John Calvin Commentary Psalms 10

Lord, why standest thou afar off? Here we see how the prophet, seeking a remedy for his calamities, which were apparently beyond hope, directly addresses God at the very beginning. And the rule we should observe, when we are in trouble and sorrow, is this: We should seek comfort and solace in the providence of God; for amidst our agitations, vexations, and cares, we ought to be fully persuaded that it is his special role to give relief to the wretched and afflicted.

It is in a figurative sense, and by anthropopathy, that the Psalmist speaks of God as standing far away. Nothing can be hidden from his eyes; but as God permits us to speak to him as we do to one another, these forms of expression do not contain anything absurd, provided we understand them as applied to God, not in a literal sense, but only figuratively, according to the judgment that mere human perception forms from the present appearance of things.

It is possible that a righteous person may not prevent an injury that is done to a poor person before his eyes, because he lacks the power; but this cannot be the case with God, who is always armed with invincible power. If, therefore, he acts as if he took no notice, it is the same as if he withdrew himself far away.

The word תעלים, taelim, which signifies to hide, is explained in two ways. According to some, David here complains of God for hiding himself, as if he considered the care of human affairs beneath him. Others understand it as meaning to shut the eyes; and this seems to me to be the simpler view.

It should be observed that although David here complains that God kept himself far away, he was, nevertheless, fully persuaded of his presence with him; otherwise it would have been in vain to call upon him for aid.

The question he uses has this meaning: Lord, since it is your prerogative to govern the world, and also to regulate it by your righteousness as you sustain it by your power, why is it that you do not more quickly show yourself a defender of your own people against the arrogance and incredible pride of the ungodly?

David, however, speaks this way not so much to complain as to encourage himself in the confidence of obtaining what he desired. Through the weakness of human perception, he says that it is unbecoming of God to delay so long in executing his office; and yet, at the same time, he does not fail to yield to him the honor that is his due, and by his prayers he entrusts to his bosom the great burden of trouble with which he was laden.

The expression that follows, at needful times, relates to the same subject. Although God may not extend his hand to take vengeance at every moment, yet when he beholds the simple and innocent oppressed, it is not time for him to delay any longer. David briefly defines the appropriate time for God to act as when the faithful are in distress.

We have spoken of this form of speech in the preceding psalm, at the tenth verse (Psalms 9:10).

The ungodly in his pride—Before uttering his prayer against the ungodly, the Psalmist briefly describes their wickedness in cruelly oppressing the afflicted, for no other reason than because they disdain and despise them, through the pride with which they are puffed up. And their cruelty is greatly enhanced by the fact that, forgetful of all humanity, they contemptuously triumph over the poor and afflicted, mocking them and inflicting injuries on them.

Cruelty is, indeed, always proud, indeed, rather, pride is the mother of all wrongs; for if a man did not exalt himself above his neighbors through pride, and despise them through arrogant self-importance, even common humanity would teach us how humbly and justly we should behave towards one another.

But David here intended to state that the sole reason the ungodly, whom he accuses, inflict their cruelty upon the wretched and the needy (who have given them no provocation) is the pride and arrogance of their own spirits. Therefore, let everyone who desires to live justly and blamelessly with others be careful not to indulge in or take pleasure in treating others disdainfully; and they should endeavor, above all things, to have their minds freed from the disease of pride.

The word דלק, dalak, signifies to suffer persecution, as well as to persecute; and therefore, some prefer to translate the words, The poor is persecuted in the pride of the ungodly. These words may also appropriately be translated as, The poor burns in the pride of the ungodly, because this is the more common meaning of the word. The pride of the wicked, like fire, devours the poor and afflicted.

For the ungodly praiseth himself. This verse is explained in various ways. Literally, the reading is, For praiseth the wicked or ungodly; therefore, it is necessary to supply some word, but which word is disputed. Some translate the words, ungodly and violent man, in the accusative case, as: He praiseth the ungodly, and blesseth the violent man; because they think it strange that after "praiseth" the sentence should end abruptly, without anything being said of who or what was praised.

However, it is quite common in Hebrew for the word to be expressed only once when the agent and the subject are the same person, while we repeat it to complete the sense. Therefore, the interpretation I have followed seems most proper to me: that the ungodly man praises himself, boasts of the desire of his soul, and blesses himself.

Now, it may be asked, what is this desire of soul? It is usually understood in this sense: that the ungodly flatter and applaud themselves while fortune smiles on them, they obtain their wishes, and enjoy whatever they desire. This is just as David adds a little later, that they abuse their prosperity by attempting whatever comes into their fancy.

