John Calvin Commentary Psalms 4

These words show the faith of David, who, although brought to the utmost distress and indeed almost consumed by a long series of calamities, did not sink under his sorrow; nor was he so broken in heart as to be prevented from turning to God his deliverer.

By his praying, he testified that when utterly deprived of all earthly help, hope in God still remained for him. Moreover, he calls Him the God of his righteousness, which is the same as if he had called Him the vindicator of his right; and he appeals to God, because everyone everywhere condemned him, and his innocence was overwhelmed by the slanderous reports of his enemies and the corrupt judgments of the common people.

This cruel and unjust treatment that David experienced should be carefully noted. For while nothing is more painful to us than to be falsely condemned and to endure wrongful violence and slander at the same time, yet to be spoken ill of for doing well is an affliction that daily happens to the saints.

And it is fitting for them to be so tested by it as to turn away from all the lures of the world and to depend wholly upon God alone. Righteousness, therefore, is here to be understood as a good cause, of which David makes God the witness, while he complains of the malicious and wrongful conduct of men towards him. By his example, he teaches us that if at any time our uprightness is not seen and acknowledged by the world, we should not despair on that account, since we have One in heaven to vindicate our cause.

Even the pagans have said there is no better stage for virtue than a man’s own conscience. But it is a consolation far surpassing this to know, when men boast over us wrongfully, that we are standing in the view of God and of the angels. Paul, we know, was endowed with courage arising from this source (1 Corinthians 4:5), for when many evil reports were spread widely concerning him among the Corinthians, he appealed to the judgment seat of God.

Isaiah also, fortified by the same confidence (Isaiah 50:6 and following), despises all the slanders by which his enemies slandered him. If, therefore, we cannot find justice anywhere in the world, the only support for our patience is to look to God and to rest contented with the equity of His judgment.

It may, however, be asked as an objection: Since all human purity is utter defilement in the sight of God, how can the godly dare to present their own righteousness before Him? With respect to David, it is easy to answer this question. He did not boast of his own righteousness except in relation to his enemies, from whose slanders he vindicated himself.

He had the testimony of a good conscience that he had attempted nothing without the call and commandment of God, and therefore he does not speak rashly when he calls God the protector and defender of his right. From this we learn that David honored God with this title of praise in order to more readily set Him in contrast with the whole world. And as he asks twice to be heard, this expresses to us both the vehemence of his grief and the earnestness of his prayers. In the last clause of the verse, he also shows from where he expected to obtain what he needed: namely, from the mercy of God. And certainly, as often as we ask anything from God, it is fitting for us to begin with this and to implore Him, according to His free goodness, to relieve our miseries.

Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. Some think that David here promises himself what he had not yet experienced, and in the exercise of hope anticipates the manifestations of God’s grace with which he would later be favored. But, in my opinion, he rather mentions the benefits he formerly received from God, and by these strengthens himself against the future.

Thus the faithful are accustomed to recall those things that tend to strengthen their faith. We shall, later, meet with many passages similar to this, where David, in order to energize his faith against terrors and dangers, brings together the many experiences from which he had learned that God is always present with His own people and will never disappoint their desires.

The figure of speech he uses here is metaphorical, and by it he suggests that a way of escape was opened up to him even when he was besieged and surrounded on every side. The distress of which he speaks, in my opinion, refers not less to the state of his mind than to circumstances of outward affliction, for David’s heart was not of such an iron constitution as to prevent him from being cast into deeper mental anguish by adversity.

O you sons of men. The happy result of David's prayer was that, regaining courage, he was able not only to repel the fury of his enemies but also to challenge them in turn and fearlessly despise all their schemes. Therefore, so that our confidence may remain unshaken, we should not, when attacked by the wicked, enter into conflict without being equipped like David with the same armor.

In summary, since God was determined to defend David by His own power, it was futile for anyone in the world to try to destroy him, however great the power they might otherwise have to harm him. By calling those whom he addresses the sons not of Adam, or of some common persons, but of men, he seems, in passing, to rebuke their pride.

I do not agree with certain Jewish commentators who think that nobles or men of rank are intended. It is, rather, an ironic concession of what they claimed for themselves, through which he ridicules their presumption in considering themselves noble and wise, when in fact it was only blind rage that drove them to wicked undertakings.

