Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinwhole; only I would have my readers to understand, that this place is expressly named, becausefrom it, as from a source or fountain, flowed the holiness of the whole land. It is asserted that God,by his right hand, possessed or acquired this mountain; for the Hebrew verb , kanah, may beunderstood in either of these senses: and this assertion is made, that the Israelites might not be liftedup with pride, as if they had achieved the conquest of the land, or had obtained the peaceablepossession of it by their own power. As is stated in Psalm 44:3,“They got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them,but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor untothem.” (Psalm 44:3)55. He expelled the heathen from before them; and made them to fall into their part of theinheritance. These words are an explanation of the concluding sentence of the preceding verse:they describe the manner in which the land of Canaan was acquired, plainly intimating that theIsraelites were not such a warlike race, nor those heathen nations so cowardly, as to render it aneasy matter for the former to vanquish the latter, and that it would have been impossible for theformer to have expelled the latter from the country, had they not been led on to victory under theconduct of God, and been aided by his power. Besides, it would have been unlawful for them tohave taken possession of the country, had it not been the will of God that the first inhabitants shouldbe deprived of it, and that strangers should be established in it in their room.56. And they tempted and provoked the Most High God. Here they are upbraided for having,notwithstanding the many tokens of the divine favor by which they were distinguished, perseveredin acting perfidiously: yea, even although God from time to time conferred upon them new benefits,to recover them to their allegiance to him, they, notwithstanding, by their rebellion, shook off hisyoke. With respect to the word tempt, we have already explained its import. But it is added ingeneral, that they provoked God, because they had not kept his covenant By this last clause, theiropen and gross rebellion is the more completely demonstrated; for, although they had been plainlytaught their duty, they nevertheless refused to submit to the authority of God. The law is calledtestimonies or agreements, 357 because, as men enter into contracts upon certain conditions, so God,by his covenant, entered into a contract with this people, and bound them to himself. In speakingof them in this manner, there is pronounced upon them no light censure; but when they are chargedin the next verse with apostasy and perfidiousness, that fills up the measure of their guilt. God hadadopted them to be his people: they, on the other hand, despising his favor, voluntarily renounceit. He had gathered them together under his wings; and they, by their waywardness, scatter themselvesin all directions. He had promised to be a father to them; and they refuse to be his children. He hadshown them the way of salvation; and they, by going astray, willingly precipitate themselves intodestruction. The prophet, therefore, concludes, that in every age they showed themselves to be animpious and wicked people. It is again to be noticed, that the fault which is most severely condemnedin them is, that they too much resembled their fathers. This is particularly mentioned, to preventany man from deceiving himself by supposing, that in indiscriminately imitating his ancestors heis doing right, and that he may not think of making use of their example as an argument for defendinghis own conduct. The instability of the people is next expressed by a very apposite figure, whichHosea also employs in Hosea 7:16. As archers are deceived when they have a bow which is too357 “Ou, Convenances.” — Fr.160