John Calvin Commentary Psalms 69

Save me, O God! for the waters, etc. Under the figure of waters, the Psalmist represents his condition as so extremely distressing that it brought him even to the brink of despair. Yet we know that, far from being a soft person or one lacking in fortitude, he was someone who encountered and overcame dreadful temptations with extraordinary courage. From this, we may infer the bitterness of the distress with which he was afflicted at that time.

Some understand the word soul as denoting life; but this gives a very cold and unsatisfactory meaning. It rather signifies the heart.

When a man falls into an abyss of waters, he may for some time prevent the water from entering his body by stopping his mouth and nostrils. But eventually, because it is impossible for a human being to live without respiration, suffocation will compel him to let in the waters, and they will penetrate even to the heart.

By this metaphor, David would suggest not only that the waters had covered and overwhelmed him, but also that he had been forced to draw them into his body.

I am sunk in deep mire, where there is no standing place. Here he compares his afflictions to a deep sink of mire, where there is still greater danger. For if a man fixes his feet on a solid bottom, he may raise himself up; indeed, there have been many instances where people, placing their feet on the bottom, have by a sudden spring emerged and escaped the peril of the waters. But when a man finds himself once sunk in some slough or muddy river, it is all over with him; he has no means of saving himself.

The Psalmist cites additional circumstances to illustrate his afflicted condition. He declares that he was inundated by the flowing of the waters; an expression indicating the disorder and confusion that his distresses and persecutions produced.

I am weary of crying: David, in seeking and calling upon God when his affairs were in such a confused and desperate condition, displayed rare and wonderful patience. He complains of having continued crying until he was exhausted and became hoarse, and all to no avail.

By the word weary, he does not mean that he gave up on prayer, as if he had abandoned all love for and delight in that exercise when he found it ineffective as a means of deliverance. He rather describes his untiring perseverance; and the same idea is expressed by his hoarse throat and failing eyes. He certainly did not cry out before men from mere affectation, nor was this hoarseness contracted in a single day.

Thus, we perceive that although his bodily senses failed him, the vigor of his faith was by no means extinguished. When we reflect that David has spoken, as it were, out of the mouth of Christ, and, as it were, out of the mouth of all true saints who are the members of Christ, we should not think that anything strange is happening to us if at any time we are so overwhelmed by death that we are unable to discern the slightest hope of life.

Indeed, rather, let us learn in good time, while God spares us, to meditate on this truth and to receive the help it is suited to provide in calamity. In this way, even in the most profound depths of adversity, faith may hold us up and, what is more, elevate us to God. For, as Paul testifies (Romans 8:39), no height nor depth which can separate us from the infinite love of Him who swallows up all depths, yes, even hell itself.

They who hate me without cause are more in number than the hairs of my head. The Psalmist now expresses plainly what he had previously said using the metaphors of the mire and the impetuous rush of the waters. Persecuted as he was by such a great multitude of enemies, he had ample reason to fear death in countless ways.

Nor is his language exaggerated when he describes his enemies as more in number than the hairs of his head, since he was mortally hated and detested by the whole kingdom, as it was universally believed that he was a base and wicked traitor to his country. Furthermore, we know from sacred history how numerous and powerful the armies were that Saul sent out to pursue him.

He expresses the mortal hatred they bore toward him when he says that they were intently set on his destruction, eagerly desiring to have him cut off by a violent death; and yet he declares that he had done nothing to merit such unrelenting persecution. The Hebrew word חנם (chinnam), which we have rendered without cause, and which some translate for nothing, indicates that they were driven by a strong desire to harm him, although he had not done them the slightest wrong, nor given them the smallest provocation by any kind of mistreatment.

For this reason, he calls his enemies שקר (sheker), that is, liars, because they had no just reason to make war against him, although they pretended otherwise. Let us, therefore, following his example, if we are ever subjected to persecution, strive to have the support that comes from the testimony of a good conscience, and to be able to protest freely before God that the hatred our enemies cherish against us is entirely without cause.

This implies a self-control to which it is very difficult for a man to accustom himself; but the more difficult it is, the more strenuous his efforts to attain it ought to be. It is mere weakness to regard being unjustly afflicted as an intolerable evil. The folly of this is very aptly exposed by that noble answer of Socrates to his wife. When she lamented one day in prison that he was condemned unjustly, he replied, “What then—would you rather that I should have suffered death for my offenses?” Furthermore, David adds that he not only had to suffer the wrongs of violence, but also had to bear much reviling and scornful abuse, as if he had been convicted of many crimes—a trial which, to an honest mind, is more bitter and harder to bear than a hundred deaths.

Many people can be found who are resolutely prepared to face death, yet are by no means prepared to show equal fortitude in enduring shame. Furthermore, David was not only robbed of his goods by the violence of robbers, but his character was also assailed, as if he had been a thief and a robber: That which I took not by spoil, then I restored it. When his enemies plundered and mistreated him in this way, they undoubtedly boasted that they were acting as judges of a perverse and wicked man; and we know that they were held in high regard as judges.

Let us therefore learn from this example to prepare ourselves not only to bear patiently all losses and troubles, even death itself, but also shame and reproach, if we are ever burdened with unfounded accusations. Christ himself, the fountain of all righteousness and holiness, was not exempt from foul slander; why then should we be dismayed when we face a similar trial? It can greatly strengthen our minds against it when we consider that to steadfastly persevere in practicing righteousness, even if that is the reward we receive from the world, is the genuine test of our integrity.

O God! thou knowest my foolishness. Augustine labored to little effect to show in what way these words are applicable to Christ; and finally, he transfers to His members what could not properly be said of the Head. David here uses the language of irony; and by this way of expressing himself, he meant to imply that, overwhelmed with the unrighteous judgments of men, he turns to God and implores Him to appear as the defender of his cause. This is much more emphatic than if he had affirmed plainly, and without figurative language, that his integrity was known to God. In this way, he administers a sharp rebuke to his enemies and, as it were, looks down with a noble contempt upon the slanderous speeches they uttered against him, as Jeremiah does when he says,

O Lord! thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived (Psalms 20:7).

Some ignorant people misconstrue these words of Jeremiah, as if they implied that he was actually deceived; when in fact, he should rather be understood as deriding with bitter sarcasm his slanderers, who, by speaking evil of him, were guilty of reproaching and blaspheming God Himself.

Similarly, David in this passage, as a way to keep himself from succumbing to the perverse judgments of men, appeals to God as the judge of his cause. And possessing the approving testimony of a good conscience, he largely regards with indifference the unjust assessment men might make of his character.

It would indeed be desirable that our integrity should also be acknowledged and approved by people, not so much for our own sake as for the edification of our brothers and sisters.

But if, after we have done all in our power to lead people to form a favorable opinion of us, they misconstrue and pervert every good word we speak and every good action we perform, we ought to maintain such greatness of mind as to boldly despise the world and all false accusers, resting content with God's judgment and with that alone. For those who are overly anxious about maintaining their good name will inevitably and often experience discouragement.

Let us always be ready to satisfy people; but if they refuse to listen to what we have to say in our own defense, let us continue on our course through bad report as well as good report, following the example of Paul, who fearlessly appeals to the judgment of God, who will bring to light the hidden things of dark, (1 Corinthians 4:5).