Psalms 94:8-15

94:8 Take notice of this, ¹  you ignorant people! ² 

You fools, when will you ever understand?

94:9 Does the one who makes the human ear not hear?

Does the one who forms the human eye not see? ³ 

94:10 Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish?

He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings!

94:11 The Lord knows that

peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. ⁴ 

94:12 How blessed is the one ⁵  whom you instruct, O Lord,

the one whom you teach from your law,

94:13 in order to protect him from times of trouble, ⁶ 

until the wicked are destroyed. ⁷ 

94:14 Certainly ⁸  the Lord does not forsake his people;

he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him. ⁹ 

94:15 For justice will prevail, ¹⁰ 

and all the morally upright ¹¹  will be vindicated. ¹² 

[94:8]  ¹ tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.

[94:8]  ² tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”

[94:9]  ³ tn Heb “The one who plants an ear, does he not hear? The one who forms an eye, does he not see?”

[94:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are emptiness.” The psalmist thinks specifically of the “thoughts” expressed in v. 7.

[94:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2.

[94:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “to give him rest from the days of trouble.”

[94:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “until a pit is dug for the wicked.”

[94:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[94:14]  ¹² tn Or “his inheritance.”

[94:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”

[94:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11).

[94:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”