-
TREASURY OF DAVID
PSALM 94
C.H. Spurgeon
Psalms 94:1 (PSALMS)
PSALM 94.
SUBJECT. The
writer sees evil doers in power, and smarts under
their
oppressions. His sense of the
divine sovereignty, of which he had been
singing in the previous Psalm, leads
him to appeal to God as the great
Judge
of the earth; this he does with much vehemence and
importunity,
evidently tingling under
the lash of the oppressor. Confident in God's
existence,
and
assured
of
his
personal
observation
of
the
doings
of
men,
the
psalmist
rebukes
his
atheistic
adversaries,
and
proclaims
his
triumph
in his God: he also
interprets the severe dispensation of Providence
to
be in very deed most instructive
chastisements, and so he counts those
happy who endure them. The Psalm is
another pathetic form of the old
enigma
—
good man
perplexed by the prosperity of the ungodly,
cheering his heart
by remembering that
there is, after all, a King in heaven, by whom all
things are overruled for good.
DIVISIONS.
In
Ps
94:1-7
the
psalmist
utters
his
complaint
against
wicked
oppressors.
From
Ps
94:8-11
he
reasons
against
their
sceptical
notion
that
God
did not notice the actions of men. He then shows
that the Lord does
bless his people and
will deliver them, though for a while they may be
chastened,
Ps
94:12-15.
He
again
pleads
for
help
in
Ps
94:16,
and
declares
his
entire
dependence
upon
God
for
preservation,
Ps
94:17-19;
yet
a
third
time urges his
complaint, Ps 94:20-21; and then concludes with
the
confident assurance that his
enemies, and all other wicked men, would
certainly
be
made
to
reap
the
due
reward
of
their
deeds,
—
the
Lord
our God shall cut them
off.
EXPOSITION.
Ver.
1.
O
LORD
God,
to
whom
vengeance
belongeth;
0
God,
to
whom
vengeance
belongeth, shew thyself: or,
God of retribution, Jehovah, God of
retribution,
shine
forth!
A
very
natural
prayer
when
innocence
is
trampled
down, and
wickedness exalted on high. If the execution of
justice be a
right
thing,
—
and
who
can
deny
the
fact?
—
then
it
must
be
a
very
proper
thing
to
desire
it;
not
out
of
private
revenge,
in
which
case
a
man
would
hardly dare to appeal
to God, but out of sympathy with right, and pity
for
those
who
are
made
wrongfully
to
suffer,
Who
can
see
a
nation
enslaved,
or even an
individual downtrodden, without crying to the Lord
to arise
and vindicate the righteous
cause? The toleration of injustice is here
attributed to the Lord's being hidden,
and it is implied that the bare
sight
of him will suffice to alarm the tyrants into
ceasing their
oppressions.
God
has
but
to
show
himself,
and
the
good
cause
wins
the
day.
He
comes,
he
sees,
he
conquers!
Truly
in
these
evil
days
we
need
a
manifest
display of his power, for the ancient
enemies of God and man are again
struggling for the mastery, and if they
gain it, woe unto the saints of
God.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver. 1. 0 LORD God, to whom vengeance
belongeth. It may perhaps seem to
accord too little with a lover of
piety, so strenuously to urge upon God
to show himself an avenger against the
wicked, and to rouse Him as if He
were
lingering and procrastinating. But this
supplication must be
regarded in its
proper bearing; for David does not pray, neither
should
we
pray,
that
God
would
take
vengeance
on
the
wicked
in
the
same
way
that
men,
inflamed
with
anger
and
hatred,
are
wont
often
to
avenge
themselves
of
their
enemies,
but
that
He
would
punish
them
after
his
own
divine
manner
and
measure.
The
vengeance
of
God
is
for
the
most
part
a
medicine
for
the
evil; but
ours
is
at times destruction
even to the
good. Therefore truly
the
Lord is alone the God of revenges. For we, when we
think we have
inflicted
a
penalty
upon
our
enemy,
are
often
much
mistaken.
What
injury
to
us
was
the
body
of
our
enemy?
in
depriving
him
of
which
we
nevertheless
express all our
bitterness. What wounded thee and wrought thee
harm and
shame,
was
the
spirit
of
thine
enemy,
and
that
thou
art
not
able
to
seize
and hold, but God
is able;
and
He
alone has
such power that
in
no way
can
the spirit escape
his strength and force. Leave vengeance with Him,
and
He
will
repay.
He
admonishes
us,
that
if
we
ourselves
wish
to
be
avengers
of
our own pains and injuries we may hurt ourselves
more deeply than our
enemy:
for
when
we
take
vengeance
on
him,
we
indeed
wound
and
do
violence
to
his
body,
which
in
itself
is
vile
and
of
little
regard;
but in
our
own
best and
most precious part, that is, in our spirit; we
ourselves, by
losing patience, receive
a deep stain, because when virtue and humanity
have been expelled thence, we meanwhile
incur faults to be atoned for
therein.
Wherefore
God
is
entreated
to
become
Himself
the
avenger
of
our
injuries, for He alone
knows aright and is able to avenge; and to become
such
an
avenger
that
only
the
very
thing
which
injured
us
may
be
punished.
Some
greedy man has cheated thee in money, may He
punish avarice in him.
A
proud
man
has
treated
thee
with
scorn,
may
He
destroy
his
pride,
etc...
This
is
vengeance
most
worthy
to
be
inflicted
of
God,
and
by
us
to
be
sought.
Jacopo Sadoleto.
1477-1547.
Ver.
1.
I
do
not
think
that
we
sufficiently
attend
to
the
distinction
that
exists between revenge and vengeance.
an act of passion, vengeance of
justice; injuries are revenged, crimes
avenged.
And
it
is
from
not
attending
to
this
essential
distinction
that
the scorner has been
led into such profane remarks, as if there were a
vindictive
spirit
in
the
Almighty,
and
as
if
he
found
delight
in
wreaking
vengeance on an adversary.
