For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous. "The rod " - i:e., the sceptre of the wicked world- power (at this time Persia) shall not always remain upon the Holy Land, which is "the lot of the righteous." Messiah's sceptre shall at last break the pagan sceptre (Psalms 2:9; Psalms 45:6). So the godless pagan power is called "the throne of iniquity" (Psalms 94:20). "The righteous" is the term for Israel regarded in respect to its high calling as holy unto the Lord. These who are Israelites only in name are put out of view, as not being really of the Israel without guile.
Lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity - lest, if the dominion of the ungodly were allowed always to oppress the righteous, the faith and patience of these latter might fail. The temptation might, if too long protracted, overcome the saints (cf. Asaph's temptation, Psalms 73:13). Therefore God, in pity for human frailty, ceases to contend (Isaiah 57:16). "Put forth the hands" is a phrase for helping or relieving themselves by presumptuous and unlawful means (cf. Genesis 3:22).