John Calvin Commentary Psalms 89:47

"Oh remember how short my time is: For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!" — Psalms 89:47 (ASV)

Remember how short my time is. After having confessed that the severe and deplorable afflictions which had befallen the Church were to be traced to her own sins as the procuring cause, the prophet, more effectively to move God to compassion, lays before Him the brevity of human life, in which, if we receive no taste of the Divine goodness, it will seem that we have been created in vain.

To understand the passage more clearly, it will be better to begin with the consideration of the last part of the verse, Why should you have created all the sons of men in vain? The faithful, in putting this question, proceed from an established first principle: that God has created men and placed them in the world to show Himself a father to them.

And indeed, as His goodness extends even to the cattle and lower animals of every kind, it cannot for a moment be supposed that we, who hold a higher rank in the scale of being than the animal creation, should be wholly deprived of it. If the opposite were true, it would be better for us that we had never been born than to languish in continual sorrow.

Moreover, the brevity of the course of our life is presented; it is so brief that unless God acts quickly in giving us some taste of His benefits, the opportunity for doing this will be lost, since our life passes rapidly away. The main point of this verse is now very obvious:

1. It is established as a principle that the purpose for which men were created was that they should enjoy God’s bounty in the present world; and from this it is concluded that they are born in vain unless He shows Himself a father towards them.
2. As the course of this life is short, it is argued that if God does not act quickly to bless them, the opportunity will no longer be available when their life has run out.

But here one might say, first, that the saints are too presumptuous in prescribing to God a time in which to act. Second, one might argue that even if He afflicts us with continual distresses as long as we are in our state of earthly pilgrimage, there are no grounds to conclude from this that we have been created in vain. This is because a better life in heaven is reserved for us, to the hope of which we have been adopted. Therefore, it is not surprising that our life is now hidden from us on earth.

I answer that it is by God's permission that the saints take this liberty of urging Him in their prayers to act quickly. There is no impropriety in doing so, provided that they, at the same time, keep themselves within the bounds of modesty and, restraining the impulsiveness of their passions, yield themselves wholly to His will.

Regarding the second point, I grant that it is quite true that although we must continue to endure our life amidst continual distresses, we have abundant consolation to help us in bearing all our afflictions, provided we lift up our minds to heaven.

But still, two things must be observed. First, it is certain, considering our great weakness, that no one will ever do this unless they have first tasted the Divine goodness in this life. Second, the complaints of God's people ought not to be judged according to a perfect rule, because they do not proceed from a settled and undisturbed state of mind, but always have some excess arising from the impulsiveness or vehemence of the passions at work in their minds.

I readily admit that the one who measures God's love from the current state of affairs judges by a standard that must lead to a false conclusion;

for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, (Hebrews 12:6).

But as God is never so severe towards His own people as not to provide them with actual, experiential evidence of His grace, it always remains true that life is profitless to men if they do not feel, while they live, that He is their father.

Regarding the second part of the verse, it has been stated elsewhere that our prayers do not follow one uniform course but sometimes reveal an excess of sorrow.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the faithful, when immoderate sorrow or fear occupies their thoughts and takes firm hold of them, experience such inattention gradually overcoming them as to make them for a time forget to keep their minds fixed in meditation on the life to come.

Many find it very inexplicable if God's children do not, the very moment they begin to think, immediately have their thoughts penetrate to heaven, as if thick mists did not often intervene to obstruct or hinder us when we would try to look attentively into it.

For faith to lose its liveliness is one thing, and for it to be utterly extinguished is another. And undoubtedly, whoever is tested by God's judgments and is in conflict with temptations will acknowledge that they are not as mindful of the spiritual life as they ought to be.

Although, then, the question, Why should you have created all the sons of men in vain? is deduced from a true principle, yet it has a hint of faulty excess. Thus it appears that even in our best-phrased prayers, we always need pardon.

Some language or sentiment that can be charged with excess always escapes from us, and therefore it is necessary for God to overlook or bear with our weakness.