But, in my opinion, desire of soul here denotes rather lust, and the intemperate gratification of passion and appetite. Thus, the meaning is that they indulge themselves with delight in their depraved desires. Despising the judgment of God, they fearlessly absolve themselves from all guilt, maintain their innocence, and justify their impiety. Moses uses a similar form of expression in Deuteronomy 29:19:

I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart.

David, indeed, says a little later that the ungodly abuse their prosperity by flattering themselves. But here, in my judgment, he expresses something more weighty: namely, that they acquire praise from their presumptuousness and glory in their wickedness. This foolish confidence, or bold assurance, is the cause of their throwing off all restraint and breaking forth into every kind of excess.

Accordingly, I interpret the words praise and bless as having the same meaning, just as the words, ungodly and violent man, are synonymous in this place, although they differ from each other as genus and species. What is immediately added at the end of the verse—that these ungodly persons despise God—agrees with these statements.

To translate the verb as to blaspheme, as some have done, or to provoke to anger, as others have done, is too remote from the scope of the passage. David rather teaches that the cause of their careless indulgence in the gratification of their lusts is their base contempt of God.

He who duly reflects that God will be his judge is so alarmed by this reflection that he dares not bless his soul while his conscience accuses him of guilt and of being given to the practice of sin.

The ungodly, in the pride of his countenance, etc. Others translate the words, The ungodly man, by reason of the violence of his anger, or, in the pride which he displays, does not inquire after God. But this partly perverts the meaning and partly weakens the force of what David intended to express.

In the first place, the word inquire, which is used here absolutely (that is, without any noun that it governs), is, according to this translation, improperly limited to God. David simply means that the ungodly, without examination, permit themselves to do anything. They do not distinguish between what is lawful and unlawful, because their own lust is their law. Indeed, as if superior to all laws, they imagine that it is lawful for them to do whatever they please.

The beginning of well-doing in a person’s life is inquiry. In other words, we can only begin to do well when we restrain ourselves from following, without choice and discrimination, the impulses of our own imagination, and from being carried away by the wayward propensities of our flesh. But the exercise of inquiring proceeds from humility, when we assign to God, as is reasonable, the place of judge and ruler over us.

The prophet, therefore, very properly says that the reason the ungodly presume to do whatever they desire, without any regard or consideration, is because, being lifted up with pride, they leave God none of the prerogative of a judge. The Hebrew word פף, aph, which we have translated countenance, I have no doubt is here taken in its proper and natural meaning, and not metaphorically for anger; because haughty persons show their effrontery even by their countenance.

In the second clause, the prophet more severely, or at least more openly, accuses them, declaring that all their wicked imaginations show that they have no God. All his devices say, There is no God. By these words I understand that through their heaven-daring presumption, they subvert all piety and justice, as if there were no God sitting in heaven.

If they truly believed that there is a God, the fear of the judgment to come would restrain them. Not that they plainly and distinctly deny the existence of a God, but they strip him of his power. Now, God would be merely like an idol if, contented with an inactive existence, he were to divest himself of his office as judge.

Whoever, therefore, refuses to admit that the world is subject to the providence of God, or does not believe that his hand is stretched forth from on high to govern it, does as much as is in their power to put an end to the existence of God. It is not, however, enough to have some cold and superficial knowledge of him in the head; it is only the true and heartfelt conviction of his providence that makes us reverence him and keeps us in subjection to him.

Most interpreters understand the last clause as meaning generally that all the thoughts of a wicked person tend to the denial of a God. In my opinion, the Hebrew word מזמות, mezimmoth, is here, as in many other places, taken in a negative sense to mean cunning and wicked thoughts, so that the meaning, as I have noted already, is this: Since the ungodly have the audacity to devise and perpetrate every kind of wickedness, however atrocious, it is sufficiently clear from this that they have cast off all fear of God from their hearts.

There is a great diversity of opinion among interpreters regarding the first part of this verse. The translators of the Septuagint version, thinking the word יחילו, yachilu (which is in the future tense) was derived from the root חלל, chalal—which it is not—have translated it as his ways are defiled. But it is agreed among the Jewish expositors that it is derived from the root חול, chol. Many among them, however, interpret it actively as to cause fear or to cause trouble, as if it meant that the ways of the ungodly are dreadful to the good and torment them.

Some also apply the words to God, interpreting the sentence as: His ways come—that is, they have their course or prosper at all times. However, in my judgment, this is too forced. But since this word means to be prosperous in other Scripture texts, I am surprised that there is any difference of opinion among the learned concerning this passage, when, in the very next part, the prophet clearly shows that he is speaking of the prosperous condition of the ungodly and the continuous pleasure that intoxicates them.

He not only complains of their prosperity, but he also uses it to emphasize their guilt, because they take opportunity from God's goodness to harden themselves in their wickedness. Therefore, I would explain the verse this way: Since they enjoy continuous prosperity, they imagine that God is bound or committed to them. Consequently, they put his judgments far from them; and if anyone opposes them, they are confident they can immediately suppress him or dash him to pieces with a mere puff of breath.

