Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John CalvinAfter it is said that Israel, whom God had loved so much, was become an abomination in hissight, it is added, (verse 60,) that they were bereft of the presence of God, which is the only sourceof true felicity and comfort under calamities of every kind. God, then, is said to have abhorredIsrael, when he permitted the ark of the covenant to be carried into another country, as if he intendedby this to indicate that he had departed from Judea, and bidden the people farewell. It is indeedvery obvious, that God was not fixed to the outward and visible symbol; but as he had given theark to be a token or sign of the close union which subsisted between him and the Israelites, insuffering it to be carried away, he testified, that he himself had also departed from them. Shilohhaving been for a long time the abode of the ark, and the place where it was captured by thePhilistines, (1 Samuel 4:11,) it is termed the habitation or dwelling-place of God. The manner ofhis residence, in short, is beautifully expressed in the next sentence, where Shiloh is described ashis dwelling-place among men. God, it is true, fills both heaven and earth; but as we cannot attainto that infinite height to which he is exalted, in descending among us by the exercise of his powerand grace, he approaches as near to us as is needful, and as our limited capacity will bear. It is avery emphatic manner of speaking to represent God as so incensed by the continual wickedness ofhis people, that he was constrained to forsake this place, the only one which he had chosen forhimself upon the earth.61. And he delivered his strength into captivity. In this verse, the same subject is prosecuted:it is declared, that the strength of God, by which the Israelites had been shielded and defended, wasat that time in captivity. Not that his power could only be exerted in connection with the outwardsymbol; but instead of opposing their enemies as he had formerly done, it was now his will thatthe grace by which he had preserved his people should, so to speak, be led captive. This, however,is not to be understood as implying that the Philistines had made God their prisoner. The meaningsimply is, that the Israelites were deprived of the protection of God, in consequence of which theyfell into the hands of their enemies, even as an army is put to flight when the general is takenprisoner. The ark is also termed the beauty of God; because, being in himself invisible, he made itthe symbol of his presence, or, as it were, a mirror in which he might be seen. It is a bold, and atfirst sight, an absurd hyperbole, to say that the strength of God was taken prisoner by the Philistines;but it is expressly used for the purpose of aggravating the wickedness of the people. As he had beenaccustomed mightily to display the power of his arm in aiding them, the offenses with which hehad been provoked must have been of a very heinous character, when he suffered that symbol ofhis power to be forcibly carried away by a heathen army. We are taught by the prophet Jeremiah,(Jeremiah 7:12,) that what is here related of Shiloh, is addressed as a warning to all those who,flattering themselves upon false grounds, that they enjoy the presence of God, are lifted up withvain confidence: “But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at thefirst, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.” If, therefore, when Godapproaches us familiarly, we do not sincerely receive him with that reverence which becomes us,we have ground to fear that what happened to the people of Shiloh will happen also to us. So muchthe more disgusting, then, is the boasting of the Pope and his adherents, who support the claims ofRome as the special dwelling-place of God, from the fact, that the Church in former times flourishedin that city. It is to be remembered, — what they seem to forget, — that Christ, who is the truetemple of the Godhead, was born in Bethlehem, and brought up in Nazareth, and that he dwelt andpreached in Capernaum and Jerusalem; and yet the miserable desolation of all these cities affordsa dreadful testimony of the wrath of God.162