Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinown affections. It is therefore indispensably requisite, that the faithful, after having learned whatis right, should firmly and cordially embrace it, that the heart may not break forth in impetuousdesire after unhallowed lusts. Thus, in the word unite, there is a very beautiful metaphor, conveyingthe idea, that the heart of man is full of tumult, drawn asunder, and, as it were, scattered about infragments, until God has gathered it to himself, and holds it together in a state of steadfast andpersevering obedience. From this also, it is manifest what free will is able to do of itself. Twopowers are ascribed to it; but David confesses that he is destitute of both; setting the light of theHoly Spirit in opposition to the blindness of his own mind; and affirming that uprightness of heartis entirely the gift of God.Psalm 86:12-1712. I will praise thee, O Lord my God! With all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for ever.13. For thy mercy has been great towards me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowergrave. 488 14. O God! the proud have risen up against me, and a company of mighty men havesought after my soul; and they have not set thee before them. 15. And thou, O Lord! art God,merciful, ready to forgive, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy and truth. 16. Look to me, andhave pity upon me: give thy strength to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid. 17. Makewith me a sign for good: and my adversaries will see it 489 and be ashamed; for thou, O Jehovah!hast succoured and comforted me.12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God! David engages, when he shall have experienced God tobe in all respects a beneficent father, to yield to him the tribute of gratitude. He expressed in thepreceding verse a desire to have his heart united to God, that he might fear him; and now he affirmsit to be his resolution to publish or celebrate his praises, not only with the mouth or tongue, butalso with sincere affection of heart; yea, even to continue with steadfast perseverance in that exercise.In the 13th verse, he sets forth the reason of this, which is, because, in delivering him, God hadgiven a singular and remarkable proof of his mercy. To place in a stronger light the greatness ofthis benefit, he describes the dangers from which he had been delivered, by the expression, thelower grave; as if he had said, I have not been held down by one death only, but have been thrustdown into the lowest depths of the grave, so that my circumstances required the hand of God to bestretched out to me in a wonderful manner. By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we are deliveredfrom a still deeper abyss of death; and such being the case, our ingratitude will be inexcusable,unless each of us exercise himself to the utmost of his power in celebrating this deliverance. IfDavid so highly magnified the name of God merely on account of the prolongation of his life fora short time, what praises are due for this unparalleled redemption by which we are drawn fromthe depths of hell and elevated to heaven? The Papists attempt to found an argument on this passage488 Bishop Law would read, “Make my heart one, that it may fear thy name;” that is, says he, “Let the fear of thee be the oneruling disposition of my soul.” — Quoted in Warner’s Psalter, with Notes.489 The original word here for grave is , sheol; on which Mr Peters remarks, that if sheol here meant only a deliverance fromdeath and the grave, the expression, lower, or lowest, would be quite unnecessary. “The lower grave” may, however, be afigurative expression for a state of the deepest distress.234