Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John CalvinPSALM 73David, or whoever may have been the author of this psalm, contending as it were against thejudgment of carnal sense and reason, begins by extolling the righteousness and goodness of God.He next confesses that when he saw the wicked abounding in wealth, and living in the indulgenceof every kind of pleasure, yea, even scornfully mocking God, and cruelly harassing the righteous,and that when he saw, on the other hand, how in proportion to the care with which any studied topractice uprightness, was the degree in which they were weighed down by troubles and calamities,and that in general all the children of God were pining away, and oppressed with cares and sorrows,while God, as if sitting in heaven idle and unconcerned, did not interfere to remedy such a disorderedstate of matters; it gave him so severe a shock, as almost to dispose him to cast off all concern aboutreligion and all fear of God. In the third place, he reproves his own folly in proceeding rashly andhastily to pronounce judgment, merely from a view of the present state of things, and shows thenecessity of exercising patience, that our faith may not fail under these troubles and disquietudes.At last he concludes that, provided we leave the providence of God to take its own course, in theway which he has determined in his secret purpose, 148 in the end, matters will assume a very differentaspect, and it will be seen, that, on the one hand, the righteous are not defrauded of their reward,and that, on the other, the wicked do not escape the hand of the judge.A Psalm of Asaph.Psalm 73:1-31. Yet God is good to Israel, to those who are right of heart. 2. As for me, my feet were almostgone, my steps had well nigh slipped. 3. For I envied the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of thewicked.As to the author of this psalm, I am not disposed to contend very strongly, although I think itprobable that the name of Asaph was prefixed to it because the charge of singing it was committedto him, while the name of David, its author, was omitted, just as it is usual for us, when things arewell known of themselves, not to be at the trouble of stating them. How much profit we may derivefrom meditation upon the doctrine contained in this psalm, it is easy to discover from the exampleof the prophet, who, although he had been exercised in no ordinary degree in true godliness, yethad great difficulty in keeping his footing, while reeling to and fro on the slippery ground on whichhe found himself placed. Nay, he acknowledges that, before he returned to such soundness of mindas enabled him to form a just judgment of the things which occasioned his trial, he had fallen intoa state of almost brutish stupidity. As to ourselves, experience shows how slight impressions wehave of the providence of God. We no doubt all agree in admitting that the world is governed bythe hand of God; but were this truth deeply rooted in our hearts, our faith would be distinguishedby far greater steadiness and perseverance in surmounting the temptations with which we areassailed in adversity. But when the smallest temptation which we meet with dislodges this doctrine148 “Pourveu que nous laissions la providence de Dieu tenir sa procedure par les degrez, qu’il a determinez en son conseilsecret.” — Fr.73