John Calvin Commentary Psalms 83:18

"That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, Art the Most High over all the earth." — Psalms 83:18 (ASV)

And let them know that you are, your name Jehovah. It is not the saving knowledge of God that is spoken of here, but the acknowledgment of him that his irresistible power extorts from the wicked. It is not simply said that they will know that there is a God; but a special kind of knowledge is set forth, it being intimated that the heathen who previously held the true religion in contempt, would eventually perceive that the God who made himself known in the Law, and who was worshipped in Judea, was the only true God.

Still, however, it must be remembered that the knowledge spoken of is only of a fleeting character, having neither root nor the life-giving nourishment for it; for the wicked will not submit to God willingly and cordially, but are drawn by compulsion to yield a counterfeit obedience, or, being restrained by him, dare not break out into open outrage.

This, then, is an experiential recognition of God that does not penetrate to the heart, but is extorted from them by force and necessity. The pronoun אתה, atah, you, is emphatic, implying a tacit contrast between the God of Israel and all the false gods that were the product of human invention.

The prayer amounts to this: Lord, make them know that the idols they have fabricated for themselves are no gods, and in fact are nothing. The despisers of God may indeed shun the light, and at one time may cover themselves with clouds, while at another they may plunge into the deep and thick shades of darkness; but He pursues them, and draws them out to the knowledge of himself, which they would gladly bury in ignorance.

And as the world indiscriminately and disgracefully applies his sacred name to its own trifling inventions, this profanation is corrected when it is added, your name Jehovah. This implies that being, or really to be, is strictly applicable to God alone; for although unbelievers may attempt to tear his glory to pieces, he continues perfect and unchanged.

The contrast of which I have spoken, must be kept in mind by the reader. A nation has never existed so uncivilized as not to have worshipped some deity; but every country forged particular gods for itself. And although the Moabites, the Edomites, and the rest of these nations, admitted that some power and authority belonged to the God of Israel, yet they conceived that this power and authority did not extend beyond the boundaries of Judea.

Thus the king of Syria called him, the God of the hills, (1 Kings 20:23). This preposterous and absurd division of God’s glory, which people make, is disproved by one word, and all the superstitions that at that time prevailed in the world are overthrown, when the Prophet attributes to the God of Israel both the essence of Deity and the name; for unless all the idols of the heathen are completely abolished, he will not possess, alone and unshared, the name of Jehovah. Accordingly, it is added, You alone are the Most High over all the earth; a statement that is worthy of our most careful attention. The superstitious commonly think it enough to leave God his name, that is to say, two or three syllables; and in the meantime they fritter away his power, as if his majesty were contained in an empty title. Let us then remember that God does not receive the honor among people to which he is entitled, if his inherent sovereignty is not acknowledged, and if his glory is obscured by setting up other objects against him with competing claims.