John Calvin Commentary Psalms 25:14

"The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; And he will show them his covenant." — Psalms 25:14 (ASV)

The counsel of Jehovah. The Psalmist here confirms what he had just said in a preceding verse, namely, that God will faithfully act as a teacher and master to all the godly. After his usual manner, he repeats the same sentiment twice in the same verse, for the covenant of God is nothing other than His secret or counsel. By using the term secret, he means to magnify and extol the excellence of the doctrine revealed to us in the law of God.

However much worldly men, through the pride and haughtiness of their hearts, despise Moses and the prophets, the faithful nevertheless acknowledge that in the doctrine they contain, the secrets of heaven, which far surpass human comprehension, are revealed and unfolded. Whoever, therefore, desires to receive instruction from the law, let him regard with reverence and esteem the doctrine it contains.

We are further admonished by this passage to cultivate the graces of meekness and humility, lest, relying on our own wisdom or trusting in our own understanding, we should attempt, by our own efforts, to comprehend those mysteries and secrets, the knowledge of which David here declares to be the prerogative of God alone.

Again, since the fear of the Lord is said to be the beginning and, as it were, the way that leads to a right understanding of His will (Psalms 111:10), just as anyone desires to increase in faith, so also let him endeavor to advance in the fear of the Lord.

Moreover, when piety reigns in the heart, we need not fear losing our labor in seeking God. It is indeed true that the covenant of God is a secret that far exceeds human comprehension.

But since we know that He does not enjoin us in vain to seek Him, we may rest assured that all those who endeavor to serve Him with an upright desire will be brought, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the knowledge of that heavenly wisdom which is appointed for their salvation.

But in the meantime, David indirectly rebukes those who falsely and groundlessly boast that they are included in the covenant of God, while they rest merely in the letter of the law and have no saving impressions of the fear of God.

God, it is true, addresses His word indiscriminately to the righteous and the wicked, but people do not comprehend it unless they have sincere piety; just as Isaiah 29:11 says that, as regards the ungodly, the law is like a book that is sealed.

Therefore, it is no wonder that a distinction is made here between those who truly serve God (to whom He makes known His secret) and the wicked or hypocrites.

But when we see David, in this confidence, boldly coming to the school of God and leading others along with him, let us recognize (as he clearly shows) that it is a wicked and hateful invention to attempt to deprive the common people of the Holy Scriptures under the pretense that they are a hidden mystery.

It is as if all who fear Him from the heart—whatever their state or condition in other respects may be—were not expressly called to the knowledge of God’s covenant.