John Calvin Commentary Psalms 125

They who confide in Jehovah are as mount Zion. The present Psalm differs from the preceding in this: while in the other it was said that the Church had been preserved by the power of God, without any human means, the Holy Spirit, in the one before us, teaches that in the time to come she will always continue in perfect safety, because she is defended by the invincible power of God.

When the Church is symbolically described by the situation of the city of Jerusalem, the Prophet's design is to encourage each of the faithful to believe that the safety promised collectively to all the chosen people belongs to him. But in presenting a visible image of the Church to their eyes, he accommodates himself to the unrefined understanding of those who, held back by the dullness of the flesh, still remain focused on earthly things.

First, it should be noted that for those who may not sufficiently grasp by faith God's secret protection, the mountains that surround Jerusalem are presented as a mirror. In this mirror, they can see, beyond all doubt, that the Church is as well defended from all perils as if it were surrounded on all sides with similar walls and fortifications.

Moreover, it is beneficial to know what I have just mentioned: that whenever God speaks to all His people collectively, He also addresses each of them individually.

Since many of the promises are extended generally to the entire body of the Church, many people view them from a distance, as far removed from themselves, and do not presume to appropriate them to themselves.

Therefore, the rule set forth here must be observed: namely, that each person should apply to himself whatever God promises to His Church collectively. Nor is it without reason that the Psalmist makes Jerusalem a representation of the Church, for the sanctuary of God and the ark of the covenant were there.

Regarding the explanation of the words, it should be observed that the last two verbs of the first verse may be understood in two ways. They may both be governed by Jerusalem as the nominative. But some understand the first verb, לא ימוט al, lo yimmot, shall not be removed, only as spoken of Jerusalem, and the latter verb, ישב, yesheb, shall abide, as referring to the faithful. According to this view, there is a change of number, which is very common among the Hebrews: the singular number, ישב, yesheb, being used instead of the plural, ישבו, yeshbu. And certainly, the sentence could appropriately be translated this way: They who trust in Jehovah, as mount Zion shall not be removed, shall dwell for ever, or continue steadfast, for the verb translated to abide is understood in this sense.

We now understand the Prophet's meaning, which is that, although the world is subject to so many and such sudden changes that it almost puts on a new face every moment, and although the faithful are mixed with and placed in the same external condition as others, yet their safety remains steadfast under God's invincible protection.

This is not to say that they are permitted to live undisturbed and at ease; but because their safety, being under God's guardianship, is attacked in vain. At least they can never completely fall, although they may stumble. But let us notice that the word הבמחים, habbtechim, which signifies, those who hope or wait for, conveys an implied instruction to steadfastness of faith.

Whoever, then, desires to be sustained by God's hand, let him constantly lean upon it; and whoever would be defended by it, let him patiently rest under it. When God allows us to be often carried here and there, or driven about like chaff by the wind, this happens through our own inconstancy, because we prefer fluttering in the air to fixing our minds on the rock of His help.

The analogy used in the second verse is very clear, teaching us that, just as the continuous chain of mountains around Jerusalem appears like walls, so God surrounds the faithful with His power to protect them from all harm. Similar expressions are frequently found in the Scriptures. God often promises to be a wall and an outer wall to His people.

But David, or whoever was the author of the psalm, goes even further, showing, using the image of mountains, the secret protection with which God defends His own people. This is so that the ignorant and weak-minded, who are still held down to earthly things by their own dullness of understanding, helped by the sight of the mountains, may lift their minds upward to conceive and contemplate heavenly things.

For the scepter of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the just. This is, so to speak, a correction of the preceding sentence. The Psalmist had said that the hand of God was extended on all sides to defend His Church. However, since we are inclined to interpret the divine promises for our own benefit—viewing them as guaranteeing our exemption from all trouble—we are warned here that God's guardianship does not prevent us from sometimes being tested by the cross and afflictions. Therefore, the faithful should not expect a delicate and easy life in this world; it is enough for them not to be abandoned by God when they need His help.

Their heavenly Father, it is true, loves them most tenderly, but He intends for them to be awakened by the cross, so that they do not indulge too much in fleshly pleasures. Therefore, if we embrace this teaching, even if we happen to be oppressed by the tyranny of the wicked, we will wait patiently until God either breaks their scepter or shakes it out of their hands.

