John Calvin Commentary Psalms 34:12

"What man is he that desireth life, And loveth [many] days, that he may see good?" — Psalms 34:12 (ASV)

Who is the man who desireth life? The prophet does not inquire if there is any man so disposed, as if all men voluntarily brought upon themselves the miseries that happen to them; for we know that all men without exception desire to live in the enjoyment of happiness. But he severely censures the blindness and folly that men exhibit in the perversity of their desires and the vanity of their efforts to obtain happiness; for while all men are seeking, and eagerly intent on acquiring what is for their benefit, hardly one in a hundred will be found who strives to obtain peace, and a quiet and desirable state of life, by just and equitable means.

The prophet therefore admonishes his disciples that nearly the whole world is deceived and led astray by its own folly, while they promise themselves a happy life from any other source than the divine blessing, which God bestows only upon the sincere and upright in heart. But there is in this exclamation still greater vehemence, to more effectually awaken dull and drowsy minds to the course of this world; as if he had said, Since all men earnestly desire happiness, how does it happen that hardly anyone sets himself to obtain it, and that every man, by his own fault, instead brings various troubles upon himself?