Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinpart of the world. Some read simply righteousness, instead of In righteousness, supposing the letter, beth, to be here redundant, which does not, however, appear to be the case. 1294. He shall judge the poor of the people. The poet continues his description of the end and fruitof a righteous government, and unfolds at greater length what he had briefly touched upon concerningthe afflicted among the people. But it is a truth which ought to be borne in mind, that kings cankeep themselves within the bounds of justice and equity only by the grace of God; for when theyare not governed by the Spirit of righteousness proceeding from heaven, their government isconverted into a system of tyranny and robbery. As God had promised to extend his care to thepoor and afflicted among his people, David, as an argument to enforce the prayer which he presentsin behalf of the king, shows that the granting of it will tend to the comfort of the poor. God is indeedno respecter of persons; but it is not without cause that God takes a more special care of the poorthan of others, since they are most exposed to injuries and violence. Let laws and the administrationof justice be taken away, and the consequence will be, that the more powerful a man is, he will bethe more able to oppress his poor brethren. David, therefore, particularly mentions that the kingwill be the defender of those who can only be safe under the protection of the magistrate, anddeclares that he will be their avenger when they are made the victims of injustice and wrong. Thephrase, The children of the afflicted, is put for the afflicted, an idiom quite common in Hebrew,and a similar form of expression is sometimes used by the Greeks, as when they say υἱους ἰατρων,the sons of physicians, for physicians. 130 But as the king cannot discharge the duty of succouringand defending the poor which David imposes upon him, unless he curb the wicked by authorityand the power of the sword, it is very justly added in the end of the verse, that when righteousnessreigns, oppressors or extortioners will be broken in pieces. It would be foolish to wait till theyshould give place of their own accord. They must be repressed by the sword, that their audacityand wickedness may be prevented from proceeding to greater lengths. It is therefore requisite fora king to be a man of wisdom, and resolutely prepared effectually to restrain the violent and injurious,that the rights of the meek and orderly may be preserved unimpaired. Thus none will be fit forgoverning a people but he who has learned to be rigorous when the case requires. Licentiousnessmust necessarily prevail under an effeminate and inactive sovereign, or even under one who is ofa disposition too gentle and forbearing. There is much truth in the old saying, that it is worse tolive under a prince through whose lenity everything is lawful, than under a tyrant where there isno liberty at all.5. They shall fear thee with the sun If this is read as an apostrophe, or change of person, it maybe properly and without violence understood of the king; implying, that the ornaments or distinctionswhich chiefly secure to a sovereign reverence from his subjects are his impartially securing to everyman the possession of his own rights, and his manifesting a spirit of humanity ready at all times tosuccor the poor and miserable, as well as a spirit determined rigorously to subdue the audacity ofthe wicked. But it will be more appropriate, without changing the person, to explain it of God129 Rosenmüller, in like manner, objects to this reading. “Some expositors,” says he, “consider the prefix , beth, as redundant,or as denoting that the noun is in the accusative case; and that the clause may be rendered, And the hills shall bring forth justiceNoldius, in his Concordance, adduces several passages as examples of a similar construction; but they appear, all of them, to beconstructed on a different principle.”130 Many examples of this Hebraism might be quoted. In Ecclesiastes 10:17, “a son of nobles” is put for “a noble person;” inPsalm 18:45, children of the stranger, for strangers; and, in many passages, children, or sons of men, for men, simply considered.64