suggests that its position here, where it certainly intervenes strangely between two jubilant Psalms, arose "out of an attempt (not carried very far) to promote liturgical convenience," though it must obviously be "later than Ps. xciii, from which it differs so much in tone and import" (Origin of the Psalter, p. 72). Style however seems to point to a closer connexion of these Psalms than that of liturgical usage merely. O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; LORD, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? 1, 2. An appeal to Jehovah to manifest Himself as Judge of the world and Avenger of wrong. 1. God of vengeance, Jehovah, God of vengeance, shine forth! The Psalmist appeals to Jehovah, Who has the power and the right to punish (Deut. xxxii. 35; Nah. i. 2; Rom. xii. 19), to manifest Himself in all the splendour of His Presence (Deut. xxxiii. 2; Ps. 1. 2; lxxx. 1). God is EL, 'the mighty God'; and the word for vengeance is plural, denoting the completeness of the retribution which He can inflict. Cp. "God of recompences," Jer. li. 56. For the 'anadiplosis' cp. vv. 3, 23, and xcii. 9, note. 2. Lift up thyself] Shew Thyself to be the supremely exalted Ruler. Cp. Is. vi. 1; xxxiii. 10; Ps. vii. 6. judge of the earth] Cp. Gen. xviii. 25; Ps. lviii. f1; lxxxii. 8. The universal Judge is needed to call the subordinate 'judges of the earth' to account. render a reward to the proud] R.V. Render to the proud (their) desert; assimilating the rendering to that of xxviii. 4. Cp. Lam. iii. 64. 3-7. How long will Jehovah tolerate the tyrannies of these proud blasphemers? 4. The verses run in pairs, and it seems preferable, with A.V., to regard v. 4 as a continuation of the question in v. 3, rather than, with R.V., to render it as an affirmative sentence. Workers of iniquity is the subject to the whole verse. (How long) shall all workers of iniquity Belch out, talk arrogantly, act haughtily? Cp. lix. 2, 7; xxxi. 18. The exact sense of the last verb is doubtful. It may mean 'exalt themselves,' or 'speak proudly one with another.' 5. They break in pieces] Or, crush (as Is. iii. 15; Prov. xxii. 22), 94 3 5 And afflict thine heritage. 6 They slay the widow and the stranger, 7 Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, 9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? 10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? by violence and extortion. Thy people...thine inheritance, as in xxviii. Cp. Deut. iv. 20. 9. 6. A proverbial expression for inhumanity and treachery. They do not scruple to murder the most defenceless, and those whose lives, by the traditions of Semitic hospitality, should have been inviolable. "From the earliest times of Semitic life the lawlessness of the desert... has been tempered by the principle that the guest is inviolable....To harm a guest, or to refuse him hospitality, is an offence against honour, which covers the perpetrator with indelible shame." Robertson Smith, Rel. of Semites, p. 76. Cp. Ex. xxii. 21, 22; Ps. x. 14; Mal. iii. 5. And they say, Jah doth not see, 7. Neither doth the God of Jacob consider. They proclaim their contempt for Israel's God as one who is either ignorant of the sufferings of His people or indifferent to them (x. 11, 13; lix. 7). He is in their estimation but one among many gods of the nations (Is. xxxvi. 18 ff.). 8—11. From pleading with God the Psalmist turns to argue with those of his fellow-countrymen who are tempted to agree with their oppressors, and to think that Jehovah is wanting either in power or in will to defend them. 8. Understand] Consider. Those Israelites are addressed who lack the spiritual discernment to realise that in spite of the temporary triumph of the wicked Jehovah still rules (xcii. 6; lxxiii. 22). when will ye be wise?] When will ye understand? a word used of the intelligent consideration of God's working in xiv. 2; lxiv. 9; cvi. 7. 9. It is absurd to suppose that the Creator of the organs of sense does not Himself possess faculties corresponding to them. 10. He that instructeth the nations, shall not he rebuke ?] The word rendered chastiseth in A.V. includes the ideas of instruction, admonition, discipline, chastisement (LXX ỏ maideówr, Vulg. qui corripit, Jer. qui erudit). That rendered correct means to reprove, rebuke, call to account, punish (1. 21). This noteworthy passage stands almost by itself in the O.T. in its explicit assertion that there is a divine education of the nations, analogous to the divine education of Israel (Deut. viii. 5, &c.), an education which must involve fatherly correction and chastise He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, II 12 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, 13 ment (Prov. iii. 12). It anticipates the teaching of St Paul in Rom. i. 20; ii. 14, 15. Yet long before this, Amos had implicitly taught that a measure of moral knowledge is possessed by the heathen, for the right use of which they are responsible (Am. i, ii). Cp. also Ps. lxv. 2, and the general purport of the Book of Jonah. he that teacheth &c.] We expect a question such as A.V. supplies, to complete the sentence, shall not he know? But instead of putting the question the poet breaks off abruptly, and substitutes the comprehensive affirmation of v. II. It is prosaic to render as R.V., "even he that teacheth &c." 11. The positive answer to the self-delusion of the wicked and the doubts of the faithless. Jehovah not only sees their works, but knows their very thoughts. that they are vanity] So the LXX, quoted by St Paul in 1 Cor. iii. 20, with the substitution of the wise for men to suit his argument. This rendering gives a good sense, and suggests an emphatic contrast between the designs of men and the designs of God (xcii. 5). But the masculine pronoun they is more naturally referred to man than to the feminine word for thoughts, and its emphatic position further points to the rendering, For they, in contrast to Jehovah, are (but) a breath (xxxix. 