John Calvin Commentary Psalms 106:35

"But mingled themselves with the nations, And learned their works," — Psalms 106:35 (ASV)

But were mingled. He describes what resulted from this foolish compassion: namely, that they were defiled with the pollutions of the nations whom they had spared. If they had exclusively inhabited the land of Canaan, they would have more easily retained the pure worship of God. Lured by the influence of such neighbors, it is not surprising that they soon degenerated from the ways of their fathers, since we are more inclined to follow the example of the bad than of the good. He now speaks of the descendants of those who had so frequently provoked God’s anger in the wilderness, and declares that, as the same unbelief, rebellion, and ingratitude were rampant in the succeeding generation, they were no better than their fathers.

By mingling with the pagans, they openly rejected the distinguishing loving-kindness of God, who adopted them as His children on the express condition that they should be separated from these profane nations. Therefore, by associating with them indiscriminately, they made this holy covenant ineffective. When he adds, that they learned their works, he warns us that nothing is more dangerous than associating with the ungodly, because, since we are more prone to follow vice than virtue, it is inevitable that the more familiar we are with corruption, the more widely it will spread.

In such circumstances, the utmost care and caution are necessary, so that the wicked with whom we come into contact do not infect us with their corrupt morals, and particularly where there is a danger of relapsing into idolatry, to which we are all naturally prone. What, then, will be the effect on us when incited by others to commit sin, other than to add sin to sin?

The prophet, therefore, declares that the Jews were already so much under the influence of the pagans that they abandoned themselves to practicing their idolatrous rites. In employing the word to serve, he refutes the contemptible evasion of the Papists, who pretend that they do not give to images the worship that is due to God alone, but only a sort of honorary adoration. But if worshipping images is lawful, the prophet had no sufficient reason to condemn his own nation for serving foreign gods. Despicable, therefore, is the distinction that divine homage is to be paid to God alone, and that a kind of honorary adoration is to be given to images. He adds that this issued in their overthrow, so that their obstinate attachment to their foolish ways, and their contempt for God’s chastisements, may more clearly appear.