Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvintheir unbridled appetite. God promises, in Psalm 145:19, as a peculiar privilege to those who fearhim, that “he will fulfill their desire;” but it is in a different way that he is here said to have yieldedto the perverse desires of the people, who had cast off all fear of him; for that which his favor andloving-kindness would have led him to refuse, he now granted them in his wrath. This is an examplewell worthy of our attention, that we may not complain if our desires are frowned upon and crossedby the secret providence of God when they break forth beyond bounds. God then truly hears us,when, instead of yielding to our foolish inclinations, he regulates his beneficence according to themeasure of our welfare; even as in lavishing upon the wicked more than is good for them, he cannot,properly speaking, be said to hear them: he rather loads them with a deadly burden, which servesto cast them down headlong into destruction.The Psalmist expresses this still more clearly, by adding immediately after, (verses 30, 31,) thatthis pampering proved fatal to them, as if with the meat they had swallowed the flame of the divinewrath. When he says that they were not estranged from their lust, this implies, that they were stillburning with their lust. If it is objected that this does not agree with the preceding sentence, whereit is said, that “they did eat, and were thoroughly filled,” I would answer, that if, as is well known,the minds of men are not kept within the bounds of reason and temperance, they become insatiable;and, therefore, a great abundance will not extinguish the fire of a depraved appetite. Some translatethe clause, They were not disappointed, and others, They did not yet loathe their meat. This lasttranslation brings out the meaning very well; but it is too far removed from the signification of theHebrew word , zur, which I have rendered estranged. The prophet intended to express in twowords a present felt pleasure; for when God executed vengeance upon the people, they still indulgedin the excessive gratification of the palate. 335 The wrath of God is said metaphorically to ascend,when he suddenly rises up to execute judgment; for when he apparently shuts his eyes and takesno notice of our sins, he seems, so to speak, to be asleep. The punishment was felt by persons ofevery condition among the Israelites; but the fat ones 336 and the chosen are expressly named, inorder to exhibit the judgment of God in a light still more conspicuous. It did not happen by chancethat the most robust and vigorous were attacked and cut off by the plague. As the strong arecommonly deceived by their strength, and proudly exalt themselves against God, forgetting theirown weakness, and thinking that they may do whatever they please, it is not surprising to find thatthe wrath of God burned more fiercely against such persons than against others.Psalm 78:32-37335 “While their meat was yet in their mouth; the meat of the quails, while it was between their teeth, ere it was chewed, andbefore it was swallowed down, while they were rolling this sweet morsel under their tongues, and were gorging themselves withit, destruction came upon them; just as Belshazzar, while he was feasting with his nobles, in the midst of his mirth and jollity,was slain by the Persians, Daniel 5:1, 30.” — Dr Gill.336 Mr Mudge observes, that this clause should be translated, “Slew them amidst their fatnesses or indulgences.” This is approvedof by Lowth. Cocceius and Michaelis give a similar version.150