John Calvin Commentary Psalms 19:8

"The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes." — Psalms 19:8 (ASV)

The statutes of Jehovah are right. The Psalmist, at first glance, may seem to utter a mere commonplace sentiment when he calls the statutes of the Lord right. If we, however, more attentively consider the contrast which he no doubt makes between the rectitude of the law and the crooked ways in which people entangle themselves when they follow their own understandings, we will be convinced that this commendation implies more than may at first appear.

We know how much everyone is attached to their own self, and how difficult it is to eradicate from our minds the vain confidence of our own wisdom. It is therefore of great importance to be well convinced of this truth: that a person’s life cannot be ordered correctly unless it is framed according to the law of God, and that without this, they can only wander in labyrinths and crooked bypaths.

David adds, in the second place, that God’s statutes rejoice the heart. This implies that there is no other true and solid joy than that which proceeds from a good conscience; and we partake of this when we are fully convinced that our life is pleasing and acceptable to God.

No doubt, the source from which true peace of conscience proceeds is faith, which freely reconciles us to God. But for the saints who serve God with true affection of heart, unspeakable joy also arises from the knowledge that they do not labor in His service in vain, or without hope of recompense, since they have God as the judge and approver of their life.

In short, this joy is contrasted with all the corrupt enticements and pleasures of the world, which are a deadly bait, luring wretched souls to their everlasting destruction. The meaning of the Psalmist’s language is this: those who take delight in committing sin bring upon themselves abundant cause for sorrow, but the observance of the law of God, on the contrary, brings true joy to people.

At the end of the verse, the Psalmist teaches that the commandment of God is pure, enlightening the eyes. By this, he implicitly shows us that it is only in the commandments of God that we find the difference between good and evil laid down, and that it is in vain to seek it elsewhere, since whatever people devise of themselves is mere filth and refuse, corrupting the purity of life.

He further intimates that people, with all their acuteness, are blind and always wander in darkness until they turn their eyes to the light of heavenly doctrine. From this it follows that none are truly wise but those who take God for their director and guide, following the path which He points out to them, and who are diligently seeking after the peace which He offers and presents by His word.

But here a question of considerable difficulty arises, for Paul seems entirely to overthrow these commendations of the law which David here recites. How can these things agree: that the law restores the souls of people, while yet it is a dead and deadly letter? That it rejoices people’s hearts, and yet, by bringing in the spirit of bondage, strikes them with terror? That it enlightens the eyes, and yet, by casting a veil before our minds, excludes the light which ought to penetrate within?

But, in the first place, we must remember what I showed you at the beginning: that David does not speak simply of the precepts of the Moral Law, but comprehends the whole covenant by which God had adopted the descendants of Abraham to be His peculiar people. Therefore, to the Moral Law—the rule of living well—he joins the free promises of salvation, or rather Christ Himself, in whom and upon whom this adoption was founded.

But Paul, who had to deal with people who perverted and abused the law and separated it from the grace and the Spirit of Christ, refers to the ministry of Moses viewed merely by itself and according to the letter. It is certain that if the Spirit of Christ does not give life to the law, the law is not only unprofitable but also deadly to its disciples.

Without Christ, there is in the law nothing but inexorable rigour, which condemns all humankind to the wrath and curse of God. And further, without Christ, there remains within us a rebelliousness of the flesh, which kindles in our hearts a hatred of God and of His law; and from this proceed the distressing bondage and awful terror of which the Apostle speaks.

These different ways in which the law may be viewed easily show us how to reconcile these passages of Paul and David, which seem at first glance to be at variance.

Paul’s purpose is to show what the law can do for us, taken by itself—that is to say, what it can do for us when, without the promise of grace, it strictly and rigorously exacts from us the duty which we owe to God. But David, in praising the law as he does here, speaks of the whole doctrine of the law, which also includes the gospel; therefore, under the law, he comprehends Christ.