Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinof their being gods from their works. Had he distributed the power of working between them andthe true God in different degrees, assigning less to the former and more to the latter, he would nothave attributed to God that which is naturally and exclusively his own. He therefore affirms, withoutqualification, that no characteristic of Deity could be perceived in them, or traced in any worksperformed by them. In calling us to the consideration of works, he clearly shows, that those whoindulge in ingenious speculations about the occult or secret essence of God, and pass over theunequivocal traces of his majesty which are to be seen beaming forth in bright effulgence in hisworks, do but trifle and spend their time to no purpose. As the Divine nature is infinitely exaltedabove the comprehension of our understanding, David wisely confines his attention to the testimonyof God’s works, and declares that the gods who put forth no power are false and counterfeit. If itis objected that there is no comparison between God and the silly inventions of men, the answer isobvious, That this language is employed in accommodation to the ignorance of the generality ofmen. The effrontery with which the superstitious exalt the spurious fabrications of their own brainabove the heavens is well known; and David very justly derides their madness in forging gods tothemselves, which in reality are no gods.9 All nations which thou hast made shall come. 485 If any would rather limit what is here statedto David’s present case, this view does not seem liable to any material objection. He, in fact, oftenenhances the Divine goodness of which he himself had experience by the like magnificent strain.It may, however, be fitly extended to the universal power of God; but whether he speaks of thegrace that was bestowed upon himself alone, or treats, in general, of the works of God, we mustbear in mind what has been observed in another place, that whenever he celebrates the prevalenceof true godliness among the heathen, he has an eye to the kingdom of Christ, prior to whose comingGod gave only the initial or dawning manifestation of his glory, which at length was diffusedthrough the whole world by the preaching of the Gospel. David was not ignorant of the futurecalling of the Gentiles; but this being a doctrine with which Jewish ears were not familiar, thatpeople would have felt it a disagreeable announcement, to have been told that the Gentiles shouldcome to worship God indiscriminately with the children of Abraham, and, all distinction beingremoved, become partakers with them of heavenly truth. To soften the announcement, he assertsthat the Gentiles also were created by God, so that it ought not to be accounted strange if they,being enlightened also, should at length acknowledge Him who had created and fashioned them.10. For thou art great, and thou alone, O God! doest wondrous things. In this verse there isagain repeated the cause which will bring all nations to worship before the Lord, namely, thediscovery made of his glory by the greatness of his works. The contemplation of God’s glory inhis works is the true way of acquiring genuine godliness. The pride of the flesh would always leadit to wing its way into heaven; but, as our understandings fail us in such an extended investigation,our most profitable course is, according to the small measure of our feeble capacity, to seek Godin his works, which bear witness of him. Let us therefore learn to awaken our understandings tocontemplate the divine works, and let us leave the presumptuous to wander in their own intricate485 “Among the gods, i.e., among the gods of the Gentiles, such as Baal, Baal-berith, Baal-zebub, Dagon, Ashtoreth, Chemosh,Milcom, Nisroch, and especially, as R. Kimchi thinks, the heavenly bodies, the sun and the stars. Some commentators supposethat it may mean, among angels, or among princes. There is good reason for doubting, however, with Parkhurst, whether theword Alaim ever positively means princes, judges, or magistrates; and the passage (Judges 13:22) quoted by Buxtorf, to showthat it sometimes means an angel, only proves that Manoah intended to say that he had seen God in the person of his angel.Comp. Psalm 89:7; 96:5.” — Cresswell.232