The call which the
psalmist
here makes on God
as a God to whom
vengeance belongeth, is no other than if he had
said,
because
with
man's
feelings
and
propensities
it
would
ever
degenerate
into
revenge.
Barton
Bouchier.
Ver. 1. The two
divine names (
El
and
Jehovah
,
—
God
and
Lord
) recognize
God
as
almighty,
eternal,
self
existent,
bound
by
covenant
to
his
people,
and
alone entitled to take vengeance.
J. A.
Alexander.
Ver. 1-6.
Lie scattered on the Alpine
mountains cold;
Even them who kept thy
truth so pure of old,
When all our
fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their
groans
Who were thy sheep, and in
their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody
Piemontese that rolled
Mother with
infant down the rocks. Their moans
The
vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To heaven. Their martyred blood and
ashes sow
Over all the Italian fields,
where still doth sway
The triple
Tyrant; that from these may grow
A
hundredfold, who having learned the way,
Early may fly the Babylonian
woe.
John Milton.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 1.
1. Retribution the
prerogative of God alone.
2. Under
what aspects may we desire his rendering it.
3. How, and when he will surely fulfil
this righteous
wish.
Ver.
1.
1. Vengeance belongs to God and not
to man.
2.
Vengeance
is
better
in
the
hands
of
God
than
of
man.
Let us fall into the
hands of God, etc.
G. R.
Psalms 94:2 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver.
2.
Lift
up
thyself,
thou
judge
of
the
earth.
Ascend
thy
judgment
seat
and
be acknowledged as
the ruler of
men: and, moreover,
raise
thyself as
men do who are about to
strike with all their might; for the abounding
sin of mankind requires a heavy blow
from thy hand.
Render a reward to the
proud, give them measure for measure, a fair
retaliation, blow for blow. The proud
look down upon the gracious poor
and
strike them from above, as a giant might hurl down
blows upon his
adversary; after the
same manner, O Lord, lift up thyself, and
a recompense upon the proud,
above them than they can be above the
meanest of their fellow men. The
psalmist
thus
invokes
the
retribution
of
justice
in
plain
speech,
and
his
request
is
precisely
that
which
patient
innocence
puts
up
in
silence,
when
her looks of anguish appeal to heaven.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver.
2.
The
peculiar
provocation
of
the
sin
of
pride
and
its
kindred
vices.
Its influence on the
proud, on their follow men, and upon God himself.
Psalms 94:3 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver.
3.
LORD,
how
long
shall
the
wicked,
how
long
shall
the
wicked
triumph?
Shall
wrong
for
ever
rule?
Are
slavery,
robbery,
tyranny,
never
to
cease?
Since
there
is
certainly
a
just
God
in
heaven,
armed
with
almighty
power,
surely there must be sooner or later an
end to the ascendancy of evil,
innocence must one day find a defender.
This
of the text is
the
bitter
complaint
of
all
the
righteous
in
all
ages,
and
expresses
wonder
caused
by
that
great
enigma
of
providence,
the
existence
and
predominance
of
evil.
The
sound
long?
is
very
akin
to
howling,
as
if
it
were
one
of
the
saddest
of
all
the
utterances
in
which
misery
bemoans
itself.
Many
a time has this bitter
complaint been heard in the dungeons of the
Inquisition, at the whipping posts of
slavery, and in the prisons of
oppression. In due time God will
publish his reply, but the full end is
not yet.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver.
3.
How
long
shall
the
wicked,
how
long,
etc.
Twice
he
saith
it,
because
the wicked boast day
after day, with such insolence and outrage, as if
they were above control.
John Trapp.
Ver.
3.
How
long
shall
the
wicked
triumph?
For
the
Hebrew
word
is
wzley
which signifies to
exalt. That is, they give themselves vain
applause on account of their
prosperity, and declare their success both
with words and with the gestures of
their body, like peacocks spreading
their feathers. How long shall they
utter? etc. For
the Hebrew
is
weyby
, they
shall flow, they shall cast forth. The metaphor is
taken
from
fountains
springing
out
of
the
rock
with
a
rush
and
abundance
of
water.
Where the abundance
of words is noted, their rashness, their waste and
profusion,
their
sound
and
eagerness,
their
continuance
and
the
difficulty
of
obstructing them.
Le Blanc.
Ver.
3.
How
long
shall
the
wicked
triumph?
What
answer
shall
we
give,
what
date shall we put to this,
The answer is given in Ps
94:23,
iniquity,
and shall cut them off in
their own
wickedness,
etc. As if he had said,
Except the Lord cut them
off in their
wickedness, they will never leave off doing
wickedly. They
are men of such a kind
that there is no curing of them, they will never
have done doing mischief until they be
cut off by death, therefore God
threatens death to deter men from sin.
A godly man saith,
me, yet will I trust
in him;
in
the
letter),
Till God
kills
us
we
will sin
against
him.
Joseph
Caryl.
Ver.
3-4.
Triumph,
utter
and
speak,
boast.
In
the
very
terms
wherein
the
Psalmist complains of the continued
prevalence of the wicked, there is
matter of comfort, for we have three
(rather four, as in the authorised
version)
words
to
denote
speaking,
and
only
one,
workers
,
to
denote
action,
showing us that they are far more
powerful with their tongues than with
their hands.
Hugo
Cardinalis, quoted by Neale.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 3.
I. The sweet potion
of the wicked
—
present
triumph.
2.
The
gall
which
embitters
it
—
it
is
but
temporary,
and
is prayed against.
C. A. Davis.
Psalms 94:4 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver. 4. How
long shall they utter and speak hard things? The
ungodly are
not
content
with
deeds
of
injustice,
but
they
add
hard
speeches,
boasting,
threatening,
and
insulting
over
the
saints.
Will
the
Lord
for
ever
endure
this?
Will he leave his own children much longer to be
the prey of their
enemies?
Will
not
the
insolent
speeches
of
his
adversaries
and theirs
at
last
provoke
his
justice
to
interfere?
