John Calvin Commentary Psalms 5:12

"For thou wilt bless the righteous; O Jehovah, thou wilt compass him with favor as with a shield." — Psalms 5:12 (ASV)

For you, Jehovah, will bless the righteous. The Psalmist here confirms the concluding sentence of the preceding verse, namely, that all God's servants collectively will find support for their faith in what he had experienced, for he intends for us, from this one example, to understand the unchanging and everlasting nature of God’s grace toward all the godly.

Again, by this he teaches us that there is no true and right joy except that which is derived from the awareness of God’s fatherly love. The word, to bless, in Hebrew (when we speak of this as the act of men), signifies to wish happiness and prosperity to anyone and to pray for him; but when it is spoken of as God's act, it means the same as to cause a man to prosper, or to enrich him abundantly with all good things. For since God's favor is efficacious, His blessing in itself produces an abundance of every good thing.

The name righteous is not restricted to any one man, but signifies in general all the servants of God. Those, however, who are called righteous in Scripture are not so called because of the merit of their works, but because they aspire to righteousness. For after God has received them into His favor, by not imputing their sins to them, He accepts their upright endeavors for perfect righteousness.

What follows is of the same import as the preceding clause, You will crown them with your free favor, or good will, as with a shield. The Psalmist’s meaning is that the faithful will be completely defended on all sides, since He will in no case withhold His grace from them, which is an invincible fortress for them and brings with it certain safety.

The word, to crown, which the Psalmist employs, often denotes in Hebrew, ornament or glory; but as the likeness of a shield is added, I have no doubt that he uses it metaphorically for, to fortify or to compass about. The meaning, therefore, is that however great and various the dangers that besiege the righteous may be, they will, nevertheless, escape and be saved, because God is favorable to them.