at the moment in danger, he cries out — Who will stand up for me? Who will oppose himself to my enemies? And immediately afterwards he replies, that had not God helped him, he must have despaired of safety. In declaring that he had been thus miraculously rescued from death, when deserted by all the world, he commends the more God’s kindness and grace. When men aid us, they are only instruments by which the grace of God works; but we are apt not to recognize God’s hand when we see any subordinate agency in the deliverance. He speaks of his life dwelling in silence, (verse 17) for the dead lie in the grave without feeling or strength. Thus the Psalmist owns that there was no means by which his life could have been preserved, had not God interposed without delay.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Rise up.Stand upi.e., as champion. (Comp. 2Sa. 23:11, of the exploit of Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite; comp. Psa. 2:2.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Who will rise up for me Who is able to rise up for our help against these evil doers? That is, there is no human power to do it. God alone can do it. The inference, then, is, that our continued existence is itself proof that God is still our helper.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 94:16-17. Who will rise up for me? &c. Who will stand up for me against the evil-doers? Who will rank himself on my side against the dealers in vanity [the practisers of idolatry]?Ver. 17. If the Lord be not my help, my soul in an instant will be lodged in silence. Mudge. Several of the versions render the word dumah, which we read silence by Hades, the grave, or place of the departed. Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that David, reflecting upon the late danger of his army, added the seven last verses to this psalm. See Psalms 124.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The Psalmist is looking round for help or assistance against the common enemy; but finding none, he looks to the Lord. It is blessed to be stripped of all creature-help and creature-confidence, that we may be constrained to look wholly unto the Lord!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 94:16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? [or] who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
Ver. 16. Who will rise up for me ] q.d. But a very few fast friends find I at court, Jonathan excepted. Some there are that will sprinkle me with court holy water, as they say, give glossing speeches; but it is little that they will do, and yet less that they will suffer for me. Faithful friends, saith one, are gone on pilgrimage, and their return is uncertain.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Who . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.
evildoers. Hebrew. ra’a. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 94:16-19
Psa 94:16-19
PRAISE OF THE LORD AS MAN’S SOLE HELP
“Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
Unless Jehovah had been my help,
My soul had soon dwelt in silence.
When I said, My foot slippeth;
Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, held me up.
In the multitude of my thoughts within me
The comforts delight my soul.”
“Who will rise up … Who will stand up?” (Psa 94:16). “These questions mean that, “No man would rise up and succor him in his conflict with evil-doers.
“My soul had soon dwelt in silence” (Psa 94:17). “Silence” is one of many synonyms for Sheol, the Pit, Abbadon, or Destruction. The meaning is that his enemies would have killed him, if God had not aided him.
“I said, “My foot slippeth” … Jehovah held me up” (Psa 94:18). Every child of God can bear witness to similar providential help in the midst of assailing temptations.
“In the multitude of my thoughts within me” (Psa 94:19). This is very difficult to understand, as it appears here; but Barnes gave the meaning.
“The idea seems to be that in the great number of thoughts that passed through his mind, many of them perplexing, vain, profitless, or having no aim or purpose, there was one class of thoughts that gave him comfort; and those were the ones which pertained to God.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 94:16. Here is another characteristic attitude of the Psalmist. In his distress over the activities of evildoers he longs for the fellowship of others in his efforts at curbing them.
Psa 94:17. Almost is rendered ”quickly” in the margin of some Bibles and the lexicon agrees with it. The thought is that without the help of God, man would be unable to accomplish anything in the midst of uncertainties that surround him.
Psa 94:18. In times of danger and uncertainty, the Lord’s help assures to his servants the support that could come from no other source.
Psa 94:19. Amid the many things that occupy the mind of God’s servants, there is one thought that stands out above others, and that is of the comforts that the true servants may expect from Him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
rise up: Exo 32:26-29, Num 25:6-13, Jdg 5:23, 1Ki 18:39, 1Ki 18:40, 2Ki 9:32, 2Ki 10:15, Isa 59:16, Isa 63:5, Jer 5:1, Eze 22:30, Mat 12:30, 3Jo 1:8
stand up: Neh 5:7, Jer 26:16-19, Joh 7:50, Joh 7:51
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 94:16. Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Have I any friend that, in love to me, will appear for me? Hath justice any friend that, in a pious indignation at unrighteousness, will plead my injured cause? He looked, but there was none to save, there was none to uphold. On the side of the oppressor there was power, and therefore the oppressed had no comforter. God alone helped him, as he says in the next verse.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. A reason for consolation 94:16-23
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
After looking everywhere for some consolation during the temporary ascendancy of the wicked, the psalmist found it only in God. If God had not strengthened him he would have died, slipped in his walk with God, and become mentally distracted.