John Calvin Commentary Psalms 24:5

"He shall receive a blessing from Jehovah, And righteousness from the God of his salvation." — Psalms 24:5 (ASV)

He shall receive blessing. To more effectively move the minds of the Israelites, David declares that nothing is more desirable than to be numbered among the flock of God and to be members of the church. We must here consider that there is an implied contrast between true Israelites and those of them who were degenerate and illegitimate.

The more license the wicked give themselves, the more presumptuous they are in pretending to the name of God, as if He were under obligation to them because they are adorned with the same outward symbols or badges as true believers. Accordingly, the demonstrative pronoun this, in the following verse, is of great weight, for it expressly excludes all that illegitimate generation which gloried only in the mask of external ceremonies.

And in this verse, when he speaks of blessing, he intimates that it is not those who boast of being the servants of God, while they have only the name, who shall be partakers of the promised blessing, but only those who answer to their calling with their whole heart and without hypocrisy.

It is, as we have already observed, a very powerful inducement to godliness and an upright life when the faithful are assured that they do not lose their labor in following righteousness, since God has in reserve for them a blessing which cannot fail them. The word righteousness may be explained in two ways.

Indeed, David’s meaning is abundantly clear. He intends to show, on the one hand, that it is not to be expected that the fruit or reward of righteousness will be bestowed on those who unrighteously profane God’s sacred worship; and on the other hand, that it is impossible for God to disappoint His true worshippers, for it is His special role to give evidence of His righteousness by doing them good.