John Calvin Commentary Psalms 143:8

"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; For in thee do I trust: Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; For I lift up my soul unto thee." — Psalms 143:8 (ASV)

Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness. In this verse he again prays that God would show him His favor visibly and effectually. The expression "cause me to hear" may seem not very proper, as the goodness of God is rather felt than heard; but as the mere perception of God’s benefits, without a believing apprehension and profiting from them, would do us little good, David very properly begins with hearing.

We see how wicked men riot in the abundance of them, while they still have no sense of the Lord’s goodness, through lack of attention to the word, and a believing apprehension of God as a Father. Some confine the adverb "in the morning" to a reference to sacrifices—which is a meager interpretation—alluding to the well-known fact that sacrifices used to be offered twice, in the morning and in the evening.

Others give a more strained meaning, understanding that when God deals more favorably with His people, He is said to form a new day. Others consider it to be a metaphor for a prosperous and happy condition, as an afflicted and calamitous time is often denoted by darkness.

I wonder that there should be such a search for extraneous meanings for this word, when he is thereby simply to be understood as repeating his former prayer to God—make haste. "In the morning" means the same as "speedily" or "seasonably." He bases his reasoning here, as elsewhere, on his having hoped in God, this being something by which, in a sense, we place God under an obligation to us; for in making a generous offer of Himself to us, and promising to sustain the relationship of a Father, He gives what people would call a pledge.

This, accordingly, is a type of obligation. But so far is this from implying any worthiness or merit on our part, that the hope we entertain rather proves our own nothingness and helplessness. His prayer that a way might be opened for him to walk in refers to the anxieties that perplexed him.

He intimates that he was dismayed and brought to a standstill, unable to move a step if God did not open a way by His divine power. He also conveys that all the desires of his soul were directed toward Him, and that he looked to Him for counsel to obtain relief in his perplexity.