Psalm 135:14 NKJV
For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.
God’s Merciful Nature
MY NOTES
“For the Lord will judge His people, And He will have compassion on His servants.” > — Psalm 135:14 (NKJV)
When we hear the word “judge,” most of us get a little defensive. We picture a stern face behind a high bench, a wooden gavel, and a looming sentence. But in the context of Psalm 135, “judging” isn’t a threat—it’s a rescue mission. The Psalmist is actually quoting the “Song of Moses” from Deuteronomy. For the people of Israel, having the Lord “judge” them meant He was stepping into their mess to act as their Protector, Defender, and Deliverer. God isn’t a distracted landlord who only shows up to evict you; He is the Sovereign Ruler who intervenes when His people are being oppressed, ignored, or led astray.
The Two-Fold Mercy Notice the beautiful balance here. As “His people,” He judges us—meaning He rules, governs, and occasionally corrects us so we don’t get lost in the world’s chaos. But as “His servants,” He has compassion.
One of the most striking insights from the commentators is that the Hebrew word for “compassion” here is often translated as “repent Himself.” This doesn’t mean God made a mistake; it means He changes the course of His dealings with us. If you’ve been walking through a season of “fatherly chastisement” or discipline, this verse is your promise that the discipline has a finish line. He doesn’t delight in the controversy; He delights in the restoration. He looks at His servants and thinks, “Enough. It’s time for mercy.”
The Father’s Distinction God distinguishes His own. While the world might see “just another person,” God sees a “special treasure” (as we saw in verse 4). He spares His servants the same way a loving father spares a son who serves him. He takes vengeance on the oppressors but takes comfort in His people.
If you feel like you’ve been under a heavy cloud, remember that the “Judge” is also the “Comforter.” He isn’t just watching you; He is preparing to intervene on your behalf.
Key Takeaways
- Judgment as Delivery: In Scripture, God “judging” His people often means He is acting as their Defense Attorney and Deliverer.
- A Change of Season: God’s compassion means He is willing to “repent” or turn from a season of affliction to a season of prosperity and joy.
- The Service Connection: There is a special tenderness God has for those who serve Him; He spares them from the condemnation the world faces.
- Rooted in History: This promise is an echo of God’s faithfulness in the wilderness—what He did for Israel at the border of the Promised Land, He is ready to do for you.
Cross References (NKJV)
Deuteronomy 32:36 > “For the Lord will judge His people and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is no one remaining, bond or free.”
Malachi 3:17 > “‘They shall be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’”
Hebrews 12:6 > “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
A Closing Prayer
Abba, thank You for being a Judge who defends me and a Father who has compassion on me. I confess that sometimes I fear Your judgment because I forget Your heart. Thank You for the seasons of correction that keep me from wandering, but I thank You even more for Your promise to return to me in mercy. Change the course of my current adversity, Lord. Turn my mourning into joy and let me feel the grace You have for Your servants. I ask You for this and thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Something to chew on:
- Redefining the Gavel: How does your perspective change if you view God’s “judgment” as Him “ruling, protecting, and defending” you rather than just punishing you?
- The Turning Point: Can you think of a time when God “changed the course” of a difficult situation just when you thought it was going to destroy you? How did His compassion show up?
- Waiting for Compassion: If you are currently in a “controversy” or a season of struggle, what specific “comfort” are you asking the Lord to bring into your future?
Proverb for Today
My son, keep your father’s command, And do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart; Tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, Proverbs 6:20-23 NKJV
Daily Scripture
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:37-38 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
The commentaries that follow view God’s judgment not as a threat, but as a protective rescue mission. Rooted in the Song of Moses, they explain that “judging” involves pleading His people’s cause and delivering them from oppressors. His “repentance” describes a fatherly pivot from discipline to deep compassion. He arrests judgment midway, changing adversity into prosperity. As Sovereign Judge and tender Father, Jehovah ensures His justice works for His servants, never ultimately against them.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“For the LORD will judge his people. He will exercise personal discipline over them and not leave it to their foes to maltreat them at pleasure. When the correction is ended, he will arise and avenge them of their oppressors, who for a while were used by him as his rod. He may seem to forget his people, but it is not so; he will undertake their cause and deliver them. The judges of Israel were also her deliverers, and such is the Lord of hosts: in this sense—as ruling, preserving, and delivering his chosen—Jehovah will judge his people.
