John Calvin Commentary Psalms 44:3

"For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable unto them." — Psalms 44:3 (ASV)

For they got not possession of the land by their own sword. Here the sacred writer confirms by contrast what he has just said; for if they did not obtain possession of the land by their own power and skill, it follows that they were planted in it by the hand of another.

The multitude of men who went out of Egypt was very great; but not being trained in the art of war, and accustomed only to servile works, they would soon have been defeated by their enemies, who far excelled them in numbers and strength. In short, evident signs were not lacking by which the people were made to know their own weakness as well as the power of God, so that it was their solemn duty to confess that the land was not conquered by their own sword, and also, that it was the hand of God that had preserved them.

The Psalmist, not content with mentioning thy right hand, adds, thy arm, to amplify the matter and give greater weight to his discourse, so that we may know that they were preserved in a wonderful manner, and not by any ordinary means. The light of thy countenance is here understood, as in other places, to mean the manifestation of divine favor.

On the one hand, when God is afflicting us severely, He seems to frown upon us and to overshadow His face with thick clouds. So, on the other hand, when the Israelites—sustained by His power—overthrew their enemies without any great difficulty and pursued them in every direction far and near, it is said that they then beheld the face of God serene and placid, just as if He had manifested Himself in a visible manner near them.

Here it is necessary to observe the mode of reasoning that the prophet employs when he argues that the people obtained the land as an inheritance by the free gift of God, seeing they had not acquired it by their own power. We then truly begin to yield to God what belongs to Him when we consider how worthless our own strength is.

And certainly, the reason why men—as it were, through disdain—conceal and forget the benefits that God has conferred on them, must be due to a delusive imagination, which leads them to arrogate something to themselves as properly their own. The best means, therefore, of habitually cherishing in us a spirit of gratitude towards God is to expel from our minds this foolish opinion of our own ability.

There is still in the concluding part of the verse another expression that contains a more illustrious testimony to the grace of God, when the Psalmist resolves the whole into the good pleasure of God: Thou hadst a favor for them. The prophet does not suppose any worthiness in the person of Abraham, nor imagine any merit in his posterity, on account of which God dealt so bountifully with them, but ascribes the whole to the good pleasure of God. His words seem to be taken from the solemn declaration of Moses,

“The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people (for ye were the fewest of all people); but because the Lord loved you,” (Deuteronomy 7:7–8).

Special mention is here made of the land of Canaan; but the prophet has stated the general principle why it was that God vouchsafed to consider that people His flock and peculiar heritage. And certainly, the source and origin of the Church is the free love of God; and whatever benefits He bestows upon His Church, they all proceed from the same source.

The reason, therefore, why we are gathered into the Church, and are nourished and defended by the hand of God, is to be sought only in God. Nor does the Psalmist here treat of the general benevolence of God that extends to the whole human race; but he discusses the difference that exists between the elect and the rest of the world, and the cause of this difference is here referred to the mere good pleasure of God.