John Calvin Commentary Psalms 58:11

"So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." — Psalms 58:11 (ASV)

So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward. We have additional evidence from what is said here about the cause or source of this reward, that the joy attributed to the saints has no admixture of bad feeling. It is noticeable from the way in which this verse runs, that David would now seem to ascribe to all, without exception, the sentiment which before he attributed exclusively to the righteous.

But the acknowledgement immediately following is one which could only come from the saints who have an eye to observe the divine dispensations; and I am, therefore, of opinion that they are specially alluded to in the expression, And a man shall say, etc. At the same time, this mode of speech may imply that many whose minds had been staggered would be established in the faith.

The righteous only are intended, but the indefinite form of speaking is adopted to denote their numbers. It is well known how many there are whose faith is apt to be shaken by apparent inequalities and perplexities in the divine administration, but who rally courage and undergo a complete change of views when the arm of God is revealed in the manifestation of His judgments. At such a time, the acknowledgement expressed in this verse is widely and extensively adopted, as Isaiah declares,

When your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9).

The Hebrew particle אך, ach, which we have translated verily, occasionally denotes simple affirmation, but is generally intensitive, and here implies the contrast between that unbelief which we are tempted to feel when God has suspended the exercise of His judgments, and the confidence with which we are inspired when He executes them.

Thus the particles which are repeated in the verse imply that men would put away that hesitancy which is apt to steal upon their minds when God refrains from inflicting the punishment of sin and, as it were, correct themselves for the error into which they had been seduced. Nothing tends more to promote godliness than an intimate and assured persuasion that the righteous shall never lose their reward. Hence the language of Isaiah, Say you to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings (Isaiah 3:10).

When righteousness is not rewarded, we are disposed to cherish unbelieving fears and to imagine that God has retired from the government of the world and is indifferent to its concerns. I will have an opportunity to discuss this point more fully concerning Psalm 73.

The reason is also given why the righteous cannot fail to reap the reward of their piety: because God is the judge of the world. For, if the world is ruled by God's providence, He must, sooner or later, distinguish between the good and the evil.

He is said more particularly to judge in the earth because men have sometimes profanely alleged that God's government is confined to heaven and that the affairs of this world are abandoned to blind chance.