John Calvin Commentary Psalms 18:44

"As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me; The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me." — Psalms 18:44 (ASV)

At the simple fame of my name they shall obey me. This has the same meaning as the last clause of the previous verse. Although David, through his victories, had acquired such reputation and renown that many laid down their arms and came voluntarily to surrender to him, yet, since they also had been subdued through fear of the power of his arms, which they saw their neighbors had experienced to their cost, it cannot be said, strictly speaking, that they submitted to him merely at the simple fame of his name.

This applies more truly to the person of Christ, who, by means of His word, subdues the world to Himself and, at the simple hearing of His name, makes obedient to Him those who previously had been rebels against Him. Since David was intended to be a type of Christ, God subjected distant nations to his authority, including those previously unknown to Israel as far as familiar interaction was concerned.

But that was only a prelude and, as it were, preparatory to the dominion promised to Christ, the boundaries of which must be extended to the uttermost ends of the earth. Similarly, David had acquired so great a name for himself through arms and warlike prowess that many of his enemies, subdued by fear, submitted to him.

And in this, God exhibited a type of the conquest Christ would make of the Gentiles, who, by the preaching of the Gospel alone, were subdued and brought voluntarily to submit to His dominion; for the obedience of faith, in which the dominion of Christ is founded, cometh by hearing (Romans 10:17).

The children of strangers shall lie to me. Here, what commonly happens in new dominions acquired by conquest is described: namely, that those who have been vanquished pay homage with great reverence to their conqueror, but it is with a feigned and forced humility. They obey in a servile manner, not willingly or cheerfully.

This is evidently the meaning. Some interpreters, indeed, offer a different explanation of the word lie, interpreting David to mean by it that his enemies had either been disappointed in their expectation, or that, to escape the punishment they feared he might inflict upon them, they had lied in declaring that they had never devised anything hostile against him. However, it appears to me that this does not sufficiently express what David intended.

In my opinion, therefore, the words to lie are here to be understood generally as in other places, meaning to be humbled in a servile manner. The Hebrew word כהש, cachash, used here, which signifies to lie, is sometimes to be understood metaphorically as to be humbled, to submit to, or to take upon oneself the yoke of subjection—but still in a feigned and servile manner.

Those whom he terms the children of the stranger, or of strangers, are the nations who did not belong to the people of Israel but who, before their conquest by him, formed a distinct and independent community.

This also we see fulfilled in Christ, to whom many come with apparent humility—not, however, with true affection, but with a double and false heart—whom, on that account, the Holy Spirit aptly terms strangers.

They are, indeed, mixed among the chosen people, but they are not united to the same body with them by a true faith and, therefore, should not be accounted children of the Church.

It is very true that all the Gentiles, when in the beginning they were called into the Church, were strangers. However, when they began to develop new feelings and new affections towards Christ, those who before were strangers and foreigners became fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, (Ephesians 2:19).

What is added immediately after (verse 45)—the children of strangers shall fade away; they shall tremble from within their places of concealment,—serves to place in a still more striking light the great fame and formidable name that David, as we have said, had acquired. It is no ordinary sign of reverence when those who are protected in hiding-places, and shut up within strong fortifications, are so stricken with terror as to come out of their own accord and surrender themselves.

Just as fear made David's enemies come out from their places of concealment to meet him with submission, so the Gospel strikes unbelievers with such fear as compels them to yield obedience to Christ. Such is the power of prophecy (that is to say, the preaching of the word), as Paul testifies in 1 Corinthians 14:24: convincing the consciences of men and revealing the secrets of their hearts, it causes those who previously were rebels to prostrate themselves with fear and to give glory to God.