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Psalm 94God the Avenger of the Righteous1 O L ord, you God of vengeance, you God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; give to the proud what they deserve! 3 O L ord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast. 5 They crush your people, O L ord, and afflict your heritage. 6 They kill the widow and the stranger, they murder the orphan, 7 and they say, “The L ord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
8 Understand, O dullest of the people; fools, when will you be wise? 9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? 10 He who disciplines the nations, he who teaches knowledge to humankind, does he not chastise? 11 The L ord knows our thoughts, that they are but an empty breath.
12 Happy are those whom you discipline, O L ord, and whom you teach out of your law, 13 giving them respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For the L ord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; 15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? 17 If the L ord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 18 When I thought, “My foot is slipping,” your steadfast love, O L ord, held me up. 19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. 20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who contrive mischief by statute? 21 They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death. 22 But the L ord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. 23 He will repay them for their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the L ord our God will wipe them out. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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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. |