Psalm 94:5 Komentář

This psalm was penned when the church of God was under hatches, oppressed and persecuted; and it is an appeal to God, as the judge of heaven and earth, and an address to him, to appear for his people against his and their enemies. Two things this psalm speaks: - I. Conviction and terror to the persecutors (Psa 94:1-11), showing them their danger and folly, and arguing with them. II. Comfort and peace to the persecuted (Psa 94:12-23), assuring them, both from God's promise and from the psalmist's own experience, that their troubles would end well, and God would, in due time, appear to their joy and the confusion of those who set themselves against them. In singing this psalm we must look abroad upon the pride of oppressors with a holy indignation, and the tears of the oppressed with a holy compassion; but, at the same time, look upwards to the righteous Judge with an entire satisfaction, and look forward, to the end of all these things, with a pleasing hope.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 94 Some, as Jarchi and others, think this psalm was written by Moses; others, with greater probability, assign it to David; as do the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and which all but the Syriac version say it was composed to be sung on the fourth day of the week, on which day the Talmudists say it was sung; see the argument of the preceding psalm. This psalm and others, that go before and follow, are without any title in the Hebrew Bible: the title of it in the Syriac version is, "a Psalm of David, concerning the company of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; but spiritually, concerning the persecution against the church;'' not of the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, as some; nor of the Jews in their present exile, as Kimchi; but rather of the people of God under the tyranny of antichrist; who are represented as complaining of his insults and cruelty, and as comforting themselves in the hopes of deliverance, and in the view of his destruction.

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, Pe1 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.

..."They have humbled Your people, O Lord; and have troubled Your heritage" [Psalm 94:5]. "They have murdered the widow, and the fatherless: and slain the proselyte" [Psalm 94:6]; that is, the traveller, the pilgrim: the comer from far, as the Psalmist calls himself. Each of these expressions is too clear in meaning to make it worth while to dwell upon them.

David (Heb 4:7) exhorts men to praise God for His greatness, and warns them, in God's words, against neglecting His service. (Psa 95:1-11) The terms used to express the highest kind of joy. rock--a firm basis, giving certainty of salvation (Psa 62:7).

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).