The Impudent Blindness of the Wicked Text: Psalm 94:3-7
Introduction: The Age-Old Taunt
We live in an age that prides itself on its sophistication, its supposed enlightenment. Our cultural elites believe they have moved beyond the simple pieties of the past. They look upon the world, with all its raw and jagged edges, and they have concluded that either God is not there, or if He is, He is not paying attention. This is not a new thought. It is an ancient, threadbare rebellion, a piece of intellectual lint that men have been picking off their sleeves since the beginning. The psalmist here is dealing with the very same brand of insolence that we see plastered across our newsfeeds and taught in our universities.
The central problem addressed in this psalm is the apparent prosperity and unchecked arrogance of the wicked. From the vantage point of the beleaguered saint, it appears that God is letting them get away with it. They are loud, they are proud, and they are crushing the righteous. And so the psalmist cries out, "How long?" This is not the cry of faithlessness, but rather the cry of a faith that is being sorely tested. It is the cry of a child who knows his father is the king, and he cannot understand why the king is allowing ruffians to run roughshod over the palace grounds.
This passage confronts us with the two foundational errors of the wicked: a theological error and a practical one. Their theological error is a profound miscalculation about the nature of God. They believe He is deaf, blind, and distant. Their practical error flows directly from this: because God is (in their view) functionally non-existent, they believe they have a free pass to indulge their every wicked impulse. They can speak arrogantly, crush the vulnerable, and act with utter impunity. What we will see is that this is not a sign of their strength, but of their terminal stupidity. It is the folly of a man robbing a bank while standing directly in front of a security camera, all the while assuring his accomplices that film has not yet been invented.
The Text
How long shall the wicked, O Yahweh,
How long shall the wicked exult?
They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly;
All workers of iniquity vaunt themselves.
They crush Your people, O Yahweh,
And afflict Your inheritance.
They slay the widow and the sojourner
And murder the orphans.
They have said, “Yah does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob discern.”
(Psalm 94:3-7 LSB)
The Cry of the Righteous (v. 3)
The psalmist begins with a question that has echoed in the hearts of God's people throughout the centuries.
"How long shall the wicked, O Yahweh, How long shall the wicked exult?" (Psalm 94:3)
This is not a challenge to God's authority, but an appeal to His character. The psalmist knows that vengeance belongs to God (v. 1), and that He is the Judge of all the earth (v. 2). Because he knows this, the current situation makes no sense. The wicked are exulting, they are triumphing, they are throwing a victory party in the middle of God's world, and God appears to be silent. The repetition of the phrase "How long" reveals a deep anguish. It is a plea for God to act consistently with who He is.
We must learn from the psalmist that it is entirely appropriate to be impatient in this way. God gives us these psalms to teach us how to pray, how to feel, how to process the apparent injustices of the world. He is not offended when we cry out like this. He invites it. It is a sign that we believe His promises and long for His righteousness to be vindicated. God often waits longer than we want Him to. He lets the wicked run on, filling up the measure of their guilt. He waits until He sees the whites of their eyes, as it were. But in that waiting period, He gives us leave to hammer on the doors of heaven and ask, "Is it time yet?"
The Arrogance of Iniquity (v. 4)
Next, the psalmist describes the character of this wicked exultation.
"They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; All workers of iniquity vaunt themselves." (Psalm 94:4)
The first sign of a wicked heart is a proud mouth. They "pour forth words" like an overflowing sewer. Their speech is not measured or thoughtful; it is a gushing torrent of self-congratulation. They speak "arrogantly," or as the original Hebrew suggests, they speak "hard things." Their words are not just boastful; they are cutting, dismissive, and cruel toward the righteous.
Notice the progression: they pour forth, they speak, they vaunt. It is a crescendo of pride. "All workers of iniquity vaunt themselves." This is not an isolated problem with a few bad apples. It is the defining characteristic of those who set themselves against God. Sin is, at its root, cosmic treason born of pride. The sinner believes he knows better than God. He wants to be his own god, making his own laws, and so his speech will inevitably be filled with self-praise. He has to talk himself up, because deep down, he is trying to drown out the voice of his own conscience and the ambient terror of a coming judgment.
The Cruelty of Pride (v. 5-6)
This arrogant speech is not harmless. Pride is never a victimless crime. It always seeks to dominate, to crush, and to destroy.