Now, we understand the prophet's simple meaning to be that the ungodly mock God, taking encouragement from his forbearance. For example, that vile tyrant Dionysius, after having a prosperous voyage following his plunder of Proserpine's temple, boasted that God favored the sacrilegious. This is why they put God's judgments far from them.

In the opinion of some, these words, On high are thy judgments before him, mean much the same as if the prophet had said that God treats them with too much clemency and spares them, just as he elsewhere complains of their exemption from the common afflictions of life.

But this interpretation does not agree well with the words; indeed, it appears unnatural and forced. The judgments of God, then, are said to be on high to the ungodly because, presuming on God's great distance from them, they promise themselves not only a truce with death throughout their entire lives but also an everlasting covenant with it.

We see how, by delaying the day of reckoning, they harden themselves and become increasingly obstinate in evil. Indeed, persuading themselves that God is confined to heaven, as if they had no concern with him, they strengthen themselves in the hope of escaping unpunished. We see them, for example, in Isaiah (Isaiah 22:13) jesting at the prophets' threats, saying, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die.

God therefore bitterly condemns them because, when he called the people to mourning, ashes, and sackcloth, these mockers encouraged them to music and feasting. And at length he swears, As I live, surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you until you die.

The faithful, indeed, lift up their eyes to heaven to behold God's judgments, and they are no less afraid of them than if they were about to fall on their heads.

The ungodly, on the contrary, despise them. Yet, to avoid being disturbed or tormented by the fear or apprehension of them, they would banish them to heaven. This is just like the Epicureans who, although they did not presume to openly deny God's existence, imagined him confined to heaven, where he indulges in idleness, without any concern for what happens here below.

From this delusion flows their presumptuous confidence, of which David speaks, by which they assure themselves of being able to destroy, with a mere puff or blast, all who are their enemies. The word פוח, phuach, which sometimes means to ensnare, is here more properly understood as to puff or to blow out.

The Psalmist confirms these statements in the next verse, where he tells us that the people he describes are fully persuaded in their hearts that they are beyond all danger of change: He says in his heart, I shall not be moved from generation to generation. The ungodly often express proud language to this effect.

David, however, only touches on the hidden sore of their vile arrogance, which they cherish in their own hearts. Therefore, he does not state what they speak with their mouths, but what they persuade themselves of in their hearts. It may be asked here: Why does David blame in others what he professes concerning himself in so many places? For, trusting in God's protection, he courageously triumphs over all dangers.

And surely it is fitting for God's children to effectively provide for their safety, so that even if the world were to fall into ruins a hundred times, they may have the comforting assurance that they will remain unmoved.

The answer to this question is easy: The faithful promise themselves security in God, and nowhere else. Yet, while they do this, they know they are exposed to all the storms of affliction and patiently submit to them.

There is a very great difference between a despiser of God and the godly man. The despiser, enjoying prosperity today, is so forgetful of man's condition in this world that, through a distorted imagination, he builds his nest above the clouds and persuades himself that he will always enjoy comfort and rest.

The godly man, in contrast, knows that his life hangs by a thread and is surrounded by a thousand deaths. He is ready to endure any kind of affliction sent upon him and lives in the world as if sailing on a tempestuous and dangerous sea. Nevertheless, he patiently bears all his troubles and sorrows, comforting himself in his afflictions because he leans wholly on God's grace and confides entirely in it.

The ungodly man says, I shall not be moved, or I shall not shake forever, because he thinks himself sufficiently strong and powerful to withstand all the assaults made against him. The faithful man says, "What if I happen to be moved, or even fall and sink into the lowest depths? My fall will not be fatal, for God will place his hand under me to sustain me." In the same way, this provides us with an explanation of the different effects that an apprehension of danger has on the good and the bad.

Good men may tremble and sink into despondency, but this leads them to flee with all haste to the sanctuary of God’s grace. In contrast, the ungodly, while terrified even by the sound of a falling leaf and living in constant uneasiness, endeavor to harden themselves in their stupidity. They try to bring themselves into such a state of giddy frenzy that, being, as it were, carried out of themselves, they may not feel their calamities.

The reason given for the confidence with which the prosperous ungodly man persuades himself that no change will come upon him is, because he is not in adversity. This can be understood in two ways. It either means that the ungodly, because they have been exempt from all calamity and misery during the past part of their lives, entertain the hope of a peaceful and joyful state in the future; or it means that, through a deceitful imagination, they exempt themselves from the common condition of humanity, just as in Isaiah (Isaiah 28:15) they say:

When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
it shall not come upon us.