Words
often
wound
more
than
swords,
they
are
as
hard
to
the
heart
as
stones
to
the
flesh;
and
these
are
poured
forth by the ungodly in redundance, for
such is the force of the word
translated utter; and they use them so
commonly that they become their
common
speech
(they
utter
and
speak
them)
—
will
this
always
be
endured?
And
all
the
workers
of
iniquity
boast
themselves?
—
they
even
soliloquise
and talk to themselves,
and
of themselves,
in arrogance of
Spirit, as if
they were
doing some good deed when they crush the poor and
needy, and
spit
their
spite
on
gracious
men.
It
is
the
nature
of
workers
of
iniquity
to boast, just as
it is a characteristic of good men to be
humble
—
will
their
boasts always be suffered by the great Judge,
whose ear hears all
that
they
say?
Long,
very
long,
have
they
had
the
platform
to
themselves,
and
loud,
very
loud,
have
been
their
blasphemies
of
God,
and
their
railings
at his
saints
—
will not the day soon
come when the threatened heritage
of
shame and everlasting contempt shall be meted out
to them?
Thus the oppressed plead with
their Lord, and shall not God avenge his
own elect? Will he not speak out of
heaven to the enemy and say,
persecutest thou me
Psalms 94:5 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver. 5. They
break in pieces thy people, O LORD, grinding them
with
oppression,
crushing
them
with
contempt.
Yet
the
men
they
break
in
pieces
are
God's own people, and they are persecuted because
they are so; this
is a strong plea for
the divine interposition.
And afflict
thine heritage, causing them sorrowful humiliation
and deep
depression of heart. The term,
of
the
saints,
God's peculiar
interest
and
delight
in
them,
his
covenant
relation, of long
standing, to them and their fathers; this also is
a
storehouse of arguments with their
faithful God. Will he not defend his
own? Will a man lose his inheritance,
or permit it to be contemptuously
despoiled?
Those
who
are
ground
down,
and
trampled
on,
are
not
strangers,
but the choice and chosen ones of the
Lord; how long will he leave them
to be
a prey to cruel foes
EXPLANATORY NOTES
AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver.
5.
They
break
in
pieces
thy
people.
They
tread
down;
they
grind;
they
crush. The Hebrew word is often used as
meaning to crush under foot; to
trample
on; and hence it means to oppress. La 3:34, Isa
3:15.
Albert
Barnes.
HINTS TO
THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 5-10.
1. High handed oppression by the wicked
(Ps 94:5-6).
2.
Hard
hearted
indifference
to
Divine
supervision
(Ps
94:7).
3.
Clear
headed
demonstration
of
the
Divine
cognisance
and vengeance (Ps
94:8-10).
C.A.D.
Psalms 94:6 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver. 6. They
slay
the widow
and
the stranger, and murder the
fatherless.
They deal most
arrogantly
with those who
are the most
evident objects
of
compassion. The law of God
especially commends these poor ones to the
kindness of good men, and it is
peculiar wickedness which singles them
out
to
be
the
victims
not
only
of
fraud
but
of
murder.
Must
not
such
inhuman
conduct as this
provoke the Lord? Shall the tears of widows, the
groans
of
strangers,
and
the
blood
of
orphans
be
poured
forth
in
vain?
As
surely
as
there
is
a
God
in
heaven,
he
will
visit
those
who
perpetrate
such
crimes;
though he bear long
with them, he will yet take vengeance, and that
speedily.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver. 6. Widow;
fatherless. An old Jewish writer (Philo Judaeus)
has
pointed out how aptly
the titles of
widow
and
orphan
befitted the Hebrew
nation, because it had no helper save
God only, and was cut off from all
other people by its peculiar rites and
usages, whereas the Gentiles, by
their
mutual alliances and intercourse, had, as it were,
a multitude of
kindred to help them in
any strait.
J. M. Neale.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 6-9.
1. Conspicuous
sin.
2. Absurd supposition.
3. Overwhelming argument.
Psalms 94:7 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver.
7.
Yet
they
say,
the
Lord
shall
not
see.
This
was
the
reason
of
their
arrogance, and the climax of their
wickedness: they were blindly wicked
because they dreamed of a blind God.
When men believe that the eyes of
God
are dim, there is no reason to wonder that they
give full license to
their
brutal
passions.
The
persons
mentioned
above
not
only
cherished
an
infidel unbelief, but dared to avow it,
uttering the monstrous doctrine
that
God is too far away to take notice of the actions
of men.
Neither shall the God of Jacob
regard it. Abominable blasphemy and
transparent falsehood If God has
actually become his people's God, and
proved
his
care
for
them
by
a
thousand
acts
of
grace,
how
dare
the
ungodly
assert
that
he
will
not
notice
the
wrongs
done
to
them?
There
is
no
limit
to the proud man's profanity, reason
itself cannot restrain him; he has
broken through the bounds of common
sense. Jacob's God heard him at the
brook
Jabbok;
Jacob's
God
led
him
and
kept
him
all
his
life
long,
and
said
concerning
him
and
his
family,
not
mine
anointed,
and
do
my
prophets
no harm;
sees nor regards the injuries wrought
upon the elect people! Surely in
such
unbelievers
is
fulfilled
the
saying
of
the
wise,
that
those
whom
the
Lord
means to destroy he leaves to the madness of their
corrupt hearts.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND
QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver.
7.
They
say,
the
Lord
shall
not
see. As
if
they
had
said,
Though
God
should set himself to
search us out, and would greatly wish to see what
we
are
doing,
yet
he
shall
not.
We
will
carry
it
so
closely
and
cunningly,
that
the
eye
of
God
shall
not
reach
us.
Their
works
were
so
foul
and
bloody,
that the sun might be ashamed to look
upon them, and they were so secret
that
they believed God could not look upon them, or
bring them to shame
for them.
Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 7. The LORD... the God of Jacob.
