John Calvin Commentary Psalms 20:6

"Now know I that Jehovah saveth his anointed; He will answer him from his holy heaven With the saving strength of his right hand." — Psalms 20:6 (ASV)

Now I know. Here follows grateful rejoicing, in which the faithful declare that they have experienced the goodness of God in the preservation of the king. To this is also added a doctrine of faith: namely, that God showed by the outcome that He exerted His power in maintaining the kingdom of David, because it was founded upon His calling.

The meaning is this: it appears from definite experience that God is the guardian of the kingdom which He Himself established, and of which He is the founder. For David is called Messiah, or anointed, so that the faithful might be persuaded that he was a lawful and sacred king, whom God had attested, by outward anointing, to be chosen by Himself.

Thus, the faithful ascribe to the grace of God the deliverance which had been accomplished for David from the greatest dangers. At the same time, they particularly mention the cause of this: that God had determined to protect and defend him who, by His commandment, had been anointed king over His people.

They confirm their hope for the future still more clearly in the following clause: God will hear him out of heaven. I do not translate the verb used here into the past tense, but retain the future tense, for I have no doubt that, from the experience God had already given them of His goodness, they concluded that it would be subsequently exercised in the continual preservation of the kingdom.

Here the Psalmist mentions another sanctuary, namely, a heavenly sanctuary. As God then graciously condescended to descend among the Israelites by the ark of the covenant, to make Himself more familiarly known to them, so, on the other hand, He intended to draw the minds of His people upwards to Himself.

This was to prevent them from forming carnal and earthly conceptions of His character and to teach them that He was greater than the whole world.

Thus, under the visible sanctuary, which was made with hands, the fatherly goodness of God and His familiarity with His people are set forth. In contrast, under the heavenly sanctuary, His infinite power, dominion, and majesty are shown.

The words, In the mightiness of the salvation, mean His mighty salvation, or His saving power. Thus, in the expression itself, there is a transposition of the words.

The sense is this: May God, by His wonderful power, preserve the king who was anointed by His commandment!

The Holy Spirit, who dictated this prayer, clearly saw that Satan would not allow David to live in peace but would exert all his efforts to oppose him. This would make it necessary for David to be sustained by more than human power.

However, I do not disapprove of the other interpretation which I have noted in the margin, according to which the faithful, for their greater encouragement, present to themselves this truth: that the salvation of God’s right hand is in mightiness—in other words, is sufficiently strong to overcome all obstacles.