It is a grievous temptation, I admit, to see the wicked inflicting cruelty in the Lord's heritage, and the faithful lying prostrate beneath their feet. But since God does not humble His people in this way without just reason, they should take comfort from the idea suggested in the text.

The reason is added why God will not allow the wicked always to triumph over the righteous—namely, so that the just, overcome by temptation, do not abandon themselves completely to sinning. This is a reason that should be carefully noted. From this we gather that God, out of His willingness to bear with our weakness, moderates our adversities.

So, even if we do not possess in ourselves enough fortitude and constancy to persevere in our duty for a single moment, yet let this thought be present in our minds: God will take care that, however broken we may be by afflictions, we will not forsake His service.

Even if He were to afflict us without interruption throughout our entire lives, the cross is undoubtedly always beneficial for us. For we see how untamable the rebellion of our flesh is, and with what violent intensity it continually surges; indeed, how it does not stop rebelling even amidst the very afflictions that should bring it to obedience.

This lesson of instruction is therefore all the more necessary: that the Lord appropriately sets limits to our temptations, because He knows that we are too weak to withstand them. Nor does the Prophet say merely that the weak are in danger of failing, but that even the just—who serve God in truth and from the heart, and who are devoted to cultivating a holy life—are in danger of sinking under the load.

Therefore, however vigorous the fear of God may be in our hearts, let us remember that we are not endowed with adequate strength to endure to the end, unless the Lord considers our weakness. If the Holy Spirit makes this declaration concerning the best champions, what will be the case for novices, who are still only imperfectly trained for combat?

It is also important to note the manner of speech used—lest they stretch forth their hands; by this it is implied that the assaults of temptations are so violent that the hands of the just (which were previously, so to speak, bound, and whose movements were also shaped and governed according to the will of God), being now, as it were, let loose, turn to committing sin without restraint.

Do good, O Jehovah, to the good. The Prophet has already promised to all the faithful the timely help of God; but still he resorts to prayer, and that for good reason. For although faith may sustain us, yet, as our fleshly sense and reason are wavering, we should add prayers for our strengthening.

Let us then follow this rule of the Prophet. After urging all the faithful to maintain confidence, he also teaches them that instead of remaining passively inactive, they should turn to God, earnestly pleading with him in prayer for what he has instructed them to hope for through his word.

Indeed, the importance of using this remedy is clear when we consider that in the midst of afflictions' darkness, God's help is not perceived. Instead, he may seem to make no distinction between the righteous and the wicked.

The Psalmist does not simply pray that God would deal graciously with the good; he also defines the goodness that characterizes them as proceeding from a sincere heart. It would not be enough for God's children to abstain from all wrongdoing if they were not also distinguished by a corresponding integrity of heart—or rather, if this integrity did not govern their whole life.

But those who turn aside into their crooked paths, etc. As the participle המטים, hammattim, is in the Hiphil conjugation, it should, according to the rules of grammar, be translated in an active sense—those who cause to turn aside; but since it is not uncommon for verbs in that conjugation to be taken in a neuter sense, the version I have followed is probably the correct one.

Still, as the active signification is not less appropriate, I would leave the reader freely to exercise his own judgment. The meaning is that God does not always connive at the wickedness of those who, while boasting of a hollow and counterfeit profession, wander here and there according to their own lust, or even corrupt the simple and draw them into the same excess of sinning with them.

I have no doubt that the Psalmist here speaks of hypocrites, who are so hardened by temporary impunity as to claim for themselves a place among the holiest of men, because God exercises forbearance towards them. Not only do we see the good mingled with the bad in the world, but we also behold on the barn-floor of the Lord the wheat lying hidden under the chaff and refuse.

In this dubious and confused situation, the bad are elated with pride, as if they were among the best of God’s servants. We ought therefore to pray that God would drag them into the light and, with the workers of iniquity, thrust them down into the punishment which they have deserved.

The consequence is that peace, which the Prophet desires may be the privilege of Israel. He does not speak generally of all the race of Abraham according to the flesh; he rather wishes that the Church of God may be purged of hypocrites who occupy a place in her, until God lifts up his hand to judgment.

On this account, I have said that the peace of the Church springs from this—that God, while executing his just vengeance upon feigned and counterfeit Israelites who rend and tear in pieces her bowels, gathers together the upright in heart and openly shows by his blessing the fatherly love which he bears towards them.