The divine names are, as usual,
significant. That the self existent and
eternal God should not see, is
a
palpable
absurdity;
and
scarcely
less
so,
that
the
God
of
Israel
should
suffer his own people
to be slaughtered without even observing it. The
last verb means to mark, note, notice.
J. A. Alexander.
Psalms 94:8 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver. 8.
Understand, ye brutish among the people. They said
that God did
not
note,
and
now,
using
the
same
word
in
the
original,
the
psalmist
calls
on the wicked to note,
and have regard to the truth. He designates them
as boors, boarish, swinish men, and
well was the term deserved; and he
bids
them understand or consider, if they can. They
thought themselves
to
be
wise,
and
indeed
the
only
men
of
wit
in
the
world,
but
he
calls
them
the more foolish they
become.
proverb. When a man has done
with God, he has done with his manhood, and
has
fallen
to
the
level
of
the
ox
and
the
ass,
yea,
beneath
them,
for
ox knoweth his owner, and
the ass his master's crib.
humbled in
the presence of scientific infidels, we ought to
pity them;
they
affect
to
look
clown
upon
us,
but
we
have
far
more
cause
to
look
down
upon
them.
And ye fools, when
will ye be
wise?
Is it not high time?
Ye know
the
ways
of folly, what
profit have ye in them? Have ye no relics of
reason left?
no shreds of sense? If as
yet there lingers in your minds a gleam of
intelligence, hearken to argument, and
consider the questions now about
to be
proposed to you.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND
QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver. 8-11. In these
words the following particulars are to be
observed.
(1.)
A
certain
spiritual
disease
charged
on
some
persons,
viz.
darkness,
and
blindness
of
mind, appearing in their ignorance and folly. (2.)
The
great
degree
of this disease; so as to render the subjects of
it
fools
.
Ye
fools, when will ye be wise? And so as to reduce
them to a degree of
brutishness.
Ye brutish
among the people. This ignorance and folly were
to
such
a
degree
as
to
render
men
like
beasts.
(3.)
The
obstinacy
of
this
disease; expressed in
that interrogation, When will ye be wise? Their
blindness and folly were not only very
great, but deeply rooted and
established, resisting all manner of
cure. (4.) Of what
nature
this
blindness is. It is especially in
things pertaining to God. They were
strangely
ignorant
of his perfections,
like beasts: and had
foolish
notions
of
him,
as
though
he
did
not
see,
nor
know:
and
as
though
he
would
not execute justice,
by chastising and punishing wicked men. (5.) The
unreasonableness
and
sottishness
of the notion
they had of God, that he
did not hear,
did not
observe
their
reproaches of him and his people, is
shown by observing that he
planted
the ear. It is very
unreasonable
to
suppose that he who
gave
power
of
perceiving words to
others, should not
perceive
them himself. And the sottishness of their being
insensible of
God's
all
seeing
eye,
and
particularly
of
his
seeing
their
wicked
actions,
appears, in that God is the being who
formed
the eye, and gave
others a
power
of
seeing.
The sottishness
of
their apprehension
of
God, as
though
he did not know what they did, is
argued from his being the
fountain
and
original of all knowledge. The
unreasonableness of their expecting to
escape
God's
just
chastisement
and
judgments
for
sin,
is
set
forth
by
his
chastising
even
the
heathen
,
who
did
not
sin
against
that
light,
or
against
so great mercies, as the wicked in
Israel did; nor had ever made such a
profession as they. (6.) We may
observe, that this dreadful disease is
ascribed
to
mankind
in
general
.
The
Lord
knoweth
the
thoughts
of
MAN,
that
they are vanity. The
psalmist had been setting forth the vanity and
unreasonableness of the thoughts of
some
of the children of men;
and
immediately upon it he observes,
that this vanity and foolishness of
thought is
common
and
natural to mankind
. From
these particulars we may
fairly deduce
the following doctrinal observation:
That there is an
extreme and
brutish blindness in things of religion, which
naturally
possesses the hearts of
mankind.
Jonathan
Edwards.
Ver. 8-15. God
hath ability, bowels, verity. Ability, He that
made the
eye, cannot he see? He that
planted the ear, cannot he hear? Ps 94:8-11.
Bowels,
He doth but chasten
his, not cast them off
,
Ps
94:12-14. Verity,
this is but until a
pit be made for the wicked
, Ps 94:13.
Mordecai is
frowned upon, but till a
gallows be made for Haman, and then judgment
returns unto righteousness.
Nicholas Lockyer.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 8. The duration of the reign of
evil.
1. Till it has filled up its
measure of guilt.
2. Till it has
proved its own folly.
3. Till it has
developed the graces and prayers of
saints.
4.
Till
it
has
emptied
man
of
all
human
trust
and
driven
us to look to the
Lord alone, his Spirit, and his
advent.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 8. Practical Atheists.
1. Truly described.
2.
Wisely counselled.
C.A.D.
Ver. 8-11.
1. The
Exhortation (Ps 94:8).
2. The
Expostulation (Ps 94:9-10).
3. The
Affirmation (Ps 94:11).
G.
R.
Psalms 94:9
(PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver.
9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He
fashioned that
marvellous organ, and
fixed it in the most convenient place near to the
brain,
and
is
he
deaf
himself?
Is
he
capable
of
such
design
and
invention,
and yet can he not discern what is done
in the world which he made? He
made you
hear, can he not himself hear? Unanswerable
question! It
overwhelms the sceptic,
and covers him with confusion.
He that
formed the eye, shall he not see? He gives us
vision; is it
conceivable
that
he
has
no
sight
himself?
With
skilful
hand
he fashioned
the optic
nerve, and the eyeball, and all its curious
mechanism, and it
surpasses all
conception that he can himself be unable to
observe the
doings of his creatures. If
there be a God, he must be a personal
intelligent being, and no limit can be
set to his knowledge.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver.
9.
He
that
planted
the
ear,
shall
he
not
hear?
etc.
