Psalm 94

1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shew thyself.

2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

5 They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless.                  

7 Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10 He that chastises the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know?

11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastens, O Lord, and teaches him out of thy law.

13 That thou may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug 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 slips; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frames mischief by a law?

21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood.

22 But the Lord is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off. (KJV)

The cry for vengeance started back in Genesis 4:10 “The LORD said, ‘What have you done?’ Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” or as stated in Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead”. When studying the events in Genesis chapter four one will notice that when God did not look with favor on Cain’s offering that Cain became angry.  However, God still came to him and offered him a way back. “If you do what is right will you not be accepted”.

But if Cain did not want to do that which was right when then God stated “but if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.  However, Cain did let sin master him and in his angry killed his brother. Wickedness has a way of controlling us, but God has provided a way out and that is through Christ.

In I John 3: 11-12 “For this is the message which we heard from the beginning that we should love one another: “not as Cain was of the evil one and slew his brother. And therefore, slew he him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous” reveals the difference between the way Cain lived and the way Abel lived. This difference of the two ways has been with us from the beginning of time. The only difference between these two different ways or walks is their relationship with God. The ungodly way can be characterized as godless, in other words it is a way that does not include God at all. The godly way is the walk that is pleasing to God and seeks to know him as the Lord of the believer’s walk. In this psalm we see examples of God’s judgment on both ways. In verse 23 God repays the wicked for sins by destroying them. In verse 12 the way of the righteous is blessed by God’s discipline which teaches them his law. Your walk then is determined by whether you include God in it or whether you chose to keep God out of it. This is your chose. However, the end of your walk and the reward that you will at the end of this walk will be determined by God. So, choose wisely.

Verse eleven “The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.” reflects the words of the Preacher found in Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, vanity of vanities, allis vanity”.  God has given us the Holy Scriptures to answer all the of the many questions we should ever face in life.  As I read verse eleven to and reflected on the words of Ecclesiastes 1:2 I decided to read all twelve chapters of this book that was written by Solomon.  Having studied the life of Solomon in great detail, I believe that he wrote this book late in life after the Lord revealed to him that He would take away his kingdom from him except for the tribe of Judah for David’s sake. Reading the Book of Ecclesiastes, it is clear that as we reason about the journey of life that we pursue in this life is just vanity of vanities.  It is only when we truly apply Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God and keep his commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man.” that we can live a life that is truly fulfilling.