John Calvin Commentary Psalms 102:25

"Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands." — Psalms 102:25 (ASV)

Thou hast aforetime founded the earth. Here the sacred writer amplifies what he had previously stated, declaring that, compared with God, the whole world is a form that quickly vanishes away. Yet a little later, he represents the Church as exempted from this common lot of all earthly things, because she has for her foundation the word of God, while her safety is secured by the same word.

Two subjects are therefore here brought under our consideration. The first is that since the heavens themselves are in the sight of God almost as fleeting as smoke, the frailty of the whole human race is such that it may well excite His compassion. The second is that although there is no stability in the heavens and the earth, yet the Church shall continue steadfast forever, because she is upheld by the eternal truth of God.

By the first of these positions, true believers are taught to consider with all humility when they come into the divine presence how frail and transitory their condition is, so that they may bring nothing with them but their own emptiness. Such self-abasement is the first step to our obtaining favor in the sight of God, for He also affirms that He is moved by the sight of our miseries to be merciful to us.

The comparison taken from the heavens is a very apt illustration. For how long have they continued to exist, when contrasted with the brief span of human life, which passes, or rather flies away, so swiftly? How many generations of people have passed away since the creation, while the heavens still continue as they were amidst this continual fluctuation?

Again, so beautiful is their arrangement, and so excellent their framework, that the whole fabric proclaims itself to be the product of God’s hands. And yet, neither the long period during which the heavens have existed, nor their beautiful adornment, will exempt them from perishing. What then shall become of us poor mortals, who die when we are scarcely yet born? For there is no part of our life that does not rapidly hasten to death.

Interpreters, however, do not all explain these words, The heavens shall perish, in the same way. Some understand them as expressing simply the change they will undergo, which will be a type of destruction.

For although they are not to be reduced to nothing, yet this change of their nature, so to speak, will destroy what is mortal and corruptible in them, so that they will become, in a way, different and new heavens.

Others explain the words conditionally and add the supplement, “If it so please God,” regarding it as absurd to say that the heavens are subject to corruption. But first, there is no necessity for introducing these supplementary words, which obscure the sense instead of making it clearer.

Furthermore, these expositors improperly attribute an immortal state to the heavens, about which Paul declares that they groan and travail in pain, like the earth and the other creatures, until the day of redemption (Romans 8:22), because they are subject to corruption—not indeed willingly, or in their own nature, but because humanity, by plunging headlong into destruction, has drawn the whole world into participation in the same ruin.

Two things here deserve attention: first, that the heavens are actually subject to corruption in consequence of the fall of humanity; and, secondly, that they will be so renewed as to warrant the prophet to say that they shall perish. For this renovation will be so complete that they will not be the same but other heavens.

The point is that wherever we turn our eyes, we will see everywhere nothing but ground for despair until we come to God. What is there in us but rottenness and corruption? What else are we but a mirror of death? Again, what are the changes that the whole world undergoes but a kind of foreshadowing, indeed a prelude, of destruction?

If the whole framework of the world is hastening to its end, what will become of the human race? If all nations are doomed to perish, what stability will there be in individuals? We ought therefore to seek stability nowhere else but in God.