Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinstyle of language above the common kind, that which the sacred writer here affirms concerninghimself, is with propriety transferred to him. If in this psalm there shines forth such a majesty asmay justly stir up and inflame the readers with a desire to learn, we gather from it with what earnestattention it becomes us to receive the gospel, in which Christ opens and displays to us the treasuresof his celestial wisdom.3. What we have heard and known. There seems to be some discrepancy between what thePsalmist had stated in the commencement, when he said that he would speak of great and hiddenmatters, and what he now adds, that his subject is a common one, and such as is transmitted fromone age to another by the father to the son. If it was incumbent upon the fathers to recount to theirchildren the things here spoken of, these things ought, of course, to have been familiarly known toall the people, yea, even to those who were most illiterate, and had the weakest capacity. Where,then, it may be said, are the enigmas or dark sentences of which he has just now made mention? Ianswer, that these things can easily be reconciled; for although the psalm contains many thingswhich are generally known, yet he illustrates them with all the splendor and ornaments of diction,that he may the more powerfully affect the hearts of men, and acquire for himself the greaterauthority. At the same time, it is to be observed, that however high may be the majesty of the Wordof God, this does not prevent the benefits or advantages of it from reaching even to the unlearnedand to babes. The Holy Spirit does not in vain invite and encourage such to learn from it: — a truthwhich we ought carefully to mark. If God, accommodating himself to the limited capacity of men,speaks in an humble and lowly style, this manner of teaching is despised as too simple; but if herise to a higher style, with the view of giving greater authority to his Word, men, to excuse theirignorance, will pretend that it is too obscure. As these two vices are very prevalent in the world,the Holy Spirit so tempers his style as that the sublimity of the truths which he teaches is not hiddeneven from those of the weakest capacity, provided they are of a submissive and teachable disposition,and bring with them an earnest desire to be instructed. It is the design of the prophet to removefrom the mind all doubt respecting his sayings, and for this purpose, he determines to bring forwardnothing new, but such subjects as had been long well known, and received without dispute in theChurch. He accordingly not only says we have heard, but also we have known. Many things arerashly spread abroad which have no foundation in truth; yea, nothing is more common than for theears of men to be filled with fables. It is, therefore, not without cause that the prophet, after havingspoken of the things which he had heard, at the same time, refers in confirmation of their truth toundoubted testimony. He adds, that the knowledge of these subjects had been communicated to theJews by their fathers. This does not imply, that what is taught under the domestic roof is alwaysfaultless; but it is obvious, that there is afforded a more favorable opportunity of palming upon menforgeries for truth, when things are brought from a distant country. What is to be principally observedis, that all fathers are not here spoken of indiscriminately, but only those who were chosen to beGod’s peculiar people, and to whom the care of divine truth was intrusted.4. We will not conceal them from their children in the generation to come. Some take the verb, nechached, in the nephil conjugation, and translate it, they are not concealed or hidden. But itought, according to the rules of grammar, to be resolved thus: — We will not conceal them fromour posterity, implying, that what we have been taught by our ancestors we should endeavor totransmit to their children. By this means, all pretense of ignorance is removed; for it was the willof God that these things should be published from age to age without interruption; so that beingtransmitted from father to child in each family, they might reach even the last family of man. The138