John Calvin Commentary Psalms 23:6

"Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever." — Psalms 23:6 (ASV)

Surely goodness and mercy. Having recounted the blessings God had bestowed upon him, he now expresses his undoubted conviction of their continuance to the end of his life. But from where did this confidence come, by which he assures himself that God's beneficence and mercy will accompany him forever, if it did not arise from the promise by which God is accustomed to season the blessings He bestows upon true believers, so that they may not inconsiderately devour them without having any taste or relish for them?

When he said to himself before, that even amid the darkness of death he would keep his eyes fixed on beholding God's providence, he sufficiently testified that he did not depend on outward things, nor did he measure God's grace according to the judgment of the flesh. Instead, even when assistance from every earthly quarter failed him, his faith remained steadfast in the Word of God.

Although, therefore, experience led him to be hopeful, he depended principally on the promise by which God confirms His people regarding the future. If it is objected that it is presumption for a man to promise himself a continued course of prosperity in this uncertain and changing world, I answer that David did not speak in this manner with the intention of imposing a law on God. Instead, he hoped for such a measure of God’s beneficence toward him as the condition of this world permits, with which he would be content.

He does not say, "My cup shall always be full," or, "My head shall always be perfumed with oil." Rather, in general, he holds the hope that as God's goodness never fails, God will be favorable to him even to the end.

I will dwell in the house of Jehovah. By this concluding sentence, he clearly shows that he does not limit his thoughts to earthly pleasures or comforts. Instead, the mark at which he aims is set in heaven, and reaching this was his primary goal in all things.

It is as if he had said, "I do not live for the mere purpose of living, but rather to exercise myself in the fear and service of God, and to make progress daily in all the branches of true godliness." He makes a clear distinction between himself and ungodly men, who take pleasure only in filling their bellies with luxuriant fare.

Not only that, but he also intimates that to live for God is, in his view, of such great importance that he valued all the comforts of the flesh only insofar as they enabled him to live for God. He plainly affirms that the purpose he contemplated in all the benefits God had bestowed on him was that he might dwell in the house of the Lord.

Therefore, it follows that when deprived of the enjoyment of this blessing, he placed no value on all other things. It is as if he had said, "I would take no pleasure in earthly comforts unless I at the same time belonged to the flock of God," as he also writes in another place: Happy is that people that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord (Psalms 144:15).

Why did he desire so greatly to frequent the temple, if not to offer sacrifices there with his fellow-worshippers, and to benefit from the other exercises of religion in meditation on the celestial life? It is, therefore, certain that David's mind, through the temporal prosperity he enjoyed, was elevated to the hope of the everlasting inheritance. From this we conclude that those people are brutish who set as their goal any happiness other than that which comes from drawing near to God.