John Calvin Commentary Psalms 10:5-6

"His ways are firm at all times; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them. He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; To all generations I shall not be in adversity." — Psalms 10:5-6 (ASV)

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.