John Calvin Commentary Psalms 76:2

"In Salem also is his tabernacle, And his dwelling-place in Zion." — Psalms 76:2 (ASV)

And his tabernacle was in Salem. Here the reason is given why God, by putting the Assyrians to flight, graciously granted to deliver the city of Jerusalem and to take it under his protection. The reason is that he had chosen for himself a dwelling-place there, in which his name was to be invoked.

In summary, first, people had no basis to claim for themselves any share in the deliverance of the city described here, as God had strikingly shown that all the glory was his own by displaying his power from heaven in the sight of all people. Secondly, he was moved to oppose his enemies for no other reason than his free choice of the Jewish nation.

Since God has, by this example, testified that his power is invincible for preserving his Church, it is a call and an encouragement to all the faithful to rest confidently under his shadow. If his name is precious to himself, he gives an extraordinary pledge and security to our faith when he assures us that it is his will that the greatness of his power should be known in the preservation of his Church.

Moreover, as the Church is a prominent stage on which the divine glory is displayed, we must always take the greatest care not to obscure or allow to be forgotten, through our ingratitude, the benefits that have been bestowed upon it, especially those that ought to be remembered in all ages.

Furthermore, although God is not now worshipped in the visible tabernacle, yet as by Christ he still dwells in our midst, indeed even within us, we will doubtless experience, whenever we are exposed to danger, that under his protection we are in perfect safety. If the earthly sanctuary of Jerusalem afforded God’s ancient people help while it stood, we may rest assured that he will have no less care for us who live in the present day, when we consider that he has graciously chosen us as his temples in which he may dwell by his Holy Spirit.

Here the prophet, in speaking of Jerusalem, uses merely the name Salem, which was the simple and uncompounded name of the city and had been applied to it very anciently, as appears from Genesis 14:18. Some think that the name, in the course of time, assumed its compound form by having Jebus prefixed to Salem; for Jebus was the name by which it was afterwards known in the intervening period, as we learn from Judges 19:10, as it was so called because it was inhabited by the Jebusites. But we will be more correct as to the etymology of the word if we derive it from the verb יראה, yereh, which signifies will see, because Abraham said,

“God will look out for himself a lamb for a burnt-offering” (Genesis 22:8).