The
psalmist
does
not
say,
He
that
planteth
the
ear,
hath
he
not
an
ear?
He
that formed
the
eye,
hath he not
eyes?
No; but, Shall he not
hear
? Shall he not
see?
And
why
does
he
say
so?
To
prevent
the
error
of
humanizing
God,
of
attributing
members or corporeal parts to the
infinite Spirit.
Adam
Clarke.
Ver. 9. Planted the
ear. The mechanism of the ear, like a root planted
in the earth, is sunk deep into the
head, and concealed from view.
Bagster's Comprehensive
Bible.
Ver. 9. The
planting
or deep seated
position of the ear, as well as its
wonderful
construction,
are
illustrated
by
the
following
extract:
—
organ
or
instrument
of
hearing
is
in
all
its
most
important
parts
so
hidden
within
the head, that we cannot perceive its construction
by a mere
external inspection. What in
ordinary language we call the ear, is only
the outer porch or entrance vestibule
of a curious series of intricate,
winding
passages,
which,
like
the
lobbies
of
a
great
building,
lead
from
the
outer
air
into
the
inner
chambers.
Certain
of
these
passages
are
full
of
air;
others
are
full
of
liquid;
and
their
membranes
are
stretched
like
parchment curtains across the corridors
at different places, and can be
thrown
into vibration, or made to tremble, as the head of
a drum or the
surface of a tambourine
does when struck with a stick or the fingers.
Between
two
of
these
parchment
like
curtains,
a
chain
of
very
small
bones
extends, which serves to tighten or
relax these membranes, and to
communicate vibrations to them. In the
innermost place of all, rows of
fine
threads,
called
nerves,
stretch
like
the
strings
of
a
piano
from
the
last
points
to
which
the
tremblings
or
thrillings
reach,
and
pass
inwards
to the brain. If these threads or
nerves are destroyed, the power of
hearing as infallibly departs as the
power to give out sound is lost by
a
piano or violin when its strings are
broken.
We
know
far
less,
however,
of
the
ear
than
of
the
eye.
The
eye
is
a
single
chamber
open
to
the
light,
and
we
can
see
into
it,
and
observe
what
happens
there.
But
the
ear
is
many
chambered,
and its
winding
tunnels
traversing
the rock like
bones of the skull are narrow, and hidden from us
as the
dungeons of a castle are, like
which, also, they are totally dark. Thus
much, however, we know, that it is in
the innermost recesses of these
unilluminated
ivory
vaults,
that
the
mind
is
made
conscious
of
sound.
Into
these
gloomy cells, as into the bright chamber of the
eye, the soul is
ever
passing
and
asking
for
news
from
the
world
without;
and
ever
and
anon,
as of
old in hidden subterranean caverns where men
listened in silence
and darkness to the
utterance of oracles, reverberations echo along
the
surrounding walls, and responses
come to the waking spirit, while the
world lifts up its voice and speaks to
the soul. The sound is that of a
hushed
voice, a low but clear whisper; for as it is but a
dim shadow of
the outer world we see;
so it is but a faint echo of the outer world we
hear.
George Wilson, in
1861.
Ver. 9. He that
planted the ear, &c. Shall the Author of these
senses be
senseless? Our God is not as
that Jupiter of Crete, who was pictured
without ears, and could not be at
leisure to attend upon small matters.
He is
onv kai
nou
;
he
is
also
olofyalmov
,
all
eye,
all
ear.
We
read
of
a
people
called
Panotii
;God only is so, to
speak properly
John Trapp.
Ver. 9. Formed the eye. The term used
of the creation of the eye, is not
merely
as
the
Prayer
Book
version
reads,
but
pl
asav
,
finxit
,
directing
our
attention
to
the
wonderful
mechanism
of
the
organs
of
sight,
and
thence to the marvellous skill of the Artificer.
J. M. Neale.
Ver.
9.
He
that
formed
the
eye.
The
word
here
used
is
frequently
employed
in reference to a
potter
;and the idea is that
God has moulded or formed
the eye as
the potter fashions the clay. The more the eye is
studied in
its structure, the more
deeply shall we be impressed with the wonderful
skill and wisdom of God.
Albert Barnes.
Ver.
9.
The
eye.
As
illustrating
the
wisdom
displayed
in
the
eye
we
have
selected
the following.
the power of
comprehending the world in all the respects in
which it is
possible for matter or its
forces to affect our bodies.
completely
meet this want... We are too apt to confine
ourselves to the
mere mechanism of the
eye or ear, without considering how the senses
supplement
each
other,
and
without
considering
the
provision
made
in
the
world that it may be a fit place for
the exercise of the senses. The eye
would
be
useless
without
all
the
properties
of
light;
the
ear
would
have
no
power
in
a
world
without
an
atmosphere.
Sight
enables
us
to
avoid
danger,
and
seek
distant
needful
objects.
What
a
vast
length
of
time
and
wearisome
labour would it require for a blind man
to learn what one glance of the
eye
may
give
to
one
blessed
with
sight.
A
race
of
blind
men
could
not
exist
on this globe.
The sense of
sight alone, as a means of adapting us to the
world, would
strike us as wonderful in
its results, and worthy of the conception of
the highest intelligence in adapting
means to ends, if we knew nothing
of
the
adjustments
by
which
sight
is
secured.
We
can
conceive
of
the
power
of
sight
as
direct
perception,
without
the
aid
of light,
or
of
a
special
organ corresponding
to the eye. But constituted as we are, we see only
through
the
agency
of
light;
and
we
perceive
light
only
by
a
special
organ;
and objects only in consequence of a
peculiar structure of that organ.
Of
all
these
relationships
of
light
to
objects,
and
of
light
to
the
eye,
and
of
the
parts
of
the
eye
to
each
other,
not
one
of
them
is
a
necessary
condition of matter. The arrangement of
so many things by which this
wonderful
power
of
perceiving
distant
objects
is
secured,
is
the
only
one
that
will
secure
the
end
desired,
out
of
an
endless
number
of
arrangements
that
can
be
conceived
of...
