John Calvin Commentary Psalms 22:29

"All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship: All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him, Even he that cannot keep his soul alive." — Psalms 22:29 (ASV)

All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship. So that it might not be thought inconsistent that the fat ones of the earth are now admitted as guests to this banquet, which David seemed immediately before to have appointed only for the poor, let us remember that the first place was given to the poor, because comfort was principally set forth to them in the example of David.

Yet it was necessary, in the second place, that the rich and the prosperous should be called to the feast, so that they might not think themselves excluded from the participation of the same grace. They are not, it is true, urged by the pressure of present calamities to seek comfort for grief, but they need a remedy to prevent them from intoxicating themselves with their delights, and to excite them rather to lay up their joy in heaven.

Again, since they also are subject to a variety of troubles, their abundance will be a curse to them if it keeps their minds down to the earth.

The substance of the Psalmist’s statement is that this sacrifice will be common both to those who are sound, vigorous, and in opulent circumstances, and to those who are lean, poor, and half dead from lack of food. The purpose is that the former, laying aside their pride, may humble themselves before God, and that the latter, though they may be brought low, may lift up their minds by spiritual joy to God, the author of all good things, as James admonishes both classes (James 1:9–10) in these words: Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted; but the rich in that he is made low.

Now, if God, under the law, joined the full with the hungry, the noble with the lowly, and the happy with the wretched, this ought much more to take place today under the gospel.

Therefore, when the rich hear that food is offered to them elsewhere than in earthly abundance, let them learn to use the outward good things which God has bestowed upon them for the purposes of the present life with such sobriety that they may not be disgusted with spiritual food, or turn away from it in loathing.

As long as they wallow in their own filth, they will never long for this food with a holy desire; and although they may have it at hand, they will never take pleasure in tasting it. Further, as those who are fat must become lean, so that they may present themselves to God to be fed and nourished, so David endeavors to inspire the famished with assured and undaunted confidence, so that their poverty will not hinder them from coming to the banquet.

Indeed, he invites even the dead to come to the feast, so that the most despised, and those who, in the estimation of the world, are almost like putrefying carcasses, may be encouraged and emboldened to present themselves at the holy table of the Lord.

The change which the Psalmist makes in the number, from the plural to the singular, at the end of the verse, somewhat obscures the sense. However, the meaning undoubtedly is that those who seem already to be reduced to dust, and whose restoration from death to life is, as it were, despaired of, shall be partakers of the same grace with him.