John Calvin Commentary Psalms 106

Praise ye Jehovah—this exhortation serves as a title; not that the psalm only contains thanksgiving and praise to God, but that the people, from the experience of past favors, may obtain the assurance of reconciliation, and thus entertain the hope that God, although currently offended, would soon be pacified towards them. In celebrating the praises of God, therefore, he orders them to call to mind things that would tend to assuage their grief due to present afflictions, and to animate their spirits, and prevent them from sinking into despair.

Who shall express. This verse is open to two interpretations. For if you read it in connection with the verse immediately following, the meaning will be that not all people are equally capable of praising God, because the ungodly and the wicked do nothing but profane His holy name with their unclean lips. As it is said in Psalm 50:16: But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? And so, to this sentence the following clause should have been added, as a reply: Blessed are they that keep judgment.

However, I believe the prophet had another purpose: namely, that anyone who has ever tried to concentrate all their energies, both physical and mental, in praising God, will find themselves inadequate for such a lofty subject, whose transcendent grandeur overpowers all our senses.

It is not that he exalts God's power intentionally to deter us from celebrating His praises, but rather as a way to encourage us to do so to the best of our ability. Is it any reason to stop our efforts that, however eagerly we pursue our course, we still fall far short of perfection?

But what should give us the greatest encouragement is knowing that, even if our ability fails us, the praises we offer to God from the heart are pleasing to Him. We must only beware of callousness; for it would certainly be very absurd for those who cannot attain even a tenth of perfection to use that as an excuse for not even reaching a hundredth part of it.

Blessed are they that keep judgment. I make a distinction between this and the preceding verse, yet in such a way as to preserve the connection between them. For the prophet, having declared the magnitude of God’s power to be such that no tongue could utter all its praises, now says that praises of the lip alone are not acceptable to God, but that the concurrence of the heart is indispensable; indeed, that even our entire conduct must be in harmony with this practice.

Now, when he first commands to keep judgment, and then to work righteousness, he gives us a short description of genuine godliness. I have no doubt that in the former clause he describes the sincere affection of the heart, and in the latter, he refers to external works. For we know there is nothing but the mere shadow of righteousness, unless a man sincerely devotes himself to the practice of honesty.

He requires perseverance, too, so that no one may imagine that he has discharged this duty properly, except for the one whose constant and continued aim is to live righteously and justly. We see many who have only an empty profession; others show some signs of virtue but do not maintain a consistent course of conduct.

Remember me. By these words, the prophet declares it to be his chief desire that God would extend to him that love which he bore towards the Church, so that he might thus become a participant in all the blessings which, from the very first, he bestows upon his chosen, and which day by day he continues with them. Nor does he desire this for himself alone, but in the name of the Church Catholic, offers up a prayer for all alike, so that by his example, he might stimulate the faithful to present similar petitions.

Remember me, he says, with the good will which thou bearest towards thy people; that is to say, grant me the same unmerited kindness which you are pleased to confer upon your people, so that I may never be cut off from your Church, but always be included among the number of your children. For the phrase, good will towards thy people, is to be understood in a passive sense, referring to that love which God graciously bears to his elect.

It is, however, a metonymy employed by the prophet to point out the marks of God’s love. For from this gracious source flows that proof of his grace which he actually and experientially gives. But the prophet, if counted as belonging to the people of God, would consider this to be the summit of true happiness; because, by this means, he would feel that God was reconciled to him (than which nothing is more desirable), and thus, too, he would experience that he was bountiful.

The term, remember, relates to the circumstances of the time, as we will see towards the end of the psalm that it was written when the people were in such a sad and calamitous state that the faithful might harbor a secret apprehension that their God had forgotten them. The next clause, visit me with thy salvation, serves to counteract this fear. For God is said to visit those from whom he had apparently withdrawn, and their salvation is a demonstration of his goodwill towards them.

In the next verse, he repeats the same sentiment: that I may see the good of thy chosen. For he desires to be an associate and participant in the blessings which are constantly experienced by the elect of God. The verb to see, is very plainly taken to mean the enjoyment of these blessings, just as to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) and to see good and life (1 Peter 3:10) denote the corresponding blessings.

Those who expound it as meaning, "that I may see you do good to the chosen," are mistaken. This is because the preceding verse upon which this depends will not bear this interpretation, and the exposition I have given is supported by the words that follow: that I may rejoice in the joy of thy nation, and glory with thy heritage. For it is quite obvious that the prophet is solicitous to become a sharer in all the benefits that are the portion of the chosen, so that, satisfied with God alone, he may, under his providential care, live joyfully and happily.