Whoever
contrived
the
organ
through
which
we
are to
perceive, understood perfectly all the properties
of light, and
the
wants
of
the
being
that
was
to
use
it.
The
eye
of
man,
though
limited
in
its power to a certain range, gives all that the
common wants of life
demand.
And
if
man
needs
greater
range
of
vision,
he
has
but
to
study
the
eye
itself,
and
fashion
instruments
to
increase
its
power;
as
he
is
able
when
the
proper
time
has
come
in
his
civilization,
to
increase
by
science
and
art
the
efficacy
of
nearly
all
his
physical
powers.
For
the
ordinary
purposes of life, neither telescopic
nor microscopic adjustment of the
eye
is needful.
But the eye has not only
the power of vision so necessary to man, but it
is an instrument of power, an
instrument made up of distinct parts, of
solids and liquids, of transparent and
opaque tissues, of curtains, and
lenses,
and
screens.
Its
mechanism
can
be
accurately
examined
and
the
use
of
each
part
as
perfectly
understood
as
any
of
the
works
of
man.
We
examine
every part of it as
we would a microscope. We have first the solid
case
which
is
to
hold
all
the
machinery,
and
upon
which
are
to
be
fastened
the
cords
and
pulleys
of
its
skilful
mounting.
This
covering,
opaque,
white,
and glistening, like silver on the back
and sides of the eye, in front,
where
the
light
must
enter,
suddenly
becomes
transparent
as
the
clearest
crystal.
Within
this
is
a
second
coating
that
coming
to
the
front
changes
just as suddenly into an opaque screen,
through the tissues of which no
ray
of
light
can
pass.
That
screen
is
self
adjusting,
with
a
network
that
no
art
of
man
ever
equalled.
Whether
expanding
or
contracting,
its
opening
in
the centre always remains a perfect circle,
adapted in size to the
intensity
of
the
light.
How
much
light
shall
enter
the
eye
it
determines
without aid from us. Next there must be
connection with the brain, the
seat
of
the
being
for
whom
the
provision
is
made.
These
two
coatings
are
pierced
upon
the
back
part
of
the
eye,
and
a
thread
draw
out
from
the
brain
is
passed
through
this
opening
and
spread
out
within
the
eye
as
a
delicate
screen
upon
which
all
impressions
are
to
be
made.
To
fill
the
larger
portion
of
the
cavity,
there
is
packed
into
it
a
clear
jelly,
and
imbedded
in
this
a lens, fashioned with a skill that no
artist can equal, to refract the
light
and
throw
the
image
on
the
perceptive
screen.
In
front
of
this
lens
is
another humour, not like jelly as the other,
because in this, that
delicate
fringe
the
iris,
is
to
float,
and
nothing
but
a
watery
fluid
will
answer its purpose.
Here then we have a great variety of materials all
brought
together,
of
the
exact
quality
and
in
the
quantity
needed,
placed
in
the exact position which they ought to occupy, so
perfectly adjusted
that the most that
man can do is to imitate the eye without ever
hoping
to equal it.
Nor is
the curious structure of the eye itself all that
is worthy of our
attention.
The
instrument
when
finished
must
be
mounted
for
use.
A
cavity
is
formed
in
solid
bone,
with
grooves
and
perforations
for
all
the
required
machinery.
The
eye,
when
placed,
is
packed
with
soft
elastic
cushions
and
fastened
by
strings
and
pulleys
to
give
it
variety
and
rapidity
of
motion.
Its
outer
case
is
to
cover
it
when
not
in
use,
and
protect
it
when
in
danger.
The delicate fringe upon its border
never needs clipping; and set like
a
well arranged defence, its points all gracefully
turned back, that no
ray
of
light
may
be
obstructed.
Above
the
protecting
brow
is
another
defence
to turn aside the
acrid fluids from the forehead, while near the eye
is
placed a gland that bathes the whole
organ with a clear soothing fluid,
to
prevent all friction and keep its outward lens
free from dust, and
polished for
constant use. When we consider all this, the
perfect
adaptation
of
the
eye
to
our
wants,
the
arrangement
of
every
part
of
its
structure on strict
mechanical and optical principles, and all the
provisions for its protection, we
pronounce the instrument perfect, the
work
of
a
Being
like
man,
but
raised
immeasurably
above
the
most
skilful
human workman. What shall we say when
we learn that this instrument was
prepared
in
long
anticipation
of
its
use;
that
there
is
a
machinery
within
it to keep it in constant repair; that
the Maker not only adjusted the
materials, but that he was the chemist
who formed all these substances
from
the dust of the earth? We may be told that the
architect found this
dust
ready
at
hand,
existing
from
all
eternity.
We
may
not
be
able
to
prove
the
contrary,
nor
do
we
need
to
do
so
for
this
argument.
It
is
enough
for
our present purpose to know that the
eyes with which we now see, these
wonderfully complex and perfect
instruments, were not long since common
earth, dust upon which we perchance
have trod.
We
can
understand
the
mechanism
of
the
eye,
we
can
comprehend
the
wisdom
that
devised
it;
but
the
preparation
of
materials,
and
the
adjustment
of
parts, speak of a power and skill to
which man can never hope to attain.
When he sees his most cunning
workmanship surpassed both in plan and
execution,
shall
he
fail
to
recognise
design?
we
fail
to
recognise
a
builder
when
we
contemplate
such
a
work?
P.
A.
Chadbourne,
in
on
Natural
Theology
or,
Nature
and
the
Bible
from
the
same
Author.
New
York,
1867.
Ver. 9. Shall he not see? A god or a
saint that should really cast the
glance
of
a
pure
eye
into
the
conscience
of
the
worshipper
would
not
long
be
held
in
repute.
The
grass
would
grow
again
around
that
idol's
shrine.
A
seeing
god
would
not
do:
the
idolater
wants
a
blind
god.
