John Calvin Commentary Psalms 11:4

"Jehovah is in his holy temple; Jehovah, his throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men." — Psalms 11:4 (ASV)

Jehovah is in the palace of his holiness. In what follows, the Psalmist glories in the assurance of the favor of God, of which I have spoken. Lacking human aid, he turns to the providence of God. It is a clear sign of faith, as I have observed elsewhere, to take and to borrow, so to speak, light from heaven to guide us to the hope of salvation when we are surrounded in this world with darkness on every side.

Everyone acknowledges that the world is governed by the providence of God; but when some distressing confusion of events occurs, which disturbs their peace and involves them in difficulty, there are few who maintain a firm conviction of this truth. But from David's example, we ought to regard God's providence in such a way as to hope for a remedy from his judgment, even when matters are in the most desperate condition.

There is in the words an implied contrast between heaven and earth; for if David’s attention had been fixed on the state of things in this world, as they appeared to natural perception and reason, he would have seen no hope of deliverance from his current dangerous circumstances.

But this was not David’s response; on the contrary, when in the world all justice is trampled underfoot and faithfulness has perished, he reflects that God sits in heaven perfect and unchanged, from whom he should look for the restoration of order out of this state of miserable confusion.

He does not simply say that God dwells in heaven, but that he reigns there, as it were, in a royal palace, and has his throne of judgment there. Nor do we truly give him the honor which is his due, unless we are fully convinced that his judgment-seat is a sacred sanctuary for all who are in affliction and unrighteously oppressed.

When, therefore, deceit, craft, treachery, cruelty, violence, and extortion reign in the world; in short, when all things are thrown into disorder and darkness by injustice and wickedness, let faith serve as a lamp to enable us to behold God’s heavenly throne, and let that sight be enough to make us wait patiently for the restoration of things to a better state.

The temple of his holiness, or his holy temple, which is commonly understood as Sion, undoubtedly here signifies heaven; and that this is so is clearly shown by the repetition in the next clause, Jehovah has his throne in Heaven; for it is certain David expresses the same thing twice.

His eyes behold. Here, he infers from the preceding sentence that nothing is hidden from God and that, therefore, people will be obliged to give him an account of all that they have done. If God reigns in heaven, and if his throne is erected there, it follows that he must necessarily attend to human affairs, in order to one day sit in judgment on them.

Epicurus, and those like him who would persuade themselves that God is idle and enjoys rest in heaven, may be said to spread a couch for him on which to sleep rather than to erect a throne of judgment for him. But it is the glory of our faith that God, the Creator of the world, does not disregard or abandon the order that he himself first established.

And when he suspends his judgments for a time, it is fitting for us to lean upon this one truth: that he beholds from heaven. Just as we now see David contenting himself with this comforting thought alone, that God rules over humankind and observes whatever takes place in the world, although his knowledge and the exercise of his jurisdiction are not immediately apparent.

This truth is still more clearly explained in what is immediately added in the fifth verse: that God distinguishes between the righteous and the unrighteous, and in such a way that shows he is not an idle spectator; for he is said to approve the righteous and to hate the wicked. The Hebrew word בחן, bachan, which we have translated as to approve, often signifies to examine or to try. But in this passage, I explain it as simply meaning that God so inquires into everyone's cause as to distinguish the righteous from the wicked.

It is further declared that God hates those who are intent on inflicting injuries and on doing mischief. As he has ordained mutual interaction among people, he would also have us maintain it as inviolable. Therefore, in order to preserve this his own sacred and appointed order, he must be the enemy of the wicked, who wrong and are troublesome to others. There is also contrasted here God’s hatred of the wicked with wicked people’s love of iniquity, to teach us that those who please and flatter themselves in their mischievous practices gain nothing by such flatteries and only deceive themselves.