5). How can man, the feeble creature of a day, escape the knowledge of the Omniscient and Eternal, or entertain designs which He cannot fathom? 12-15. The Psalmist consoles himself and his fellow-sufferers with the thought that they are being educated by God, and that, sooner or later, Right must have its rights. 12, 13. Happy the man whom thou instructest, Jah, And teachest out of thy law, To give him rest from the days of evil, Until a pit be dug for the wicked. Israel, as well as the nations (v. 10) is being divinely educated, and that with a higher teaching, the teaching of revelation. This will give him such an insight into the ways of God's Providence, as will enable him to endure calmly, without murmuring or losing heart, until the day of retribution overtakes the wicked. Cp. Hab. iii. 16. The A.V. rendering chastenest limits the meaning of the verb, which is the same as that in v. 10. But doubtless it includes the discipline of suffering which Israel was undergoing. Cp. Job v. 17; Prov. iii. II, 12. The conception of life as a discipline and education is specially characteristic of the Book of Proverbs. against it. The wise man welcomes it, but the fool rebels Until the pit be digged for the wicked. 14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, Neither will he forsake his inheritance. 15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: And all the upright in heart shall follow it. 16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? 17 Unless the LORD had been my help, My soul had almost dwelt in silence. 18 When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. 19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul. part of it, but is synonymous with the word of Jehovah, and includes all Divine revelation as the guide of life (i. 2). The days of evil, or, of the evil man, are the times when wrong and wrong-doers seem to have undisputed sway. Cp. xlix. 5. until a pit &c.] Until the day of retribution comes, as it certainly will do; a metaphor from the pitfalls used by hunters. Cp. vii. 15; Xxxv. 7; lvii. 6. 14. That day will come, for Jehovah cannot finally abandon His persecuted people (z. 5). Cp. I Sam. xii. 22; Jer. xii. 7; Rom. xi. I, 2. 15. But Or as R.V. For. Judgement will again be justice: i.e. its administration will once more be conducted upon principles of equity, when those who now pervert it are destroyed; and all true-hearted men will attach themselves to it as its supporters and adherents. 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 (vv. 16—18; v. 23, our God), partly expressing his own personal feelings (v. 19). 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. 17. Cp. cxxiv. 1 ff. almost R.V. soon. dwelt in silence] The stillness of the grave (cxv. 17). 18. The A.V. misses the picturesqueness of the tenses. When I said, My foot hath slipped, thy lovingkindness, Jehovah, was supporting me. I gave myself up for lost, but the right hand of love had hold of me all the time. Cp. xxxviii. 16; xviii. 35. 19. thoughts] Ör, as R.V. marg., doubts: distracting thoughts which divide and perplex the mind. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, 20 They gather themselves together against the soul of the ar righteous, And condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defence; And my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, 20-23. The doom of tyrants and the deliverance of their victims. 20. Though He may tolerate them for a time, it is inconceivable that Jehovah should let these rapacious judges shelter themselves under His authority. Cp. 1. 21. The throne or tribunal of destruction (xci. 3, note) denotes the rulers or judges who were ready like a yawning gulf to swallow up the innocent. They contrive wrong by statute, inflict injury and misery under the shelter of legal forms. Cp. Is. x. 1, 2. 21. They gather themselves together] So the Targ. and Jer., possibly reading yāgūrū, as in lvi. 6; lix. 3. The Mass. text however seems to mean they make raids upon the life of the righteous. condemn the innocent blood] I.e. condemn the innocent to death. 22, 23. The R.V. renders, But the LORD hath been my high tower... and he hath brought upon them their own iniquity. But the latter clauses of v. 23 shew that the punishment of the wicked is still in the future, and it is best to regard the tenses as expressive of certainty: But Jehovah will surely prove a high tower for me, and my God shall be the rock of my refuge. Cp. xviii. 2; ix. 9, &c. and he shall bring upon them &c.] Cause their wrong-doing to recoil upon their own heads. Cp. v. 2; liv. 5. in their own wickedness] Or, for their evil: or perhaps, through their own evil. Cp. v. 10; vii. 15, 16; ix. 16. 22 23 PSALM XCV. This Psalm consists of two parts, an invitation to worship, and a warning against disobedience. i. The call to worship Jehovah because He is the Lord of all the world (1-5) is followed by a reiterated call to worship Him because He is in an especial way the God of Israel (6, 7). ii. The worshippers are solemnly warned not to repeat the sin of their ancestors in the wilderness (8-11). This is the first of a group of Psalms (xcv-c) strongly marked by common characteristics and obviously intended for liturgical use. The key-note of them has already been struck in Ps. xciii, which forms |