to rise (in various applications · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
evildoers
מְרֵעִ֑יםme.re.'Im
H7489
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
up
יִתְיַצֵּ֥בyit.ya.Tzev
H3320
to place (any thing so as to stay) · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
workers
פֹּ֥עֲלֵיPo.'a.lei
H6466
to do or make (systematically and habitually) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
iniquity
אָֽוֶן'A.ven
H205
strictly nothingness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Judges 5:23 Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the…
John 7:50-51 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
3 John 1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.
Numbers 25:6-13 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of…
Psalms 59:2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
Isaiah 63:5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; an…
Jeremiah 5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if th…
Exodus 32:26-29 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered thems…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 94:12–end
The psalmist, having denounced tribulation to those that trouble God's people, here assures those that are troubled of rest. See Th2 1:6, Th2 1:7. He speaks comfort to suffering saints from God's promises and his own experience.
I. From God's promises, which are such as not only save them from being miserable, but secure a happiness to them (Psa 94:12): Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest. Here he looks above the instruments of trouble, and eyes the hand of God, which gives it another name and puts quite another color upon it. The enemies break in pieces God's people (Psa 94:5); they aim at no less; but the truth of the matter is that God by them chastens his people, as the father the so…
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?.... These are the words of the psalmist, representing the church of God, under sore persecutions from the antichristian party; called "evildoers", because of their thefts, murders, idolatries, sorceries, and all manner of wickedness committed by them, Revelation 9:21, intimating that she had looked all around her, and could not observe any that she could hope for assistance from, to fight her battles for her with the enemy, and deliver her out of his hands: the Targum is,
"who will rise up, for me, to make war with the evildoers?''
what the church here seems to say in a despairing way, the followers of antichrist say in a triumphant and insult…
Psalm 94:16-19
16. Who will rise up for me against my adversaries? who will stand up for me [32] against the workers of iniquity? 17. Unless Jehovah had been my help, my soul had well nigh dwelt in silence. [33] 18. If I said, My foot has fallen, thy kindness, O Jehovah! has held me up. [34] 19. In the multitude of my thoughts, [35] thy comforts within me delight my soul. [36]
16. Who will rise up for me against my adversaries? Here the Psalmist points out, in a lively and graphic manner, how destitute he was of all human aid. As if at the moment in danger, he cries out -- Who will stand up for me? Who will oppose himself to my enemies? And immediately afterwards he replies, that had not G…
The Church Fathers
"Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand with me against those who work iniquity?" When he says "Who?", he signifies either something rare, or none at all. For the prophet speaks thus in the person of a weak man. "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?" Moses came, and could not make me better: the prophets came, and did not free me from the snares of sinners. Who then will rise up for me? Beautifully did he say "will rise up": as of one sleeping, as of one lying down. "Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord?" "Master, save us, we perish." Who will rise up for me against the multitude of demons? Who will furnish help? "Who will stand with me against those who work iniquity?" Beautifully did he say, "Who will stand with me?" For unless the Lord stand with us, who lay in his passion, unless he rise up who slept in death, we cannot overcome our adversaries. For this reason Stephen, doing battle against the assaults of the Jews, sees Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. He saw him standing, because he was fighting on behalf of his martyr. "Unless the Lord had helped me." Unless Christ had risen from hell, my soul would have descended to the netherworld.
"Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?" The psalms are obscure, and they are always changing the speakers; and for this reason they are obscure, and it is of exceeding difficulty to know in each verse who is speaking. "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand with me against those who work iniquity?" These verses the Savior speaks. "I am holy, I was lifted up on the cross, I died, I rose again, and I ascended a victor to the heavens. Who, do you suppose, among the saints, is there who will rise again with me?" So what he says is this: For this reason I rose again, that others too might rise with me. "Who will rise up for me?" When he says "Who," he provokes the rest to rise. For just as we read in Isaiah, "Whom shall I send to this people, and who will go for us?" — as Isaiah himself offers himself, so the Lord too provokes us, saying, "Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?" Whoever rises again, will rise for me, is of my army. "Against the evildoers": against the devil and his army. "Or who will stand with me?" See the order: he did not say first "who will stand," and "who will rise"; but "who will rise," and "who will stand." For first we rise, then we stand. "Or who will stand with me against those who work iniquity" — as a general might stand and say, "Who is coming in my army?"
