John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:41

"Let thy lovingkindnesses also come unto me, O Jehovah, Even thy salvation, according to thy word." — Psalms 119:41 (ASV)

Let your mercies come to me. There can be no doubt that, in mentioning the mercy of God first, and afterwards his salvation, the Psalmist, according to the natural order, puts the cause before the effect. By adopting this arrangement, he acknowledges that there is no salvation for him but in the pure mercy of God. And while he desires a gracious salvation, he, at the same time, relies on the promise, as we have already seen elsewhere.

In the second verse he boasts that he is furnished with the best defense against the slanders of his enemies, arising from his trust in the word of God. We may resolve the future tense into the optative mood, as many do: “O Lord, since I have trusted in your word, grant that my mouth with all boldness may repel the slanders which they utter against me, and do not allow me to be silent when they load me with unmerited reproach.” Whichever of these meanings we adopt, we are taught that there will always be evil-speakers, who will not cease to defame the children of God, though they are entirely undeserving of such treatment.

It is somewhat uncertain to what particular kind of reproach he refers, for the ungodly not only cover the children of God with disgrace, but also make their faith the subject of ridicule. I prefer the following interpretation, because it agrees best with the context, and David is here placing his trust in God in opposition to their derision.

“I shall have something to reply to the base mockery of the enemies who injure me without cause, because God never disappoints those who place their confidence in him.” If anyone is inclined to consider the passage as embracing both meanings, I offer no objection to it. Besides, he does not simply say that he trusted in God, but that he also trusted in his word, which is the ground of his trust.

We must carefully attend to the correspondence and mutual relation between the term word, in the first part of the verse, and that in the other. If God did not, by his Word, furnish us with another word for our defense, we would instantly be overwhelmed with the insolence of our enemies. If, then, we wish to be secure against the attacks of the world, the beginning and foundation of our fortitude is pointed out to us here: trusting in God’s word. Guarded by this, the Spirit of God calls upon us boldly to despise the virulent blasphemies of the ungodly. And to qualify us for repelling such blasphemies, he connects the word of hope with the word of confession.