Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinrecourse to him, and to lift up their desires and prayers to heaven, were they not persuaded that heis a faithful rewarder of all who call upon him. The point upon which David now insists is, thatGod is bountiful and inclined to compassion, and that his mercy is so great, as to render it impossiblefor him to reject any who implore his aid. He calls God propitious, or ascribes to him the attributeof pardoning sin, which is a modification of his goodness. It were not enough for God to be goodin general, did he not also extend to sinners his forgiving mercy, which is the meaning of the word, salach. Farther, although David magnifies the plenteousness of God’s mercy, yet he immediatelyafter represents this plenteousness as restricted to the faithful who call upon him, to teach us thatthose who, making no account of God, obstinately chafe upon the bit, deservedly perish in theircalamities. At the same time, he uses the term all, that every man, without exception, from thegreatest to the least, may be encouraged confidently to betake himself to the goodness and mercyof God.6 Listen, O Jehovah! to my prayer. From the earnest repetition of his former requests in thisand the subsequent verse, it is evident that he was oppressed with no ordinary degree of grief, andalso agitated with extreme anxiety, From this example, we are taught that those who, having engagedin prayer once, allow themselves immediately to give over that exercise, provided God does not atonce grant them their desire, betray the coldness and inconstancy of their hearts. Nor is this repetitionof the same requests to be thought superfluous; for hereby the saints, by little and little, dischargetheir cares into the bosom of God, and this importunity is a sacrifice of a sweet savor before Him.When the Psalmist says, God will hear me when I cry in the day of trouble, he makes a particularapplication to himself of the truth which he had just now stated, That God is merciful and graciousto all who call upon him.Psalm 86:8-118. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord! nor any that can work as thou workest.9. All the nations which thou hast made shall come and worship before thy face, O Lord! and shallgive glory to thy name. 10. For thou art great, and thou alone, O God! doest wondrous things. 11.Show me thy ways, O Jehovah! I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord! Here the Psalmist may be consideredeither as bursting forth into thanksgivings, after having obtained what he desired, or else as gatheringcourage and new strength for prayer. The latter opinion I am most inclined to adopt; but perhapsit may be preferable to regard both views as included. Some understand the word , Elohim, asdenoting angels — There is none like unto thee, O Lord! among the angels — as if David comparedthem with the Most High God; but this does not seem to agree so well with the passage. He doesnot humble the angels, representing them as inferior gods, that they may give place to the powerof God; but he holds up to contempt and derision all the false gods in whom the heathen worldimagined some help was to be found; 484 and he does this because they could supply no evidence484 The word for “and propitious” is , vesallach, which Bythner renders, “and a pardoner.” It is from , salach, he forgave,pardoned231