John Calvin Commentary Psalms 119:75

"I know, O Jehovah, that thy judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me." — Psalms 119:75 (ASV)

I have known, O Jehovah,
that Your judgments are justice. By judgments, in this psalm, we are to understand the precepts of the law; but as the prophet immediately adds that he was justly chastised, he seems to use the word in this verse for the punishments by which God stirs up people to repentance.

These two words, צדק, tsedek, justice, in the first clause, and אמונה, emunah, truth, in the last, have nearly the same meaning here. In the first clause, the prophet confesses in general that God so regulates His judgments as to shut the mouths of the ungodly, should any of them complain of His cruelty or rigor. He also confesses that such equity shines forth in God's judgments that it extorts from us the confession that nothing is better for people than in this way to be called back to consider themselves.

He next presents an example of this from his own case. Even hypocrites sometimes acknowledge God's justice when He chastises others, and they never condemn His severity as long as they themselves are spared. But it is a characteristic of true piety to be less austere and rigid censors of the faults of others than of our own.

The knowledge of which the prophet speaks is sure evidence that he conducted a strict and earnest examination of himself; for, had he not well weighed his own guilt, he could not by assured experience have learned the righteousness of God in his afflictions. If it is considered preferable to take the word judgments in its usual meaning, the sense of the text will be: 'Lord, I know that Your law is holy and just. And even though You have severely afflicted me, I still retain the conviction of this truth; for even in my afflictions, I discern the righteousness that corresponds with the character of Your word.'