John Calvin Commentary Psalms 55:23

"But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction: Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; But I will trust in thee." — Psalms 55:23 (ASV)

Thou, O God! shalt cast them into the pit of corruption. He returns to speak of his enemies, intending to show the very different end that awaits them, compared to what the righteous may expect. The only thought that comforts the righteous, when cast down at the feet of their oppressors, is that they can confidently look for a peaceful resolution to the dangers that surround them; while, on the other hand, they can discern by faith the certain destruction that hangs over the wicked.

The Hebrew word שחת, shachath, signifies the grave, and as it seems improper to say that they are cast into the pit of the grave, some prefer to read the pit of corruption, since the word is derived from שחת, shachath, meaning to corrupt or destroy. It matters little which meaning is adopted; one thing is clear: David means to assert that they would be overtaken not only by temporary but by everlasting destruction.

Here he points out a distinction between them and the righteous. The righteous may sink into many deep pits of worldly calamity, but they rise again. The ruin that awaits their enemies is declared here to be deadly, as God will cast them into the grave, so that they may rot there.

In calling them bloody men, he refers to a reason that confirmed the assertion he had made. The vengeance of God is certain to overtake the cruel and the deceitful; and this being the character of his adversaries, he infers that their punishment would be inevitable. “But is it consistent,” some may ask, “with what we observe, that bloody men live not half their days? If this description applies to anyone, it must apply with particular force to tyrants, who send their fellow creatures to slaughter, merely to gratify their licentious passions.

The Psalmist in this place very evidently refers to such individuals, and not to common murderers; and yet, do not tyrants who have butchered hundreds of thousands frequently reach an advanced age?” They may; but despite such instances, where God has delayed executing judgment, the Psalmist’s assertion is supported by many considerations.

Regarding temporal judgments, it is enough that we see them executed upon the wicked in most cases, for a strict or perfect distribution in this matter is not to be expected, as I have shown at length on the thirty-seventh psalm. Furthermore, the life of the wicked, however long it may be extended, is troubled by so many fears and anxieties that it scarcely deserves the name of life, and may be called death rather than life.

In fact, the life spent under God’s curse and under the accusations of a conscience that torments its victim more than the most savage executioner is worse than death. Indeed, if we correctly assess the course of this life, no one can be said to have reached its goal except those who have lived and died in the Lord, for to them, and them alone, death as well as life is gain.

Therefore, when attacked by the violence or fraud of the wicked, it may comfort us to know that their career will be short—that they will be driven away as if by a whirlwind, and their schemes, which seemed to plan the destruction of the whole world, will be scattered in a moment.

The short clause that is added at the end, and which closes the psalm, suggests that this judgment of the wicked must be watched for by exercising faith and patience, for the Psalmist rests in hope for his deliverance. From this it appears that the wicked are not cut off from the earth so suddenly as to deny us the opportunity for exercising patience when enduring severe and long-lasting injuries.