John Calvin Commentary Psalms 21:11

"For they intended evil against thee; They conceived a device which they are not able to perform." — Psalms 21:11 (ASV)

For they have spread out. In this verse, David shows that the ungodly had deserved the terrible ruin he predicted would come upon them, since they had not only troubled mortal man but had also rushed out in the fury of their pride to make war against God himself.

As was stated in our commentary on Psalm 2, no one could do violence to the kingdom of Israel—which was consecrated in the person of David by God's commandment—without waging wicked and ungodly war against God. The majesty of God is violated even more when people directly attack the kingdom of Christ to overthrow it, since it is God's will to reign in the world only through his Son.

Since the Hebrew word נטה, natah, which we have translated as to spread out, also sometimes means to turn aside, it may suitably be translated here in either way.

According to the first view, the meaning is that the wicked, as if spreading out their nets, attempted to bring God's power under their own control. According to the second, to obstruct and, so to speak, overwhelm his power, they directed their malice against it, much like someone who, after digging a large ditch, diverts the course of a torrent to make it flow into it.

The Psalmist next declares that they devised a stratagem, or device, which would not succeed. By these words, he rebukes the foolish arrogance of those who, by making war against God, show a recklessness and audacity that leads them to undertake anything, however daring.