"They crush Your people, O Yahweh, And afflict Your inheritance. They slay the widow and the sojourner And murder the orphans." (Psalm 94:5-6)
Their verbal arrogance translates directly into physical violence. They "crush" God's people. This is a powerful image of a heavy weight being brought down to pulverize something. The wicked cannot stand the existence of God's people, because the righteous are a living rebuke to their rebellion. They are God's "inheritance," His treasured possession, and so the attack on them is a direct attack on God Himself. It is as though they are vandalizing God's own house and breaking His prized heirlooms.
And who are the primary targets of this cruelty? The most vulnerable members of society: "the widow and the sojourner" and "the orphans." A society's true moral character is revealed in how it treats those who have no power to defend themselves. The wicked, in their cowardice, always punch down. They prey on those who lack a husband, a father, or a kinsman to protect them. This is because their goal is not a fair fight; their goal is plunder and domination. This is a direct violation of God's explicit law, which repeatedly commands special protection for the widow, the orphan, and the sojourner (Ex. 22:21-22). By attacking them, the wicked are not just being cruel; they are spitting in the face of the Lawgiver.
The Atheism of the Heart (v. 7)
Finally, the psalmist reveals the foundational belief, the central dogma, that makes all this wickedness possible.
"They have said, 'Yah does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob discern.'" (Psalm 94:7)
Here is the root of the whole poisonous tree. This is their free pass. This is how they give themselves permission to run riot. They have convinced themselves that God is blind and ignorant. They may not say it this baldly with their lips, but their actions shout it from the rooftops. This is practical atheism. They live as if God does not exist, or as if He is a doddering, senile landlord who never inspects His property.
They say, "Yah does not see." They believe God's transcendence means He is distant and uninvolved. They have made the classic Creator/creature mistake, but in reverse. They think because God is high and lifted up, He cannot possibly be concerned with the grubby affairs of men. Then they say, "the God of Jacob" does not discern. This is a sneer. They are mocking the covenant faith of Israel. "You people and your special God, your 'God of Jacob.' He doesn't even notice what is happening to you. Your covenant is worthless."
This is the ultimate folly, and the psalmist will go on to dismantle it with glorious, common-sense logic. Does the one who invented the ear not hear? Does the one who fashioned the eye not see? (v. 9). To assume God is blind is to assume the creature is more sophisticated than the Creator. It is an impudent and idiotic blindness. They are shutting their own eyes and concluding that the whole universe must therefore be dark.
The Gospel for the Practically Atheist
This psalm is not just a description of ancient tyrants. It is a mirror held up to every human heart that has ever sought to sin in secret. Every time we sin, we are acting on the premise of verse 7. We are telling ourselves, for that moment, that God does not see or that He will not care. We are engaging in a moment of practical atheism.
The wicked man's problem is that he has created a god in his own image, a god who is as limited and unobservant as he is. He thinks God is out to lunch. But the God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the God who sees everything. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Prov. 15:3). Nothing is hidden from His sight.
And this is either terrifying news or the best news in the world. For the man who is vaunting himself, crushing the poor, and speaking arrogantly, the fact that God sees is the promise of a coming judgment that will be perfectly just and utterly inescapable. Every idle word, every cruel act, every proud thought is recorded. God will render a reward to the proud.
But for those of us who have taken refuge in Christ, the omniscience of God is our greatest comfort. He saw our sin, every last bit of it, and did not turn away. He saw our helpless estate, crushed under the weight of our own iniquity. He saw us when we were spiritual orphans and sojourners. And He did not just see; He acted. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be crushed for our iniquities (Is. 53:5). On the cross, the ultimate act of wickedness occurred. Men, exulting in their pride, murdered the ultimate innocent. And for a time, it seemed that God did not see. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
But God did see. He saw the whole transaction. He saw His Son bear our sin, and He turned His face away in judgment, so that He could turn His face toward us in grace. The arrogance of man was met by the humility of God. The cruelty of man was met by the love of God. The blindness of man was met by the all-seeing plan of God. Therefore, we do not have to cry "How long?" in despair. We cry it in hope, knowing that the Judge of all the earth has already rendered the decisive verdict at the empty tomb. He will surely do right, and all the arrogant words of the wicked will be silenced in the glorious light of His appearing.