John Calvin Commentary Psalms 69:9

"For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me." — Psalms 69:9 (ASV)

For the zeal of your house has eaten me up—David’s enemies, no doubt, professed that nothing was further from their mind than to touch the sacred name of God; but he reproves their hypocritical pretenses and affirms that he is fighting in God’s cause. He shows that the way he did this was through the zeal for the Church of God with which his soul was inflamed.

He not only identifies the cause of the mistreatment he received—his zeal for the house of God—but also declares that whatever mistreatment he undeservedly suffered, yet, as it were, forgetting himself, he burned with a holy zeal to maintain the Church, and at the same time the glory of God, with which it is inseparably connected.

To make this more obvious, it should be observed that although all verbally boast of giving God the glory that belongs to him, yet when the law—the rule of virtuous and holy living—makes its claims on them, men only mock him. Not only that, but they also furiously rush against him through the opposition they show to his Word.

They do this as if he willed to be honored and served merely with lip service, and had not instead erected a throne among men from which to govern them by laws.

David, therefore, here places the Church in the place of God; not that he intended to transfer to the Church what properly belongs to God, but to show the emptiness of men's pretensions of being God's people when they free themselves from the control of God’s holy law, of which the Church is the faithful guardian.

Besides, David had to deal with a class of men who, although a hypocritical and spurious group, claimed to be God's people. For all who adhered to Saul boasted of having a place in the Church and stigmatized David as an apostate or a corrupt member. David was so far from being discouraged by this unworthy treatment that he willingly endured all assaults for the defense of the true Church.

He declares that he is unmoved by all the wrongs and insults he personally suffered from his enemies. Setting aside all concern for himself, he is troubled and distressed only by the oppressed condition of the Church, or rather, he burns with anguish and is consumed by the intensity of his grief.

The second clause of the verse has the same meaning, indicating that he has nothing separate from God. Some explain it differently, understanding it to mean that the wicked and proud, intending to assault David, directed their fury and violence against God himself, and in this way indirectly pierced this holy man’s heart with their blasphemies, knowing that nothing would be more grievous for him to bear.

But this interpretation is too forced. Equally forced is the interpretation of those who consider David to be suggesting that whenever he heard God's name torn by reproaches and blasphemy, he prostrated himself in humble supplication at the mercy seat just as readily as if he himself had been guilty of treason against the Divine Majesty.

I therefore adhere to the opinion I have already expressed: that David forgot what concerned himself, and that all the grief he felt proceeded from the holy zeal with which he burned when he saw the sacred name of God insulted and outraged with horrible blasphemies.

By this example we are taught that while we are naturally so sensitive and delicate that we are unable to bear shame and reproach, we must endeavor to rid ourselves of this unhappy state of mind. We should instead be grieved and agonized by the reproaches poured out against God.

Because of these, it is fitting for us to feel deep indignation and even to express this in strong language; but we ought to bear the wrongs and reproaches we personally suffer without complaining.

Until we have learned to place very little value on our own reputation, we will never be inflamed with true zeal in contending for the preservation and advancement of God's glory.

Besides, as David speaks in the name of the whole Church, whatever he says concerning himself had to be fulfilled in the supreme Head. It is, therefore, not surprising to find the Evangelists applying this passage to Christ (John 2:17). In like manner, Paul, in Romans 15:3, 5, 6, exhorting the faithful to imitate Christ, applies the second part to them all. There he also teaches us that the doctrine contained in it is very comprehensive. It requires them to devote themselves wholly to the advancement of God's glory, to endeavor in all their words and actions to preserve it unimpaired, and to be carefully on their guard that it may not be obscured by any fault of theirs.

Since Christ, in whom all the majesty of Deity shines forth, did not hesitate to expose himself to every kind of reproach to maintain his Father’s glory, how base and shameful it will be for us to shrink from a similar fate.