John Calvin Commentary Psalms 84:11

"For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." — Psalms 84:11 (ASV)

Jehovah God is our sun and shield. The idea conveyed by the comparison derived from the sun is that, just as the sun by its light enlivens, nourishes, and rejoices the world, so the gracious face of God fills with joy the hearts of His people; or rather, that they neither live nor breathe except to the extent that He shines upon them.

By the term shield, it is meant that our salvation, which would otherwise be endangered by countless dangers, is in perfect safety under His protection. God's favor in giving us life would be far from adequate for our needs unless He also, in the midst of so many dangers, interposed His power as a shield to defend us.

The immediately following sentence, he will give grace and glory, might be viewed as meaning that those whom God has distinguished by His grace in this world will eventually be crowned with everlasting glory in His heavenly kingdom. But this distinction between grace and glory is, I fear, too subtle. It will be better to explain the sentence as meaning that after God has once taken the faithful into His favor, He will advance them to high honor and never cease to enrich them with His blessings. This interpretation is confirmed by the following clause, He will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly, obviously teaching us that God’s bounty can never be exhausted but flows continuously. We learn from these words that whatever excellence may be in us comes only from the grace of God. They also contain this special mark by which the genuine worshippers of God may be distinguished from others: that their life is shaped and governed according to the principles of strict integrity.

The exclamation with which David concludes the psalm, Blessed is the man who trusteth in thee, seems to refer to the time of his exile. He had previously described the blessedness of those who dwell in the courts of the Lord, and now he declares that although he was temporarily deprived of that privilege, he was far from being completely miserable, because he was supported by the best of all consolations: the one that arose from seeing from a distance the grace of God. This is an example deserving special attention.

As long as we are deprived of God’s benefits, we must necessarily groan and be sad at heart. But, so that the feeling of our distresses does not overwhelm us, we should impress upon our minds that even in the midst of our calamities we do not cease to be happy when faith and patience are active.