John Calvin Commentary Psalms 30:6

"As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved." — Psalms 30:6 (ASV)

And in my tranquillity I had said. This is the confession which I previously mentioned, in which David acknowledges that he had been justly and deservedly punished for his foolish and rash security, in forgetting his mortal and mutable condition as a man, and in setting his heart too much on prosperity.

By the term tranquillity, he means the quiet and flourishing state of his kingdom. Some translate the Hebrew word שלוה, shiluah, which we have rendered tranquillity, by abundance, in which sense it is often used in other places; but the word tranquillity agrees better with the context. It is as if David had said, "When fortune smiled upon me on every side, and no danger appeared to cause fear, my mind sank, so to speak, into a deep sleep, and I flattered myself that my happy condition would continue, and that things would always go on in the same course."

This carnal confidence frequently creeps up on the saints when they indulge themselves in their prosperity and, so to speak, wallow on their dunghill. Hence Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:18) compares himself to a wild bullock before the Lord tamed him and accustomed him to the yoke. This may at first sight appear to be only a small crime, yet we can gather from its punishment how much it displeases God; nor will we wonder at this when we consider the root from which it springs and the fruits which it bears.

As innumerable deaths continually hover before our eyes, and as there are so many examples of change to awaken us to fear and caution, those must be bewitched with devilish pride who persuade themselves that their life is privileged above the common lot of the world. They see the whole earth jumbled together in undistinguishing variety, and its individual parts, so to speak, tossed here and there; and yet, as if they did not belong to the human race, they imagine that they will always continue stable and not liable to changes.

Hence that wantonness of the flesh, with which they so licentiously indulge their lusts; hence their pride and cruelty, and neglect of prayer. How indeed should those flee to God, who have no sense of their need to prompt or move them to do so? The children of God also have a pious security of their own, which preserves their minds in tranquillity amid the troublesome storms of the world; like David, who, although he had seen the whole earth made to shake, yet leaning upon the promise of God, was right to hope for the continuance of his kingdom.

But although the faithful, when raised aloft on the wings of faith, despise adversity, yet, as they consider themselves liable to the common troubles of life, they prepare themselves to endure them, are every hour prepared to receive wounds, shake off their sluggishness, exercise themselves in the warfare to which they know that they were appointed, and—with humility and fear—put themselves under God’s protection; nor do they consider themselves safe anywhere else but under His hand.

It was otherwise with David, who, when ensnared by the allurements of his prosperous state, promised himself unbroken tranquillity not from the word of God but from his own feelings. The same thing also occurred to the pious King Hezekiah, who, although recently afflicted with a severe disease, as soon as all was well and according to his wish, was hurried by the vanity of the flesh to pride and vain boasting (2 Chronicles 32:24). By this we are taught to be on our guard when in prosperity, so that Satan may not bewitch us with his flatteries.

The more bountifully God deals with anyone, the more carefully he ought to watch against such snares. It is not, indeed, probable that David had become so hardened as to despise God and defy all misfortunes, like many of the great men of this world, who, when immersed in their luxuries and excesses, insolently scoff at all God’s judgments. But, a weakening listlessness having come over his mind, he became more lukewarm in prayer, nor did he depend on the favor of God; in short, he put too much confidence in his uncertain and transitory prosperity.