John Calvin Commentary Psalms 146:9

"Jehovah preserveth the sojourners; He upholdeth the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down." — Psalms 146:9 (ASV)

Jehovah guarding, and so forth. By strangers, orphans, and widows, the Psalmist means all those in general who are destitute of human help. While all show favor to those who are known to them and near to them, we know that strangers are, for the most part, exposed to injurious treatment.

We find comparatively few who come forward to protect and redress widows and orphans; it seems lost labor, where there is no likelihood of compensation. In these cases, the Psalmist shows that whatever the grievance may be under which we suffer, the reason can only be with ourselves if God, who so kindly invites all who are in distress to come to Him, does not extend His arm for our help.

On the other hand, he declares that everything will have an adverse and unfortunate outcome for those who wickedly despise God. We have said regarding the first Psalm, that by the way is meant the course of life in general. God will destroy the way of the wicked, because He will curse all their counsels, acts, attempts, and enterprises, so that none of them will have good success.

However excellent they may be in planning, although they may be crafty and sharp-sighted, and abound in resources of every kind, God will overturn all their expectations. While He extends His hand to those who are His people, and brings them through all obstacles and even impassable ways, He, on the contrary, destroys the path of the wicked, when apparently most open and plain before them.