In the words how long, he condemns their perverse obstinacy. For what he means is not that they were stirred up against him merely by some sudden impulses, but that the stubborn purpose of harming him was deeply fixed in their hearts. If their maliciousness had not deprived them of their understanding, the many instances in which God had proved Himself to be David’s defender would have compelled them to stop their attempts against him.

But as they were fully determined to disgrace him whom God had exalted to the royal throne, he asks them how long they will persevere in their efforts to turn his glory into shame.

And it should be noted that although burdened with every kind of reproach from both the high and the low, he still courageously holds fast to the glory or honor of royalty that God had graciously promised him or had conferred upon him. He is fully persuaded that God will eventually vindicate his right to it, however much his enemies might wickedly try to tarnish and obscure it by treating his claims with derision and scorn.

How long will you love vanity? In these words, he partly rebukes his enemies for the wicked and perverse passions by which he saw them driven, although they falsely pretended to be motivated by a godly zeal. He also partly derides their folly in flattering themselves with the hope of success while fighting against God.

And this is a most pointed rebuke. Even when the ungodly rush headlong into all kinds of wickedness with the most blatant malice, they soothe themselves with deceitful flatteries so as not to be disturbed by feelings of remorse. David, therefore, cries out that willfully shutting their eyes and varnishing their unrighteousness with deceitful colors will avail them nothing.

The ungodly may indeed flatter and delude themselves, but when they are truly brought to the trial, it will always be manifest that the reason they are deceived is that from the beginning they were determined to act deceitfully.

Now, from this passage, we should take a shield of invincible steadfastness whenever we see ourselves outmatched in prudence and subtlety by the wicked.

For with whatever devices they attack us, yet if we have the testimony of a good conscience, God will remain on our side, and they will not prevail against Him. They may greatly excel in ingenuity, possess much power to harm us, have their plans and auxiliary aid readily available, and be very shrewd in discernment; yet whatever they may invent, it will be nothing but lying and vanity.

Know that Jehovah hath set apart, etc. This is a confirmation of the preceding verse, for it shows that the reason for David’s boldness was that he depended upon God, the founder of his kingdom. And surely, we can then safely triumph over our enemies when we are assured of God’s call to the office we hold or the work in which we are engaged.

Accordingly, David does not boast here of his own strength, riches, or armies through which he obtained the kingdom. But as he was chosen by God, he intimates that the many attempts of his enemies against him would be unsuccessful, because they would find from experience that God, whose power they could not successfully resist, was against them.

First, he says that he was set apart by God, meaning that he was raised to the throne not by human will or his own ambition, but by God’s appointment. The Hebrew word פלה, Phalah, signifies “to separate,” and here it refers to a separation to honor and dignity. It is as if he had said, “You admit no one as king except one chosen by your own votes or who pleases you; but it is God’s unique prerogative to choose whomever he wills.”

By the word merciful or bountiful, he doubtless vindicates his right to be king from the fact that this was a quality he himself possessed; it is as if he had produced the mark or badge of his calling. For it was truly said in the old proverb: Mercy is the virtue most suitable for kings.

Now, God usually equips those whom he considers worthy of having this honor conferred upon them with the endowments requisite for exercising their office, so that they may not be like dead idols. Some understand the word חסיד, chasid, in a passive sense, not as denoting a beneficent person, but as one who is placed on the throne by God’s favor.

However, as I find no examples of this meaning of the word in Scripture, I think it safer to follow the common interpretation, which is this: God has chosen a king who embodies the character that all who are called to fill such an exalted station should possess, in that he is merciful and beneficent.

Therefore, he infers that he would be heard by God whenever he called upon him, for God primarily proves his faithfulness in this: he does not forsake the work of his own hands but continually defends those whom he has once received into his favor.

Therefore, we are taught to proceed fearlessly on our path, because whatever we may have undertaken according to his will shall never be ineffective. Let this truth, then, be firmly established in our minds: God will never withhold his assistance from those who continue sincerely in their course. Without this comfort, the faithful would inevitably sink into despondency at every moment.

Tremble then. Now he exhorts his enemies to repentance, if perhaps their madness was not wholly incorrigible. In the first place, he instructs them to tremble, or be troubled; a word by which he rebukes their stupidity in running headlong in their wicked course, without any fear of God, or any sense of danger.

