John Calvin Commentary Psalms 115:3

"But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever he pleased." — Psalms 115:3 (ASV)

Surely our God is in heaven. The faithful, with holy boldness, encourage themselves all the more to prayer. We know our prayers are worthless when we are agitated with doubts. If that blasphemy had penetrated their hearts, it would have inflicted a mortal wound. And for this reason, they very opportunely guard against it by discontinuing their stream of supplications.

Later on, we will consider the second clause of this verse in its proper place, where they scoff at the idols and profane superstitions of the heathen. But for now, every word in this clause demands our careful inspection. When they place God in heaven, they do not confine Him to a certain locality, nor set limits to His infinite essence; but they deny the limitation of His power, its being restricted to human agency alone, or its being subject to fate or fortune.

In short, they put the universe under His control; and, being superior to every obstruction, He freely does everything that may seem good to Him. This truth is still more plainly asserted in the subsequent clause: He hath done whatsoever pleased him. God, then, may be said to dwell in heaven, as the world is subject to His will, and nothing can prevent Him from accomplishing His purpose.

That God can do whatever He pleases is a doctrine of great importance, provided it is truly and legitimately applied. This caution is necessary because inquisitive and presumptuous persons, as is usual with them, take the liberty of abusing a sound doctrine by using it in defense of their frantic reveries.

And in this matter, we daily witness too much of the wildness of human ingenuity. This mystery, which ought to command our admiration and awe, is by many shamelessly and irreverently made a topic of idle talk. If we are to derive benefit from this doctrine, we must pay attention to the meaning of God’s doing whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth.

And, first, God has all power for the preservation of His Church and for providing for her welfare; secondly, all creatures are under His control, and therefore nothing can prevent Him from accomplishing all His purposes.

Therefore, however much the faithful may find themselves cut off from all means of subsistence and safety, they ought nevertheless to take courage from the fact that God is not only superior to all impediments, but that He can also make them serve the advancement of His own designs.

This, too, must also be kept in mind: that all events are the result of God’s appointment alone, and that nothing happens by chance.

It was appropriate to state these preliminary points regarding the use of this doctrine, so that we may be prevented from forming unworthy conceptions of the glory of God, as those with wild imaginations are accustomed to do.

Adopting this principle, we ought not to be ashamed to frankly acknowledge that God, by His eternal counsel, manages all things in such a way that nothing can be done except by His will and appointment.

From this passage, Augustine very properly and ingeniously shows that those events which appear to us unreasonable occur not merely by the permission of God, but also by His will and decree. For if our God does whatever pleases Him, why should He permit that to be done which He does not wish?

Why does He not restrain the devil and all the wicked who set themselves in opposition to Him? If He is regarded as occupying an intermediate position between acting and allowing, so as to tolerate what He does not wish, then, according to the fancy of the Epicureans, He will remain unconcerned in the heavens.

But if we admit that God is invested with prescience, that He superintends and governs the world which He has made, and that He does not overlook any part of it, it must follow that everything that takes place is done according to His will. Those who speak as if this would render God the author of evil are perverse disputants.

Filthy dogs though they are, yet they will not, by their barking, be able to substantiate a charge of lying against the prophet, or to take the government of the world out of God’s hand. If nothing occurs except by the counsel and determination of God, He apparently does not disallow sin; He has, however, secret and to us unknown reasons why He permits what perverse men do, and yet this is not done because He approves of their wicked inclinations.

It was the will of God that Jerusalem should be destroyed; the Chaldeans also wished the same thing, but in a different manner. And though He frequently calls the Babylonians His paid soldiers and says that they were stirred up by Him (Isaiah 5:26), and further, that they were the sword of His own hand, yet we would not therefore call them His allies, since their objective was very different.

In the destruction of Jerusalem, God’s justice would be displayed, while the Chaldeans would be justly censured for their lust, covetousness, and cruelty. Therefore, whatever takes place in the world is according to the will of God, and yet it is not His will that any evil should be done.

For however incomprehensible His counsel may be to us, it is still always based upon the best of reasons. When we are satisfied with His will alone, and fully persuaded that, notwithstanding the great depth of His judgments (Psalms 36:6), they are characterized by the most perfect righteousness, this very ignorance on our part will be far more learned than all the acumen of those who presume to make their own capacity the standard by which to measure His works.

On the other hand, it should be noted that if God does whatever He pleases, then it is not His pleasure to do what is not done. The knowledge of this truth is of great importance, because it frequently happens, when God seems to overlook and remain silent during the afflictions of the Church, that we ask why He permits her to languish, since it is in His power to give her assistance.

Avarice, fraud, perfidy, cruelty, ambition, pride, sensuality, drunkenness, and, in short, every species of corruption in these times is rampant in the world, all of which would instantly cease if it seemed good to God to apply the remedy. Therefore, if He at any time appears to us to be asleep, or seems not to have the means of helping us, let this lead us to wait patiently and teach us that it is not His pleasure to act so speedily as our deliverer, because He knows that delay and postponement are profitable for us; it being His will to overlook and tolerate for a while what, assuredly, if it were His pleasure, He could instantly rectify.