Dictionary and topics
Zeal, Religious · EXEMPLIFIE — EXEMPLIFIE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
In the fifth strophe the poet celebrates the praise of the Lord as his sole, but also trusty and most consolatory help. The meaning of the question in Psa 94:16 is, that there is no man who would rise and succour him in the conflict with the evil-doers; ל as in Exo 14:25; Jdg 6:31, and עם (without נלחם or the like) in the sense of contra, as in Psa 55:19, cf. Ch2 20:6. God alone is his help. He alone has rescued him from death. היה is to be supplied to לוּלי: if He had not been, or: if He were not; and the apodosis is: then very little would have been wanting, then it would soon have come to this, that his soul would have taken up its abode, etc.; cf. on the construction Psa 119:92; Psa 124:…
The psalmist’s prayer resumes (see 94:1-7) with a desperate cry for the Lord’s justice; it concludes with the hopeful expectation that evil will end.
94:16 Only God has the power to stand up to the wicked (see 2:2).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 94:16
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
Notwithstanding the psalmist's persuasion that all would be well eventually, he could not at the time perceive any one who would stand side by side with him in opposing evil; no champion of the right was forthcoming, the faithful failed from among men. This also is a bitter trial, and a sore evil under the sun; yet it has its purpose, for it drives the heart still more completely to the Lord, compelling it to rest alone in him. If we could find friends elsewhere, it may be our God would not be so dear to us; but when, after calling upon heaven and earth to help, we meet with no succou…
"Who will rise up for me against the wicked? or who will take my part against the evil doers?" (ver. 16). Many persuade us to divers evils: the serpent ceaseth not to whisper to thee to work iniquity: whichever way thou shalt turn, if perchance thou hast done well, thou seekest to live well with some one, and thou hardly findest any one; many wicked men surround thee, for there are few grains of wheat, and much chaff. This floor hath its grains of corn, but as yet they suffer. Therefore the whole mass of the wheat, when separated from the chaff, will be great: the grains are few, but when compared with the chaff, still many in themselves. When therefore the wicked cry out on every side, and say, Why livest thou thus? Art thou the only Christian? Why dost thou not do what others also do? Why dost thou not frequent the theatres, as others do? Why dost thou not use charms and amulets? Why dost thou not consult astrologers and soothsayers, even as others do? And thou crossest thyself, and sayest, I am Christian, that thou mayest repel them, whosoever they are; but the enemy presses on, urges his attacks; what is worse, by the example of Christians he choketh Christians. They toil on, in the midst of heat: the Christian soul suffereth tribulation: yet it hath power to conquer: hath it such power of itself? For this reason remark what he saith. For he answereth, What doth it profit me that I now find charms for myself, and gain a few days? I depart hence from this life, and repair unto my Lord, who shall send me into the flames; because I have preferred a few days to life eternal, He shall send me into hell. What hell? That of the eternal judgment of God. Is it really so (the enemy answereth), unless indeed thou really believest that God careth how men live? And perhaps it is not an acquaintance who speaketh thus to thee in the street, but thy wife at home, or possibly the husband to the faithful and holy wife, her deceiver. If it be the woman to her husband, she is as Eve unto him; if as the husband unto the wife, he is as the devil unto her: either she is herself as Eve unto thee, or thou art a serpent unto her. Sometimes the father would incline his thoughts to his son, and findeth him wicked, utterly depraved: he is in a fever of misery, he wavers, he seeketh how to subdue him, he is almost drawn in, and consenteth: but may God be near him. ...
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