And certainly, the great presumption of all the ungodly in not hesitating to engage in war against God proceeds from their being hardened through an infatuated security; and by their thoughtlessness, they render themselves stupid and become more obdurate by forgetting both God and themselves, and following wherever lust leads them.

He tells them that the best remedy to cure their rage, and prevent them from sinning any longer, would be to awaken from their lethargy and begin to be afraid and tremble. It is as if he had said, "As soon as you have shaken off your drowsiness and insensibility, your desire of sinning will abate." For the reason why the ungodly are troublesome to the good and the simple, and cause so much confusion, is because they are too much at peace with themselves.

He afterwards admonishes them to commune with their own heart upon their bed, that is, to take an account of themselves at leisure, and, as it were, in some place of deep retirement; an exercise which is opposed to their indulgence of their unruly passions. In the end of the verse he enjoins them to be still. Now, it is to be observed that the cause of this stillness is the agitation and trembling which he mentioned before. For if any have been hurried into sin by their infatuated recklessness, the first step of their return to a sound mind is to awaken themselves from their deep sleep to fearfulness and trembling. After this follows calm and deliberate reflection; then they consider and reconsider to what dangers they have been exposing themselves. Thus, finally, those whose audacious spirits shrink at nothing learn to be orderly and peaceable, or, at least, they restrain their frantic violence.

To commune upon one’s bed, is a form of expression taken from the common practice and experience of people. We know that, during our interactions with others in the daytime, our thoughts are distracted, and we often judge rashly, being deceived by the external appearance; whereas in solitude, we can give any subject closer attention. Furthermore, the sense of shame does not then hinder a person from thinking without disguise about their own faults.

David, therefore, exhorts his enemies to withdraw from those who witnessed and judged their actions on the public stage of life, and to be alone, so that they may examine themselves more truthfully and honestly. And this exhortation applies to us all, for there is nothing to which people are more prone than to deceive one another with empty applause, until each person enters into themselves and communes alone with their own heart.

Paul, when quoting this passage in Ephesians 4:26, or at least when alluding to David’s sentiment, follows the Septuagint: Be ye angry and sin not. And yet he has skillfully and beautifully applied it to his purpose. He there teaches us that people, instead of wickedly pouring forth their anger against their neighbors, have rather just cause to be angry with themselves, so that by this means, they may abstain from sin. And, therefore, he commands them rather to fret inwardly and be angry with themselves, and then to be angry not so much at the persons as at the vices of others.

Sacrifice ye. Many are of the opinion that David exhorts his enemies to give some evidence of their repentance; and I certainly admit, that sacrifices were partly prescribed for the purpose of inducing men to walk in newness of life. But when I consider the character of the men who opposed David, I am convinced that he here censures their hypocrisy and demolishes their groundless boasting.

David, when he wandered as a fugitive in deserts, or in caves, or on mountains, or in foreign lands, might seem to have been separated from the Church of God; and certainly he was commonly regarded as a corrupt member cut off from the body and the communion of the saints.

Meanwhile, the ark of the covenant was in the hands of his enemies, they kept possession of the temple, and they were foremost in offering sacrifices. They, therefore, boasted against David with the same boldness and presumption with which we know hypocrites have always been puffed up.

There is no doubt that they proudly abused the name of God as if they alone were his true worshippers. But as Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:4) rebukes the ungodly because of the false confidence which they placed in the temple of the Lord, so David also denies that God is pacified by mere outward ceremonies, since he requires pure sacrifices.

In these words, there is an implied contrast between the sacrifices of righteousness and all those vain and spurious rites with which counterfeit worshippers of God satisfy themselves.

The meaning, therefore, is: “You boast of having God on your side, because you have free access to his altar to offer your sacrifices there with great pomp; and because I am banished from the Holy Land and not allowed to come to the temple, you think that I am not under God’s care. But you must worship God in a far different manner, if you expect any good from him; for your unclean sacrifices with which you pollute his altar, far from making him favorable to you, will do nothing else but provoke his wrath.”

Let us learn from this passage that, in contending with the corrupters of true religion, who may have the name of God continually in their mouth and boast about their observance of his outward worship, we may safely rebuke their boasting because they do not offer the right sacrifices.

But, at the same time, we must be careful that a vain pretense of godliness does not foster in us a perverse and ill-founded confidence, in place of true hope.