The
first
cause
of
idolatry
is
a
desire
in
an
impure
heart
to
escape
from
the
look
of
the
living
God,
and
none
but
a
dead
image
would
serve
the
turn.
William
Arnot.
Ver.
9.
He
who
made
the
sun
itself,
and
causes
it
to
revolve,
being
a
small
portion
of
his
works,
if
compared
with
the
whole,
is
he
unable
to
perceive
all things?
Epictus.
Ver.
9.
That
is
wise
counsel
of
the
Rabbins,
that
the
three
best
safeguards
against
falling
into
sin
are
to
remember,
first,
that
there
is
an
ear
which
hears everything;
secondly, that there is an eye which sees
everything;
thirdly, that there is a
hand which writes everything in the Book of
Knowledge, which shall be opened at the
Judgment.
J. M. Neale.
Ver. 9-10. It was no limited power that
could make this eye to see, this
ear
to
hear,
this
heart
to
understand;
and,
if
that
eye
which
he
hath
given
us, can see all things
that are within our prospect, and that ear, that
he
hath
planted,
can
hear
all
sounds
that
are
within
our
compass,
and
that
heart, that he hath given us, can know
all matters within the reach of
our
comprehension; how much more shall the sight, and
hearing, and
knowledge of that Infinite
Spirit, which can admit of no bounds, extend
to
all
the
actions
and
events
of
all
the
creatures,
that
lie
open
before
him that made them!
Joseph Hall.
Ver. 10. He that teacheth man
knowledge. The question posts midway (for
the words in Italics are not
Scripture), the point of application being
too obvious to need mention.
(Fill out the rest yourselves; think,
What then?)
Henry Cowles.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.
Ver. 9-10. True Rationalism; or,
Reason's Revelation of God.
U.A.D.
Psalms 94:10 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver.
10.
He
that
chastiseth
the
heathen,
shall
not
he
correct?
He
reproves
whole
nations,
can
he
not
reprove
individuals?
All
history
shows
that
he
visits
national
sin
with
national
judgment,
and
can
he
not
deal
with
single
persons?
The
question
which
follows
is
equally
full
of
force,
and
is
asked
with a degree of
warmth which
checks
the speaker, and causes the inquiry
to remain incomplete. It begins,
He that teacheth man knowledge, and
then it comes to a pause, which the
translators have supplied with the
words, shall not he know? but no such
words are in the original, where the
sentence comes to an abrupt end, as
if
the inference were too natural to need to be
stated, and the writer
had
lost
patience
with
the
brutish
men
with
whom
he
had
argued.
The
earnest
believer
often
feels
as
if
he
could
say,
to,
you
are
not
worth
arguing
with! If you were
reasonable men, these things would be too obvious
to
need
to
be
stated
in
your
hearing.
I
forbear.
Man's
knowledge
comes
from
God. Science in its
first principles was taught to our progenitor
Adam,
and all after advances have been
due to divine aid; does not the author
and revealer of all knowledge himself
know?
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT
SAYINGS.
Ver. 10. He that
teacheth man
knowledge.
What
knowledge have we
but that
which is derived
from himself or from the external world?
—
and what is
that
world,
but
his
Creation?
—
and
what
is
creation,
but
the
composition,
structure,
and
arrangement
of
all
things
according
to
his
previous
designs,
plans,
intentions,
will,
and
mandate?
In studying
creation
in any
of
its
departments, we therefore
study
his mind:
and
all that we
can learn from
it must be
his ideas, his purposes, and his performances. No
author, in
his
compositions
—
no
artificer,
in
his
mechanisms,
can
more
truly
display
their
talents
and
ideas
to
others,
than
the
unseen
Creator
manifests
his
thoughts and
intelligence to us in the systems and substances
which he
has formed, and presents to
our continual contemplation. In this sense,
Nature is an unceasing revelation of
them to us.
Sharon Turner.
Psalms 94:11 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver. 11.
Whether men admit or deny that God knows, one
thing is here
declared, namely, that
The
Lord
knoweth
the
thoughts
of
man,
that
they
are
vanity.
Not
their
words
alone
are heard, and their works seen, but he reads the
secret motions
of their minds, for men
themselves are not hard to be discerned of him,
before his glance they themselves are
but vanity. It is in the Lord's
esteem
no great matter to know the thoughts of such
transparent pieces
of
vanity
as
mankind
are,
he
sums
them
up
in
a
moment
as
poor
vain
things.
This
is
the
sense
of
the
original,
but
that
given
in
the
authorised
version
is
also
true
—
the
thoughts,
the
best
part,
the
most
spiritual
portion
of
man's
nature,
even
these
are
vanity
itself,
and
nothing
better.
Poor
man!
And
yet
such
a
creature
as
this
boasts,
plays
at
monarch,
tyrannises
over
his
fellow
worms,
and
defies
his
God!
Madness
is
mingled
with
human
vanity,
like smoke with the fog, to make it
fouler but not more substantial than
it
would have been alone.
How
foolish
are
those
who
think
that
God
does
not
know
their
actions,
when
the
truth
is
that
their
vain
thoughts
are
all
perceived
by
him!
How
absurd
to
make nothing of God when in fact we ourselves are
as nothing in his
sight.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver.
11.
The
LORD
knoweth
the
thoughts.
The
thoughts
of
man's
heart
—
what
millions are there of them in a day!
The twinkling of the eye is not so
sudden a thing as the twinkling of a
thought; yet those thousands and
thousands of thoughts which pass from
thee, that thou canst not reckon,
they
are all known to God.
Anthony
Burgess.
Ver.
11.
The
Lord
knoweth
the
thoughts
of
man,
that
they
are
vanity.
What
a
humbling thought is here suggested to us! Let us
examine it.
1. If vanity
had been
ascribed to the
meaner parts
of the creation
—
if
all
inanimate
and
irrational
beings,
whose
days
are
as
a
shadow,
and
who
know
not
whence
they
came
nor
whither
they
go,
had
thus
been
characterized
—
it
had
little
more
than
accorded
with
our
own
ideas.