Whatever the mournful state of the Church at that time might have been, the prophet, amid all such tumult, still clings firmly to this principle: that there is nothing better than to be regarded as belonging to the flock and people of God, who will always prove to be the best of fathers to his own, and the faithful guardian of their welfare.

All that he asks is that God would deal with him as he customarily deals with his Church; and he declares that he could not bear the thought of being severed or separated from the common lot of the Church. These words, however, imply a tacit complaint that at that time God was withholding his loving-kindness from his afflicted Church, as if he had cast her off altogether.

We have sinned with our fathers. It is quite plain from these words that although the prophet may have spoken in the person of one man, he still dictates a form of prayer for the common use of the whole Church, since he now identifies himself with the whole body.

And from this to the end of the psalm, he gleans from ancient histories that their fathers had always been of a malignant and perverse spirit, of corrupt practice, rebellious, ungrateful, and treacherous towards God. He confesses that their descendants were not better. Having made this confession, they come and ask for the forgiveness of their sins.

Since we are unable to obtain the forgiveness of our sins until we have first confessed our guilt, and since our hardness of heart shuts us out from the grace of God, the prophet, therefore, very appropriately and humbly acknowledges the guilt of the people in this their severe and painful chastisement. He also acknowledges that God might justly inflict upon them an even harder punishment.

For another reason, it was advantageous for the Jews to have their sins laid out before them. This is because if God punishes us severely, we immediately suppose that His promises have failed. But when, on the contrary, we are reminded that we are receiving the reward due to us for our transgressions, then if we thoroughly repent, those promises in which God appears as reconciled to us will come to our aid.

Besides, by the three expressions he uses in reference to their transgressions, he points out their enormity, so that (as is usually the case) their hearts might not be slightly affected, but deeply wounded with sorrow. For we know how men are bound by their vices and how inclined they are to leave themselves alone until compelled to examine themselves seriously. Indeed, what is more, when God calls them to judgment, they make a kind of verbal confession of their iniquities, while at the same time, hypocrisy blinds their minds.

When, therefore, the prophet says that the people acted iniquitously in sinning and had become ungodly and wicked, he employs no useless or unnecessary accumulation of words. Let any of us examine ourselves, and we will easily find that we have an equal need to be compelled to make a sincere confession of our sins. For though we dare not say that we have no sin, yet each of us is disposed to find a cover and excuse for his sin.

In a very similar manner, Daniel, in the ninth chapter of his prophecies (Daniel 9), acknowledges the guilt of his own iniquities and those of the people; it may be that the author of this psalm followed his example. From both, let us learn that the only way of pleasing God is to undertake a strict self-examination.

It should also be carefully observed that the holy prophets, who never departed from the fear and worship of God, uniformly confessed their own guilt in common with the people. They did this not out of false humility, but because they were aware that they themselves were tainted with many corruptions. For when iniquity abounds, it is almost impossible for even the best of men to keep themselves from being infected by its harmful effects.

Not comparing themselves with others, but placing themselves before God’s judgment seat, they immediately perceive the impossibility of making their escape.

At that time, impiety had reached such an enormous level among the Jews that it is not surprising if even the best and most upright men were carried away, as if by the violence of a tempest. How very abominable, then, is the pride of those who scarcely imagine that they offend in the slightest way; indeed, who even, like certain fanatics of today, conceive that they have attained a state of sinless perfection!

It must be remembered, however, that Daniel, who carefully kept himself under the fear of God and whom the Holy Spirit, by the prophet Ezekiel, declares to be one of the most upright of men, did not insincerely acknowledge his own transgressions and those of the people when he confessed them, with a deep sense of their grievously and dreadfully abhorrent character in the eyes of God. True, indeed, he was not overwhelmed in the same torrent of iniquity as others, but he knew that he had contracted a very large amount of guilt.

Besides, the prophet does not bring forward their fathers for the purpose of excusing his own wrongdoing (as many today disregard all reproof, shielding themselves by saying that they were taught this way by their fathers, and that, therefore, their poor upbringing, not they themselves, is at fault). Rather, he does so to show that he and those of his own nation were liable to severe punishment because, even from the very first and as if from their very infancy, they never ceased to provoke God's displeasure against themselves more and more with new transgressions. In this way, he implicates both fathers and children in many reasons for condemnation.