Psalm 94

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:1

Verse 1 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:3

Verse 3 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:4

Verse 4 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:5

Verse 5 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:7

Verse 7 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:8

Verse 8 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:10

Verse 10 10.He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct? He would have them argue from the greater to the less, that if God did not spare even whole nations, but visits their iniquity with punishment, they could not imagine that he would suffer a mere handful of individuals to escape with impunity. The comparison intended, however, may possibly be between the Gentiles and the Jews. If God punished the heathen nations, who had not heard his word, with much severity, the Jews might... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:11

Verse 11 11.Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of men, etc. He again insists upon the folly of men in seeking to wrap themselves up in darkness, and hide themselves from the view of God. To prevent them from flattering themselves with vain pretexts, he reminds them that the mists of delusion will be scattered at once when they come to stand in God’s presence. Nothing can avail them, so long as God from heaven stamps vanity upon their deepest counsels. The Psalmist’s design in citing them before the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:12

Verse 12 12Blessed is the man whom thou hast instructed, O God! The Psalmist now passes from the language of censure to that of consolation, comforting himself and others of the Lord’s people with the truth, that though God might afflict them for a time, he consulted their true interests and safety. At no period of life is this a truth which it is unnecessary to remember, called as we are to a continued warfare. God may allow us intervals of ease, in consideration of our weakness, but would... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:13

Verse 13 Byevil days, or days of evil, the Psalmist might thus mean the everlasting destruction which awaits the ungodly, whom God has spared for a certain interval. Or his words may be expounded as signifying, that the man is blessed who has learned to be composed and tranquil under trials. The rest intended would then be that of an inward kind, enjoyed by the believer even during the storms of adversity; and the scope of the passage would be, that the truly happy man is he who has so far... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:7

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:8

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:10

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:11

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:12

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 94:13

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands