Bible Strands
Psalms 94:20
Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, contrasting divine consolation with the injustice of human rulers. This rhetorical question appears amid a lament about corrupt authorities banding together against the innocent.
The words — The Hebrew כִּסֵּא (kisse) means "throne," while עֲמָל (amal) translates to "mischief" or "toil." The construction asks whether a destructive throne will be joined to God.
The thread — This theme of unjust rulers issuing oppressive decrees runs through Psalms 58:2, Isaiah 10:1, and Ecclesiastes 3:16. These passages consistently link corrupt judicial power with systemic violence.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human decrees cannot override divine sovereignty. It calls readers to reject the legitimacy of tyrannical systems that claim authority without accountability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Cross-references
- Psalms 58:2 No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
- Isaiah 10:1 Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
- Ecclesiastes 3:16 Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- John 11:57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.
- Revelation 13:15 The second beast was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed.
- Esther 3:6 And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
- Psalms 50:16 To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
- Daniel 3:4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:
- Daniel 6:7 All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.
- Amos 6:3 You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.