“And he will repent himself concerning his servants.” When he has smitten them, and they lie low before him, he will pity them as a father pitieth his children, for he doth not afflict willingly. The Psalm speaks after the manner of men: the nearest description that words can give of the Lord’s feeling towards his suffering servants is that he repents the evil which he inflicted upon them. He acts as if he had changed his mind and regretted smiting them. It goes to the heart of God to see his beloved ones oppressed by their enemies: though they deserve all they suffer, and more than all, yet the Lord cannot see them smart without a pang. It is remarkable that the nations by which God has afflicted Israel have all been destroyed as if the tender Father hated the instruments of his children’s correction. The chosen nation is here called, first, “his people,” and then “his servants:” as his people, he judges them, as his servants, he finds comfort in them, for so the word may be read. He is most tender to them when he sees their service; hence the Scripture saith, “I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Should not the “servants” of God praise him? He plagued Pharaoh’s servants, but as for his own, he has mercy upon them, and returns to them in love after he has, in the truest affection, smitten them for their iniquities. “Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.”
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Enduring Word
For the LORD will judge His people: The good and great God will bring justice, righteousness, and compassion to His people. His goodness and greatness are for them, not against them. (Guzik)
i. “He will do them justice against their enemies.” (Clarke)
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Albert Barnes
For the Lord will judge his people – He will interpose on their behalf by his judgments, or by directing the course of events in their favor. This language is copied literally from Deuteronomy 32:36 : “For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants.” It is there a part of the song of Moses after the journey through the wilderness, after smiting the kings of the Amorites and of Bashan; and when, delivered from their enemies, the Israelites had come to the borders of the promised land, Deuteronomy 31:0. The language was, therefore, especially appropriate to the design of this psalm.
And he will repent himself concerning his servants – On behalf of his people. That is, he will do as if he repented, or had changed his mind. He will stay his judgments. He will not suffer his people to be destroyed. He will not permit the judgments which seemed to threaten their entire ruin to be carried out to the full. They shall be arrested midway as if God had then changed his mind. Of course, all this is language accommodated to human weakness and to the manner of speaking among people.
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John Gill
For the Lord will judge his people,…. Rule and govern, protect and defend them; plead their cause, and avenge them of their enemies; judge between them, distinguish them by his care and providence, make them visible, so that others shall see the difference between them; especially at the last day, when he will judge them, and, as the righteous Judge, give them the crown of righteousness. Or “though the Lord judges his people”; chastises them in a fatherly way, that they may not be condemned with the world;
he will repent himself concerning his servants; of the evil of affliction he has brought upon them; he will change the course of his providential dealings with them, according to his unchangeable will; and turn their adversity into prosperity, and their mourning into joy: some render it, “he will be entreated for his servants”; he will hear prayer on their account, and save them out of their afflictions; or, as others, “he will comfort himself concerning his servants”; take pleasure in them and their prosperity, comfort them, and take delight in so doing. The Targum of the whole is, “for the Lord will judge the judgment of his people by his word, and to his righteous servants will return in his mercies.”
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Matthew Henry
Of his grace. He will be kind to his people.
He will plead their cause against others who contend with them. He will judge his people, that is, he will judge for them, and will not suffer them to be run down.
He will not himself contend forever with them, but will repent himself concerning his servants, and not proceed in his controversy with them; he will be entreated for them, or he will be comforted concerning them; he will return in ways of mercy to them and will delight to do them good. This verse is taken from the Song of Moses, Deu. 32:36.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“He will repent himself.” The original word “repent himself” here has a very extensive signification, which cannot be expressed by any one English rendering. It implies taking compassion upon them, with the intention of being comforted in their future, and of taking vengeance on their oppressors. Such are the several meanings in which the word is used. Language fails to express the mind of God toward his faithful people. How dear ought his counsels to be to us, and the consideration of all his ways! This reflection was continually urged upon the nation of Israel, so liable as they were to fall away to idolatory.
—W. Wilson.
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