Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvin4 Because thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad. The Psalmist repeats the truth that the Sabbathwas not prescribed as a day of idleness, but a season when we should collect our whole energiesfor meditation upon the works of God. He intimates, at the same time, that those are best qualifiedfor celebrating the praises of God who recognize and feel his fatherly goodness, and can undertakethis service with willing and joyful minds. His language implies that the goodness and faithfulnessof God, which he had already mentioned, are apparent in his works upon a due examination ofthem. What produces joy in our hearts is the exhibition which God gives of himself as a Father,and of his deep and watchful anxiety for our welfare; as, on the other hand, the cause of our brutishindifference is our inability to savor or relish the end designed in the works of God. 589 As theuniverse proclaims throughout that God is faithful and good, it becomes us to be diligently observantof these tokens, and to be excited by a holy joy to the celebration of his praise.Psalm 92:5-85. O Jehovah! how magnificent are thy works! thy thoughts are very deep. 6. The foolish manshall not know them, neither shall the man void of wisdom understand them. 7. When the wickedflourish as the grass, and all the workers of iniquity spring up, that they may perish for ever. 8.And thou, O Jehovah! art exalted for evermore.5 O Jehovah! how highly exalted are thy works! The Psalmist, having spoken of the works ofGod in general, proceeds to speak more particularly of his justice in the government of the world.Though God may postpone the punishment of the wicked, he shows, in due time, that in connivingat their sins, he did not overlook or fail to perceive them; and though he exercises his own childrenwith the cross, he proves in the issue, that he was not indifferent to their welfare. His reason fortouching upon this particular point seems to be, that much darkness is thrown upon the scheme ofDivine Providence by the inequality and disorder which prevail in human affairs. 590 We see thewicked triumphing, and applauding their own good fortune, as if there was no judge above, andtaking occasion from the Divine forbearance to run into additional excesses, under the impressionthat they have escaped his hand. The temptation is aggravated by that stupidity and blindness ofheart which lead us to imagine that God exerts no superintendence over the world, and sits idle inheaven. It is known, too, how soon we are ready to sink under the troubles of the flesh. The Psalmist,therefore, intentionally selects this as a case in which he may show the watchful care exerted byGod over the human family. He begins, by using the language of exclamation, for such is thedreadful distemper and disorder by which our understandings are confounded, that we cannotcomprehend the method of God’s works, even when it is most apparent. We are to notice, that theinspired penman is not speaking here of the work of God in the creation of the heavens and earth,that country, that it was interdicted under the most severe penalties; and, in the language of the Romish Church, psalm-singingand heresy became synonymous terms. — Warton’s History of English Poetry, volume 3, pages 164, 165.589 “Comme aussi la cause de nostre paresse brutale est, que nous avons perdu tout goust quand il est question dee savourer lafin des oeuvres de Dieu.”590 “Pource que la confusion difforme laquelle se voit en la vie des hommes, obscurcit grandement l’ordre de la providencede Dieu.”299