LOOK TO THE LORD (Psalm 94)

I never cease to be amazed at how much scripture mirrors life. As a matter of fact, the Word of God is a perfect reflection of the life we live, the world we live in, and the God who never changes.

We do not know exactly who wrote Psalm 94, but we believe it was written at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Every good and sure thing had been removed upon the invasion of the enemy. In response, the child of God wrote these words.

Verses 1-2: “O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.”

This is another way of saying, “Lord, won’t you please do something? Evil seems to keep happening and wicked people are prospering. Where are you, Lord? When will you take care of this?”

Maybe that is the cry of your heart. Often we are afraid to put what we are thinking into words and say it out loud, but we frequently feel exactly like this psalmist, wondering where God is and when He will take care of things.

Psalm 94 is one example of what I mentioned earlier about how scripture reflects the way we think and live. There is an ebb and flow in these verses, following a certain pattern.

In verses 3-11, the psalmist was looking to the enemies and the difficulties that surrounded him.

Inverse 12 portrays a shift, as he got his eyes off of man and onto the Lord. (By the way, that would be a very good thing for all of us to do.)

In verse 20, we see him looking at the enemy again.

By verse 22 they are back to the Lord.

This is a picture of the great struggle we all have. We are torn between looking at people, circumstances, or ourselves as opposed to always looking at the Lord. We will look at that thought more closely after we walk through this psalm.

Verses 3-11: “Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.”

He was looking at the enemy and listening to the enemy, which is a very dangerous thing to do, and he ultimately had to go back to the truth he already knew, which is this: God hears, God sees, God knows, and God always does what is right.

That knowledge led him to shift his attention away from people and back to the Lord. The dramatic change in tone began with the first word of verse 12: “Blessed.” He went from the curse of the people to the blessing of God.

Verse 12-13: “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.”

The psalmist realized that this difficulty the people were going through could be for their own good — that this chastening could produce more of His character and His holiness among the people. I am reminded of Hebrews 12:5, which says, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.”

God will deal with the wicked. Their judgment is coming. But perhaps you are going through something right now. You need to see the Lord in this season of your life.

Verses 14-17: “For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.”

I love verse 17. He would have been unable to speak or sing without the help of the Lord. Aren’t you glad He helps us in times of trouble?

Verse 18: “When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.”

Are you there? Do you feel like you are sliding, without any sure ground on which to stand? It is at that moment when the Lord’s mercy will hold you up.

In a sense, we are crippled people because of our sinful nature. We are all wounded souls, and we have a tendency to lean on our own understanding. But if you lean on the Lord, you will find that He will hold you up.

Verse 19: “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

Stop right now for a moment and think about the Lord. Let the thought of Him bring comfort to your heart. Maybe no one around you can speak a good word to you, and nothing you hear on the news is positive, but if you think on the Lord, you can find comfort for your soul.

In verses 20-21, the psalmist succumbed to temptation and started focusing on the enemy again. “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.” We hear his despair in these words.

Verse 22: “But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.”

Don’t you love it? He made a conscious choice not to think about people and to think about God instead. Rather than concentrate on who was against him, he decided to concentrate on the One who was for him.

Verse 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.”

In other words, “I believe that in the end, God is going to do right by me and to them.”

One thing that has been true throughout human history is that people who try to do right have had wrong done to them. But it is also true that those of us who choose to do right can trust that God will do right in the end. The Lord will take care of you, and He will ultimately judge the wicked.

Here is the great lesson from Psalm 94. There is a message not just in the content but even in the layout. God is a God of order, and this progression of spiritual truth has in itself a lesson for us. It is a message in the method, if you will. The psalmist looked to man, then to God, then to man, then to God.

This is the essence of faith. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” The word “looking” in that verse is a word of choice. It means to take one’s eyes off a certain thing and fix them on something else. When the Lord Jesus fixed His face toward Jerusalem, He made a conscious decision. You must do the same thing today.

You must choose against your feelings, thoughts, and circumstances. You must take your eyes off of everyone and everything else, and fix them on Christ.

Will you look on the Lord Jesus today? If you choose to do that, you will find strength and victory in the midst of whatever you are dealing with. May the Lord help you today to look to Jesus.