Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinking by the Divine appointment. And, indeed, as other distinguished and celebrated prophets livedat that time, it is not very probable that a matter of so great importance was concealed from them.But Samuel alone is named in this business, because he was the publisher of the Divine oracle andthe minister of the royal anointing. As God in those days spake to his prophets either by dreams orby visions, this last mode of revelation is here mentioned.There next follows the substance or amount of the Divine oracle, That God had furnished withhelp the strong or mighty one whom he had chosen to be the supreme head and governor of thekingdom. David is called strong, not because naturally and in himself he excelled in strength, (for,as is well known, he was of small stature, and despised among his brethren, so that even Samuelpassed him over with neglects) but because God, after having chosen him, endued him with newstrength, and other distinguished qualities suitable for a king; even as in a parallel case, when Christchose his apostles, he not only honored them with the title, but at the same time bestowed the giftswhich were necessary for executing their office. And at the present day he imparts to his ministersthe same grace of his Spirit. The strength of David, then, of which mention is here made, was theeffect of his election; for God, in creating him king, furnished him at the same time with strengthadequate for the preservation of the people. This appears still more distinctly from the secondclause, where this invincible strength is traced to its source: I have exalted one chosen from amongthe people. All the words are emphatic. When God declares that he exalted him, it is to intimatethe low and mean condition in which David lived, unknown and obscure, before God stretched outhis hand to him. To the same effect is the expression which follows, from among the people. Themeaning is, that he was at that time unnoted, and belonged to the lowest class of the people, andgave no indications of superior excellence, being the least esteemed of his father’s children, inwhose country cottage he held the humble office of a herdsman. 539 By the word chosen, God callsus back to the consideration of his own free will, as if he forbade us to seek for any other cause ofDavid’s exaltation than his own good pleasure.20 I have found David my servant. The prophet confirms the same proposition, That there wasnothing of royalty in David, who owed all to the sovereignty of God in preventing him by his grace.Such is the import of the word found, as if God had said, When I took him to elevate him, thisproceeded entirely from my free goodness. The name servant, therefore, does not denote any merit,but is to be referred to the divine call. It is as if God had said, that he confirmed and ratified by hisauthority the sovereign power of David; and if He approved it, its legitimacy is placed beyond alldoubt. The second clause of the verse affords an additional confirmation of God’s free election:With my holy oil have I anointed him. This anointing, which was not the fruit of David’s own policy,but which he obtained contrary to all expectation, was the cause of his elevation to the estate ofroyalty. God then having of himself, and according to his mere good pleasure, anticipated David,that he might anoint him king by the hand of Samuel, he justly declares that he found him. It isafterwards added, that he will be the guardian and protector of this kingdom of which he was thefounder; for it is not his usual way to abandon his works after having commenced them, but, onthe contrary, to carry them forward by a continued process of improvement to their completion.539 “L’ennemi n’aura puissance sur luy.” — Fr. “The enemy shall not have power over him.”261