Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinagain and again, the Hebrews have taken from it the word , shenoth, which they employ todenote years, from their revolving character, from their turning round, as it were, in the same orbit.But in whatever way we may understand it, the comfort of which I have spoken will remain firm,which is, that the prophet, assuring himself of a favorable change in his condition, does not lookupon himself as doomed to death. Others give a somewhat different interpretation, arriving at it inanother way: 299 as if the prophet had said, Why shouldst thou not patiently endure the severity ofGod at this time, when hitherto he has cherished thee by his beneficence? even as Job said,“Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we notalso receive evil?” (Job 2:10)But it is more probable that the prophet directs his view to the future, and means that it becamehim to await the years or revolutions of the right hand of the Most High, until lie should affordclear and undisputed evidence of the return of his favor towards him.Psalm 77:11-1411. I will remember the works of God: surely I will remember thy wonderful works from thebeginning. 12. I will also meditate on all thy works, and I will muse on thy doings. 13. Thy ways,O God! are in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 14. Thou art the God that doestwonders: thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.11. I will remember the works of God. The prophet now, inspired with new courage, vigorouslyresists the temptations, which had so far prevailed against him as well nigh to overwhelm his faith.This remembering of the works of God differs from the remembering of which he had previouslyspoken. Then he contemplated from a distance the divine benefits, and he found the contemplationof them inadequate to assuage or mitigate his grief. Here he takes hold of them, so to speak, asassured testimonies of God’s everlasting grace. To express the greater earnestness, he repeats thesame sentence, interjecting an affirmation; for the word , ki, is here used simply to confirm orenhance the statement. Having then, as it were, obtained the victory, he triumphs in the remembranceof the works of God, being assuredly persuaded that God would continue the same as he had shownhimself to be from the beginning. In the second clause, he highly extols the power which God haddisplayed in preserving his servants: I will remember thy wonderful works from the beginning. Heemploys the singular number, thy secret, or thy wonderful work; but I have not hesitated to correctthe obscurity by changing the number. We will find him soon after employing the singular numberto denote many miracles. What he means in short is, that the wonderful power of God which hehas always put forth for the preservation and salvation of his servants, provided we duly reflectupon it, is sufficient to enable us to overcome all sorrows. Let us learn from this, that, althoughsometimes the remembrance of the works of God may bring us less comfort than we would desire,“There is no authority,” he observes, “for the version, ‘I will remember the years;’ his meaning is, the power of God haschanged and altered my condition; from a state of health and peace, he has brought me into disease, and pain, and sorrow. This,he says, he will remember, so as to inspire some hope that the power which had brought low would again raise him up.”299 Our Author seems to refer to those interpreters who, as in our English version, make the supplement, But I will remember,before the words, “the years of the right hand of the Most High.”130