Initial Impressions: Psalm 94:12-13

A first take on this section of the Scriptures:

Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,

and whom you teach out of your law,

to give him rest from days of trouble,

until a pit is dug for the wicked.

For the Lord will not forsake his people;

he will not abandon his heritage;

for justice will return to the righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?

If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

When I thought, “My foot slips,”

your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.

Can wicked rulers be allied with you,

those who frame injustice by statute?

They band together against the life of the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

But the Lord has become my stronghold,

and my God the rock of my refuge.

He will bring back on them their iniquity

and wipe them out for their wickedness;

the Lord our God will wipe them out.

Starting the flow of poetry, the psalmist calls blessed the man "whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law." (v. 12) Rarely do we see this as truth; if it is true that God, upon our adoption by him, is our Father, and our primary objective in life is to become conformed to the image of Christ, then the most loving, purpose-fulfilling thing he could do for us is discipline us! Though we don't want to be disciplined, because we don't want to realize the full potential of christian living, as it is contrary to our flesh. Let us, by the Spirit, put to death this attitude and instead live ready to be trained by our Heavenly Father (Romans 8). For we know, by the Scriptures, that in holding this stance, we open up ourselves for joy to abound all the more as were taught how to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength.

The psalmist then, after mentioning training, talks of rest. God gives rest to the righteous from the wicked. He then goes on to say that the Lord will not "forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it." (v. 14-15) God will give rest to his people from the evils (and evildoers) of this life, whether it be here on earth or at home in heaven.

The flow then takes up the voice of the righteous man, who loudly seems to cry, "Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers? If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence." One could easily see this man addressing a large group of people, perhaps his own people, instructing them of the sound logic that comes with forsaking evil and relying on the Lord. He continues to testify.

In verses 18 and 19, the psalmist reveals a glimmer of the Lords saving grace towards his people. "When I thought, 'My foot slips,' your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up" (v. 18). God shows himself here to be trustworthy in immanent situations. In this case, one could picture a man teetering on the edge of a metaphorical cliff, about to lose his footing and plunge to his death; suddenly, however, a large, bouldery hand reaches out and grabs the man by the neck, pulling him back to level ground. The man would then, of course, live his life giving praise to his rescuer, as we should do (and are commanded to do) for ours. "When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul" (v. 19). The psalmist, through this line, appears to paint a picture of restoration, where, in the midst of the many worries that life can naturally become, God comes alongside us to fix the golden fountain of praise that then, in turn, satisfies our souls. For those hearts that have been turned towards Christ, this is all that we desire in life: to see Christ while steeped in the mud of life and give him praise!

The stream of thought takes a bend as the psalmist speaks about evil men. "Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death." God is holy, and does not put himself around unholy people, hence the fact that we don't see him physically anymore. It is a mercy that he has separated himself from this material reality. Otherwise, we would all be dead from exposure to his overwhelming perfection and goodness, as we are completely contrary to him spiritually. (Exodus 33:20)

Ending on a hopeful note, the psalmist reaffirms his trust in God. This is important for any psalm for two reasons. One, it helps encourage us readers to do the same as we read and meditate on the psalms. Two, we can so easily form our prayers in an irreverent way. What I mean by this is, we can get off on tangents talking to God about our worries, our struggles, our sins, etc. and never "close the loop" by bringing it back and telling God that we trust him with all of what we just told him. May that be us!

Be blessed as you read and meditate on Gods Holy Word!

-AJR