"Psalm 94 is a royal psalm, since the phrase 'Judge of the earth' (v. 2) is equivalent to 'King' (Psalm 50:4-6). The righteous call for the divine Judge to punish evil in the world (Psalm 82:8; Psalm 96:13; Psalm 98:9)" (Nelson Study Bible, note on Psalm 94). It is also a lament over present conditions, wherein the psalmist--David if the Septuagint's attribution is correct--pleads for the time of divine intervention in world affairs described in the surrounding psalms. The double repetition of statements and thoughts throughout magnifies the urgency and impact of the psalm.

The song begins by doubly stressing that vengeance belongs to God and asking that He would take action and punish the proud (verses 1-2; compare Psalm 79:10; Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19). Of course, we must understand that God's "vengeance" is not a hateful tit-for-tat lashing out but the exercise of perfect justice tempered, as circumstances warrant, with patience and mercy. The psalmist twice cries out with the common lament phrase "how long," aching to know how long the world must endure wicked people perpetrating their evil ways. Verses 5-6 mention the harm they do to the weak of society. God commanded that special care be shown to those in need, but the wicked afflict and murder them! And all the while they are blasphemous in their arrogant attitude, thinking they are getting away with something despite God--as if He has no understanding of what's going on (verses 4, 7).

But they are the ones who need to understand--that He knows exactly what is going on. He is the One who invented seeing and hearing and the means to experiencing them! And He sees and hears everything (verses 8-9). He will teach the nations a powerful lesson about who He is and His acute awareness through the correction He administers (verse 10). The thoughts of man are nothing next to what He knows and what He can bring to pass (compare verse 11).

Far better than instruction from severe correction is to be instructed from God's law (verse 12)--as those who submit to Him are. Learning the teachings of Scripture gives us "rest"--i.e., comfort and peace--until the time that God chooses to bring His judgment on the wicked (verse 13). For through God's Word we come to understand that He will not abandon His people (verse 14) and that just judgment will at some point return (verse 15)--in an ultimate sense when God's Kingdom is at last established on the earth.

In verse 16, the psalmist rhetorically asks twice who will act for him against evildoers. The answer, of course, as the next few verses make clear, is God. Indeed, in verse 17 the psalmist declares that God has already helped him--otherwise he would be dead. This is true for all of us even now. Consider that if God did not restrain Satan and his demons, they would surely have already exterminated mankind, and God's people in particular. The psalmist knows that God is there to help him even when he thinks he's falling (verse 18). In the midst of the worry and fear that all experience, the psalmist knows that God provides him with comfort and true happiness to make it through life (verse 19).

In verse 20 the psalmist asks, "Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?" The question is obviously rhetorical, as the answer is surely no. But whom is the psalmist talking about here? Most take the reference here to evil people in positions of power generally. That could be. Yet if the psalmist is David or one of his royal successors, he could instead be referring to himself. That is, he would be rhetorically asking, "If my rule as king were evil, could I have fellowship with You?" Again, the answer would be no. And the fellowship he has with God would testify to the righteousness of his reign--classing him among the innocent whom the wicked oppose (see verse 21).

In verse 22, the psalmist reaffirms his confidence in God's ongoing protection (compare verse 17). And he closes in verse 23 with the assurance that God has brought on the wicked their own iniquity and will yet bring this to fullness in final judgment. Here we see that God's laws exact their own penalty on those who live in defiance of them. The present life of the wicked is not so rosy as it might appear at a glance. And in the end, those who persist in evil will--as is twice stated in keeping with the repetition through the psalm--be destroyed.

This then sets the stage for the Kingdom of God, wherein only the righteous may rule and flourish.