John Calvin Commentary Psalms 74:12

"Yet God is my King of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth." — Psalms 74:12 (ASV)

But God is my King from the beginning. In this verse, as we have often seen to be the case in other places, the people of God intermingle meditations with their prayers, so that they acquire renewed vigor for their faith and stir themselves up to greater earnestness in the duty of prayer.

We know how difficult it is to rise above all doubts and boldly persevere in a free and unrestrained course of prayer. Here, then, the faithful recall the proofs of God’s mercy and working, by which he confirmed, through continuous ages, that he was the King and Protector of the people whom he had chosen.

This example teaches us that since it is not enough to pray with the lips unless we also pray in faith, we ought always to remember the benefits by which God has confirmed his fatherly love toward us.

We should regard these benefits as so many testimonies of his electing love.

It is quite clear that the title King, which is here applied to God, should not be restricted merely to his sovereignty. He is addressed by this appellation because he had taken upon himself the government of the Jewish people, in order to preserve and maintain them in safety.

We have already stated what is implied in the words, from the beginning. Regarding the midst of the earth, some think Judea is intended, because it was situated, so to speak, in the middle of the habitable globe.

There is no doubt that it is to be understood as a place that stands prominently in view. We find the expression used in this sense in the words God commanded Moses to speak to Pharaoh:

And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth (Exodus 8:22).

The simple and natural meaning, therefore, is that God had worked on behalf of the chosen people many deliverances, which were as open and manifest as if they had been displayed on a prominent stage.