Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinsentence, thus: But as for me, I prayed to God in a time of his favor; corresponding to that passagein Isaiah 55:6, “Call ye upon him while he is near.” Others resolve it thus: I prayed that the timeof favor might come, and that God would begin to be merciful to me. But David is rather speakingof the consolation which he then received by reflecting with himself, that although it was now atime of trouble with him, and although his prayers seemed to be altogether unavailing, yet God’sfavor would have its turn also. Thus the Prophet Habakkuk says,“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and willwatch to see what he will say unto me.” (Habakkuk 2:1)In like manner, Isaiah says,“I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob;” (Isaiah 8:17)and Jeremiah 14:22,) “We will wait upon thee.” The only means by which, in our affliction,we can obtain the victory, is by our having hope shining in us in the midst of darkness, and by ourhaving the sustaining influence which arises from waiting for the favor of God. After David hasthus fortified himself for continued perseverance in the attitude of waiting, he immediately adds,Answer me in the multitude of thy goodness; and to goodness he joins the truth of salvation, 81intimating that God’s mercy is proved by indubitable effect when he succours his servants who arereduced to the very depths of despair. What prompted him to present this prayer was, the fullpersuasion which he had, that the darkness in which he was now involved would in due time bedispelled, and that a serene and unclouded season of God’s favor would succeed; a persuasionwhich arose from his recalling all his thoughts to God, lest he should faint by reason of the harassingtreatment which he met with from the wicked.Psalm 69:14-1814. Deliver me from the mire, that I may not sink: let me be delivered from my adversaries,and from the deep waters. 15. Let not the flood of waters overflow me; and let not the deep swallowme up; and let not the pit 82 close its mouth upon me. 16. Answer me, O Jehovah! for thy mercy 83is good: in the multitude of thy compassions 84 look upon me. 17. And hide not thy face from thyservant; for I am in trouble: hasten! answer me! 18. Draw near to my soul, redeem it; deliver me,on account of my enemies.14. Deliver me from the mire, that I may not sink. The Psalmist repeats the same similitudewhich he had used before, but in a different manner. He had previously said that he was sunk inthe mire, and now he prays that he may not sink in it. In short, he now prays that those things maynot now befall him which he had formerly complained of as having befallen him. But it is veryeasy to reconcile this diversity of statement; for in the opening of the psalm he spake according tohis actual feeling and experience; but now, looking to the issue, although living in the midst of81 Dr Wells explains, the truth of thy salvation, as meaning, “according to the promises thou hast made of saving me.”82 “The Chaldee interpreter understands by the pit, Gehenna.” — Cresswell.83 The original word , chesed, here translated mercy, signifies, as Dr Adam Clarke observes, “exuberance of kindness.”84 , rachamecha, for compassions, signifies, according to the same author, such affection as mothers bear to their young,and in God there is , rob, a multitude of these.37