Charles H. Spurgeon on Psalms 94:7

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.

Verses 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.

Verses 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.