John Calvin Commentary Psalms 49:1

"Hear this, all ye peoples; Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world," — Psalms 49:1 (ASV)

Hear this, all ye people. Whoever may have been the writer of this psalm, it discusses one of the most important principles in divine philosophy, and there is an appropriateness in the elevated terms designed to awaken and secure attention, with which the Psalmist announces his purpose to speak about things of a deep and momentous nature.

To a superficial view, indeed, the subject might seem trite and commonplace, as it deals with the shortness of human life and the vanity of those objects in which worldly people trust. But the real scope of the psalm is to comfort the people of God in the sufferings to which they are exposed, by teaching them to expect a happy change in their condition when God, in his own time, will intervene to correct the disorders of the present system.

There is a higher lesson still taught by the Psalmist. Since God’s providence over the world is not currently apparent, we must exercise patience and rise superior to the suggestions of carnal sense in anticipating the favorable outcome.

It is our duty to maintain a resolute struggle with our afflictions, however severe they may be. It would also be foolish to place happiness in the enjoyment of such fleeting possessions as the riches, honors, or pleasures of this world. These may be precepts that even heathen philosophers have enforced, but they have consistently failed to set before us the true source of consolation.

However admirably they speak about a happy life, they confine themselves entirely to commendations of virtue and do not prominently present to our view that God, who governs the world, and to whom alone we can turn with confidence in the most desperate circumstances. But little comfort on this subject can be derived from the teaching of philosophy.

If, therefore, the Holy Spirit in this psalm introduces to our notice truths that are sufficiently familiar from experience, it is so that he may raise our minds from them to the higher truth of the divine government of the world. He assures us that God reigns supreme, even when the wicked are triumphing most in their success, or when the righteous are contemptuously trampled underfoot. He also assures us that a day is coming when he will dash the cup of pleasure from the hands of his enemies and gladden the hearts of his friends by delivering them from their severest distresses.

This is the only consideration that can impart solid comfort in our afflictions. Formidable and terrible in themselves, these afflictions would overwhelm our souls if the Lord did not lift upon us the light of his countenance. Were we not assured that he watches over our safety, we could find no remedy for our evils, and no refuge to which we might turn in them.

The remarks that have been made may explain how the inspired writer introduces the psalm, soliciting our attention as he is about to speak on an unusually high and important theme. Two things are implied in this verse: first, that the subject he proposes to address is of universal application, and second, that we require to be admonished and aroused before we are brought to a due measure of consideration.

The words that I have translated as inhabitants of the world are translated by others as inhabitants of time. However, this is a harsh mode of expression, however much it may agree with the scope of the psalm. He calls upon all people indiscriminately, because all were equally concerned with the truths he intended to announce.

By sons of Adam, we may understand the humbler or lower class of humankind, and by sons of men, the high, the noble, or those who hold any preeminence in life. Thus, at the outset, he states his purpose to instruct high and low without exception, as his subject is one in which the whole human family has an interest, and in which every individual belonging to it needs to be instructed.