defence · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
God
וֵ֝אלֹהַ֗יve.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
rock
לְצ֣וּרle.Tzur
H6697
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
refuge
מַחְסִֽיmach.Si
H4268
a shelter (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
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
Psalms 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation,…
Psalms 27:1-3 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalms 59:9 Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.
Psalms 59:16-17 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my…
Psalms 62:6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
Psalms 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
Isaiah 33:16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
Psalms 9:9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
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…
But the Lord is my defence,.... The defence of his church and people, of all the righteous, against those great armies of their enemies that gather together against them: the Targum, in the king's Bible is,
"the Word of the Lord shall be my weapon:''
and my God is the rock of my refuge; to whom recourse is had for shelter from the enemy, and against which the gates of hell cannot prevail: both characters, rock and refuge, agree with Christ, the essential Word of the Lord.
John Calvin on Psalms 94:20–end
Psalm 94:20-23
20. Shall the throne of iniquities have fellowship with thee, framing molestation for law? [38] 21. They will gather together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. 22. But Jehovah has been my fortress; and my God for the rock of my confidence. 23. And he shall repay their own iniquity upon them, and shall cut them off in their wickedness; Jehovah our God shall cut them off.
20 Shall the throne of iniquities have fellowship with thee? He again derives an argument for confidence from the nature of God, it being impossible that he should show favor to the wicked, or sanction their evil devices. With God for their enemy, how could they escape being d…
"And the Lord has become a refuge for me." This passage tells against the Arians. For since they contradict the Lord the Savior, because he is said to be "made," behold, we say, "The Lord has become a refuge for me." No one doubts that this is interpreted of the Father. But if it is said of the Father, "The Lord has become a refuge for me," it must be understood in this sense: the Lord who always was, has become a refuge for me. So too the Savior who always was, has become a Savior for me.
"And the Lord has become my refuge" [Psalm 94:22], he says. You would not seek such a refuge, if you were not in danger: but you have therefore been in danger, that you might seek for it: for He teaches us by sorrow. He causes me tribulation from the malice of the wicked: pricked with that tribulation, I begin to seek a refuge which I had ceased to seek for in that worldly prosperity. For who, that is always prosperous, and rejoices in present hopes, finds it easy to remember God? Let the hope of this life give way, and the hope of God advance; that you may say, "And the Lord has become my refuge:" may I sorrow for this end that the Lord may become my refuge! "And my God the help of my hope." For as yet the Lord is our hope, since as long as we are here, we are in hope, and not in possession. But lest we fail in hope, there is near us a provision to encourage us, and to mitigate those very evils which we suffer. For it is not said in vain, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able: but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it:" [1 Corinthians 10:13] who will so put us into that furnace of tribulation, that the vessel may be hardened, but not broken. "And the Lord has become my refuge: and my God the help of my hope." Why then did He seem to you to be as it were unjust, in that He spares the evil? See then how the Psalm is now set right, and be thou set right together with the Psalm: for, for this reason the Psalm contained your words. What words? "Lord, how long shall the ungodly, how long shall the ungodly triumph?" The Psalm just now used your words: use therefore yourself the Psalm's words in your turn.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Rocks · Illustrative of: God as refuge of his people — Illustrative of: God as refuge of his people
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).
on Psalms 94:20–end
In the sixth strophe the poet confidently expects the inevitable divine retribution for which he has earnestly prayed in the introduction. יחברך is erroneously accounted by many (and by Gesenius too) as fut. Pual = יחבּרך = יחבּר עמּך, a vocal contraction together with a giving up of the reduplication in favour of which no example can be advanced. It is fut. Kal = יחברך, from יחבּר = יחבּר, with the same regression of the modification of the vowel
(Note: By means of a similar transposition of the vowel as is to be assumed in תּאהבוּ, Pro 1:22, it also appears that מדוּבּין = מוּסבּין (lying upon the table, ἀνακείμενοι) of the Pesach-Haggada has to be explained, which Joseph Kimchi finds so…
The psalmist’s experience of slipping contrasts with God’s promise to stand with him (94:12-13; see 15:5; 93:1).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 94:22
But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
Let the wicked gather as they may, the psalmist is not afraid, but sweetly sings, The Lord is my defence, and my God is the rock of my refuge. Firm as a rock is Jehovah's love, and there do we betake ourselves for shelter. In him, even in him alone, we find safety, let the world rage as it may; we ask not aid from man, but are content to flee into the bosom of omnipotence.
