John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 32:19

"And Jehovah saw [it], and abhorred [them], Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters." — Deuteronomy 32:19 (ASV)

And when the Lord saw it. The seeing of God, mentioned here, refers to His forbearance in judgment. It is as if to say that He does not act hastily and is not alienated from His children without having carefully considered their case. This is similar to what is said elsewhere: Because the cry of Sodom is great, I will go down now and see whether it is so, and I will know (Genesis 18:20–21). Assuredly, God has no need to make any examination, since nothing escapes His eyes, no matter how hidden it may be; but this "going down and inquiring" is contrasted with reckless haste.

Thus, in this passage, Moses shows that God was wrathful when He saw His sons and His daughters drawn away so faithlessly to their idols. Again, when he calls them God’s children, he does not judge them to be so because of their merits, but in reference to God’s adoption. Although this adoption was canceled as far as they themselves were concerned, it still had the effect of increasing the guilt of their ingratitude.

For the same reason that he had just said that God saw them, Moses introduces Him deliberating, as it were, so that the time for punishing them might be perceived to have fully come. But we must notice the degrees, for God does not at once erupt into extreme severity. Instead, He is said to hide His face, that He might secretly consider what they would do. This is a middle course between the clear display of His grace and favor, and the signs of His wrath.

Indeed, God is said elsewhere in many passages to hide His face when He rejects people’s prayers and withdraws His aid. But here, He assumes the character of a man who, seeing that he achieves nothing by his actions,²⁶⁹ goes aside to some place from where he may quietly contemplate the result. Thus, God’s weariness with them is expressed; for when He at length saw that His efforts to control them were wasted, He abandoned caring for them.

It is a false inference, which some draw from this, that people, when abandoned by God, recover by exercising their own free will. This is not as if God sat calmly and idly in a watchtower, waiting to see what they might do, since this hiding of Himself refers only to the external manifestation of His grace.

In short, it is a comparison taken from human conduct, by which God signifies that He is overcome with weariness and will no longer be the leader and guardian of the people, until it effectively appears that they are completely intractable. This is gathered from the reason added next, in which He criticizes their rebellious nature and lack of faith, as if to say that, after a long trial, nothing remained for Him but to abandon them.

²⁶⁹ ’Voyant qu’il ne profite rien en advertissant son ami qu’il se pert;’ seeing that he does not at all profit his friend by warning him against selfdestruction. — Fr..