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PSALM 94

1. O god of vengeance, O jehovah, O god of vengeance, shine forth!
2. Arise, O Judge of the earth! render recompense to the proud.
3. How long, O jehovah, shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4. They belch out, they speak hard things; all the workers of iniquity make loud boasting.
5. They break in pieces your people, O jehovah, and afflict your inheritance.
6. They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless.
7. Yet they say: jah will not see; neither will the god of Jacob consider.
8. Understand, you brutish among the people; O, you fools, when will you be wise?
9. He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? He who planted the eye, shall he not see?
10. He who chastises the nations, shall he not correct?— Even he who teaches man knowledge!
11. jehovah knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
12. Blessed is the man whom you chastise, O jah; and teach out of your law;
13. To give him rest from the days of evil, until the pit shall be dug for the wicked.
14. For jehovah will not desert his people, nor will he forsake his inheritance.
15. But judgement shall return to justice; and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16. Who will rise up for me against the evil doers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity.
17. Unless jehovah had been my help, my soul had quickly dwelt in silence.
18. When I said, my foot has slipped! Your mercy, O jehovah, supported me.
19. In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, your comforts delighted my soul.
20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with you, which frames mischief by a law?
21. They gather themselves together against the soul of the just, and condemn the innocent blood.
22. But jehovah is my defence, and my god is the rock of my refuge.
23. And he will bring upon them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, jehovah our god will cut them off.

Verse 2. O Judge of the earth. Judge of the earth, in an internal sense, signifies essential good from which truth is derived, which was also represented by the priests, who at the same time were judges in the representative church, they as priests represented Divine good, and as judges Divine Truth, but Judge of the whole earth denotes both, because earth signifies the church. For the better understanding of this, it is to be observed that there are two things which constitute the order of the universal heaven, and consequently of all things in the universe, namely good and truth; good is the essential [principle] of order, and all things belonging thereto are of mercy; truth is the secondary [principle] of order, and all things belonging thereto are truths; Divine good judges all to heaven; but Divine truth condemns all to hell; wherefore unless the mercy of the lord, which is of good, was eternal, all men whatever would be damned; this is what is signified by what is here said, that Divine good cannot do this according to truth separate from good; see also what is said above on this subject, AC 1728.

That the wicked nevertheless are condemned to hell, is not a consequence of Divine good being separated from Divine truth, but is a consequence of man's separating himself from Divine good; for the lord never casts down any to hell, but man casts himself down, as has been repeatedly shown above: herein also Divine good is joined with Divine truth, inasmuch as unless the wicked were separated from the good, the wicked would cause hurt to the good, and would be continually attempting to destroy order; thus their separation is of mercy, lest the good should suffer harm; the case in this respect is like as in kingdoms of the earth, where, unless evils were punished, the whole kingdom would be infected therewith, and would thereby perish, wherefore with kings and judges there is more of mercy in punishing evils, and in expelling the wicked from society, than in showing them unseasonable clemency. AC 2258.

Verse 6. They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless. From this and other passages it may also be known what is signified in the internal sense of the Word by orphans, that is, by those who are without a father, namely those who are in a state of innocence and charity, and desire to know and to do what is good, and are not able; in such a state are especially they who are out of the church, of whom the lord takes care, and whom he adopts as sons in another life; and inasmuch as these are signified by orphans, therefore when they are mentioned in the Word, in several passages are also mentioned sojourners and widows; for by sojourners are signified those who are instructed in goodness and truth, and by widows those who are in a state of good, and not so much in truth, and who are in a state of truth, and not so much in good, and yet are desirous to be good; inasmuch as by these three, namely orphans, sojourners, and widows, somewhat similar is signified in a series, therefore in several passages they are named together, as in the above. AC 3703.

Verse 7. jah will not see. For the specific meaning of jah, see Psalm 68:4. Exposition.

Verse 17. My soul had quickly dwelt in silence. What the soul is when separated from the natural body, see Psalm 43:5. Exposition; see also the work entitled Heaven and Hell from beginning to end.

Verse 18. My foot has slipped. For the signification of foot and heel see Psalm 49:5. Exposition.

Verse 21. They gather themselves together against the soul of the just, and condemn the innocent blood. Just denotes the good of love towards the neighbour; innocence is to acknowledge in heart, that man of himself wills nothing but evil, and perceives nothing but what is false, and that all the good which is of love, and all the truths which are of faith, are from the lord alone: no others can acknowledge these things in heart, but they who are conjoined to the lord by love; such are they who are in the inmost heaven, which is hence called the heaven of innocence; wherefore the good belonging to them is interior good; for it is the divine good of love proceeding from the lord, which they receive who are in the heaven of innocence; hence also they appear naked, and likewise as infants, from which circumstance it is, that innocence is represented by nakedness, and also by infancy.

From what has been now said concerning innocence, it may be manifest that the divine principle of the lord cannot be received except in innocence; whence it is, that good is not good unless innocence be in it, that is, the acknowledgement that from the selfhood of man proceeds nothing but what is evil and false, and that from the lord is all good and truth; to believe the former, and to believe and also to will the latter, is innocence: therefore the good of innocence is good Divine itself from the lord belonging to man: hence it is, that an innocent one signifies him, who is in interior good, and in the abstract sense interior good. Inasmuch as by innocent or innocence is signified the Divine good proceeding from the lord, therefore it was a crime most heinous to shed innocent blood. AC 9262.