Psalms 94:1

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 RAMPANT WICKEDNESS

"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]