But the humiliating
truth belongs to man, the
lord
of the lower
creation
—
to man,
that distinguished link in the chain of being
which unites in his person mortality
and immortality, heaven and
earth.
LORD
knoweth
the
thoughts
of
man
,
that
they
are
vanity.
2. Had vanity
been ascribed
only to the
exercise of
our sensual or
mortal
part,
or
of
that
which
we
possess
in
common
with
other
animals,
it
had
been
less
humiliating.
But
the
charge
is
pointed
at
that
which
is the peculiar glory
of man the intellectual part, his
thoughts
.
It
is
here,
if
anywhere,
that
we
excel
the
creatures
which
are
placed
around
us.
We
can
contemplate
our
own
existence,
dive
into
the
past
and the future, and
understand whence we came and whither we go.
Yet
in
this
tender
part;
we
are
touched.
Even
the
of
man
are
vanity.
3. If vanity had been ascribed
merely to those loose and trifling
excursions of the imagination which
fall not under the influence
of choice,
a kind of comers and goers, which are ever
floating in
the
mind,
like
insects
in
the
air
on
a
summer's
evening,
it
had
been
less affecting. The
soul of man seems to be necessarily active.
Everything we see, hear, taste, feel,
or perceive, has some
influence
upon
thought,
which
is
moved
by
it
as
leaves
on
the
trees
are
moved
by
every
breeze
of
wind.
But
here
include
those
exercises of the mind
in which it is voluntarily or intensely
engaged, and in which we are in
earnest; even all our schemes,
contrivances,
and
purposes.
One
would
think,
if
there
were
anything
in man to be
accounted of, it should be those exercises in
which
his intellectual faculty is
seriously and intensely employed. Yet
the Lord knoweth that even these are
vanity.
4. If during
our
state of
childhood
and youth
only vanity had been
ascribed
to
our
thoughts,
it
would
have
been
less
surprising.
This
is
a
truth
of
which
numberless
parents
have
painful
proof;
yea,
and
of which children themselves, as they
grow up to maturity, are
generally
conscious.
Vanity
at
this
period,
however,
admits
of
some
apology.
The obstinacy and folly of some young people,
while they
provoke disgust, often
excite a tear of pity. But the charge is
exhibited against
man.
at his best
estate
is altogether
vanity.
5. The decision
proceeds from
a
quarter from which there can be no
appeal.
it.
Opinions dishonourable to our
species
may sometimes arise from ignorance, sometimes from
spleen
and
disappointment,
and
sometimes
from
a
gloomy
turn
of
mind,
which
views mankind through
a distorted medium. But the judgment given
in this passage is the decision of Him
who cannot err; a decision
therefore
to
which,
if
we
had
no
other
proof,
it
becomes
us
to
accede.
Andrew
Fuller.
Ver. 11. They are
vanity. The Syriac version is,
For they
are
a vapour.
Compare Jas 4:14.
John
Gill.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE
PREACHER.
Ver. 11.
1. With
respect to the present world, consider what
multitudes of thoughts are employed in
vain.
(a) In seeking satisfaction
where it is not to be found.
(b) In
poring on events which cannot be recalled.
(c) In anticipating evils which never
befall us.
(d) To these may be added
the valuing ourselves on things
of
little or no account.
(e) In laying
plans which must be disconcerted.
2.
Let us see what are man's thoughts with regard to
religion, and the concerns of a future
life. (a) What
are the thoughts of the
heathen world about religion?
(b) What
are all the thoughts of the Christian world,
where God's thoughts are neglected? (c)
What is all
that
practical
atheism
which
induces
multitudes
to
act
as if
there were no God? (d) What are all the
unbelieving, self flattering
imaginations of wicked
men, as though
God were not in earnest in his
declarations and threatenings? (e) What
are the
conceits of the self righteous,
by which they buoy up
their minds with
vain hopes, and refuse to submit to
the
righteousness of God?
Andrew
Fuller.
Ver.
11.
God's
intimate
knowledge
of
man.
A
startling
truth.
A
humiliating
truth.
Psalms 94:12 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION.
Ver. 12.
Blessed is
the man
whom
thou chastenest, O LORD. The psalmist's
mind is growing quiet. He no longer
complains to God or argues with men,
but tunes his harp
to softer
melodies,
for his faith
perceives that with
the most
afflicted believer all is well. Though he may not
feel blessed
while smarting under the
rod of chastisement, yet blessed he is; he is
precious
in
God's
sight,
or
the
Lord
would
not
take
the
trouble
to
correct
him,
and right happy will
the
results of
his correction
be.
The psalmist
calls the
chastened one a
in the best
sense, using the Hebrew word
which
implies strength. He is a man, indeed, who is
under the teaching
and training of the
Lord.
And teachest him out of thy law.
The book and the rod, the law and the
chastening, go together, and are made
doubly useful by being found in
connection. Affliction without the word
is a furnace for the metal, but
there
is
no
flux
to
aid
the
purifying:
the
word
of
God
supplies
that
need,
and
makes
the
fiery
trial
effectual.
After
all,
the
blessing
of
God
belongs
far rather to those who suffer under
the divine hand than to those who
make
others suffer: better far to lie and cry out as a
hand
of
our
heavenly
Father,
than
to
roar
and
rave
as
a
brute,
and
to
bring
down
upon
one's
self
a
death
blow
from
the
destroyer
of
evil.
The
afflicted
believer is under
tuition, he is in training for something higher
and
better, and all that he meets with
is working out his highest good,
therefore
is
he
a
blessed
man,
however
much
his
outward
circumstances
may
argue the reverse.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
Ver. 12. Blessed is the man, &e. I
shall show the various benefits of
affliction, when it is sanctified by
the Spirit of God to those persons
who
are exercised by it. (1.) The Great God has made
affliction the
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