John Calvin Commentary Psalms 85:13

"Righteousness shall go before him, And shall make his footsteps a way [to walk in]." — Psalms 85:13 (ASV)

Righteousness shall go before him. The word righteousness is taken by some for a righteous person; but this is unnatural. Viewed in this light, the passage indeed contains the useful and important truth that the righteous man will walk before God and will make it his object to regulate all his actions according to the principles of moral rectitude.

However, since there is no necessity for distorting the word righteousness so forcefully, it will be better to adopt the more correct and simple view: that under the reign of Christ, order will be so well established that righteousness will walk before God and occupy every path. The prophet thus seems to call the attention of the faithful back to what constitutes the chief elements of blessedness. For although God may grant to his servants an abundant supply of sustenance for the body, it is unfitting for them to set their hearts on this.

And in truth, one difference between us and the lower animals is that God, instead of pampering and stuffing our bellies for the mere gratification of our animal appetites, directs our views to higher and more important objects. When it is said that righteousness shall go before God, the meaning is that the prevalence and unobstructed course of righteousness—which is equivalent to setting her steps in the way—is to be attributed to the appointment of God.

Isaiah, on the contrary, complains that equity, instead of setting her steps in the way, is prohibited from making her appearance in public and meets with a universal repulse: And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter (Isaiah 59:14). In this psalm, prayers and holy meditations, engaged in to nourish and confirm faith, together with praises and thanksgivings, are intermingled.

Since it was difficult, according to the judgment of carnal reason, for David to escape from the distresses with which he was surrounded, he sets the infinite goodness and power of God in opposition to its conclusions. Nor does he simply request deliverance from his enemies; he also prays that the fear of God may be implanted and firmly established in his heart.