Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinto the Gentiles. The truth of history, indeed, through the artifice of Satan, was corrupted and falsifiedby many fables; but this is to be imputed to the wickedness of those in whose sight those wonderfulworks were wrought, who, although they saw them, chose rather to blind their eyes and disguisethe truth of their existence, than to preserve the true knowledge of them. 301 How can we explainthe fact that they made Moses to be I know not what kind of a magician or enchanter, and inventedso many strange and monstrous stories, which Josephus has collected together in his work againstApion, but upon the principle that it was their deliberate purpose to bury in forgetfulness the powerof God? It is not, however, so much the design of the prophet to condemn the Gentiles of the sinof ingratitude, as to furnish himself and others of the children of God matter of hope as to theirown circumstances; for at the time referred to, God openly exhibited for the benefit of all futureages a proof of his love towards his chosen people. The word arm is here put metaphorically forpower of an extraordinary character, and which is worthy of remembrance. God did not deliver hisancient people secretly and in an ordinary way, but openly, and, as it were, with his arm stretchedforth. The prophet, by calling the chosen tribes the sons of Jacob and Joseph, assigns the reasonwhy God accounted them as his people. The reason is, because of the covenant into which he enteredwith their godly ancestors. The two tribes which descended from the two sons of Joseph derivedtheir origin from Jacob as well as the rest; but the name of Joseph is expressed to put honor uponhim, by whose instrumentality the whole race of Abraham were preserved in safety. 30216. The waters saw thee, O God! Some of the miracles in which God had displayed the powerof his arm are here briefly adverted to. When it is said that the waters saw God, the language isfigurative, implying that they were moved, as it were, by a secret instinct and impulse to obey thedivine command in opening up a passage for the chosen people. Neither the sea nor the Jordanwould have altered their nature, and by giving place have spontaneously afforded a passage tothem, had they not both felt upon them the power of God. 303 It is not meant that they retired backwardbecause of any judgment and understanding which they possessed, but that in receding as they did,God showed that even the inanimate elements are ready to yield obedience to him. There is herean indirect contrast, it being intended to rebuke the stupidity of men if they do not acknowledge inthe redemption of the Israelites from Egypt the presence and hand of God, which were seen evenby the waters. What is added concerning the deeps intimates, that not only the surface of the waterswere agitated at the sight of God, but that his power penetrated even to the deepest gulfs.17. The clouds poured out waters. As the noun , mayim, cannot be taken in the construct state,the verb, I have no doubt, is put transitively; but it makes little difference as to the sense, whetherwe take this view, or read as if , mayim, were in the construct state and the verb passive; that is,whether we read, The clouds poured out waters, or, The waters of the clouds were poured out. Themeaning obviously is, that not only the sea and the river Jordan, but also the waters which weresuspended in the clouds, yielded to God the honor to which he is entitled, the air, by the concussion301 “Neantmoins il faut imputer cela a la malice de ceux qui ayans veu la chose eux-mesmes de leurs yeux, ont mieux aimes’esblouir la veue et desguiser le faict, que d’en entretenir la pure cognoissance.” — Fr.302 “The reason of Joseph’s being coupled with Jacob is, that as the Israelites derived their birth from Jacob, so they weresustained by Joseph in Egypt, who became to them a second parent.” — Walford.303 “‘The waters of the Red Sea,’ says Bishop Horne, ‘are here beautifully represented as endued with sensibility; as seeing,feeling, and being confounded, even to the lowest depths, at the presence and power of their great Creator, when he commandedthem to open a way, and to form a wall on each side of it, until his people were passed over.’ This, in fact, is true poetry; and inthis attributing of life, spirit, feeling, action, and suffering, to inanimate objects, there are no poets who can vie with those of theHebrew nation.” — Mant.133