John Calvin Commentary Psalms 69:5

"O God, thou knowest my foolishness; And my sins are not hid from thee." — Psalms 69:5 (ASV)

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).