John Calvin Commentary Psalms 92:9

"For, lo, thine enemies, O Jehovah, For, lo, thine enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered." — Psalms 92:9 (ASV)

For, lo! thine enemies, O Jehovah! From what was already said in the preceding verse, the Psalmist concludes that God must inevitably overthrow His enemies. This, as I have already observed, clearly shows that it was his design to establish our faith under the strong temptations to which it is subjected, and, more especially, to remove that stumbling block which has disturbed the minds of many and led them astray—namely, the prosperity of the wicked, and how it creates a certain perplexity regarding God's judgments.

Since our faith is never subjected to a sharper and more arduous trial than on this point, the Psalmist delivers the truth, announcing it with great force of expression, using both exclamations and repetition. First, he declares the destruction of God’s enemies to be as certain as if it had already taken place and he had witnessed it with his own eyes; then he repeats his assertion. From all this, we can see how much he had benefited by looking with the eye of faith beyond this world to God's throne in heaven.

Whenever our faith is staggered by the prosperity of the wicked, we should learn from his example to elevate our contemplations to God in heaven, and the conviction that His enemies cannot long continue to triumph will immediately follow in our minds.

The Psalmist tells us who God's enemies are. God hates no one without a cause; indeed, insofar as humans are the workmanship of His hand, He embraces them in His fatherly love. But since nothing is more opposed to His nature than sin, He proclaims irreconcilable war against the wicked. It contributes significantly to the comfort of the Lord's people to know that the wicked are destroyed because they are necessarily the objects of God's hatred, so that He can no more fail to punish them than He can deny Himself.

The Psalmist, shortly afterwards, shows that he intended this to be a source of comfort and hope amidst all cares, griefs, anxieties, and distresses. He speaks of enjoying divine blessings using the figure of oil, and by green or fresh oil he means oil that has not become rancid or unusable with age.

It is noteworthy that he takes for himself, and applies for his own individual comfort, that grace of God which is extended to all the Lord's people without exception. By this, he would teach us that mere general doctrine is a cold and unsatisfactory thing, and that each of us should apply it particularly for ourselves, in the conviction that we belong to the number of God's children.

In short, the Psalmist assures himself of God's protection under whatever persecutions he might endure from his enemies—whether secret, or more open and violent—so that he may encourage himself to persevere with an indefatigable spirit in the world's conflict.

From this, we may judge how absurd is the opinion of the Rabbis who conjectured that Adam was the author of this psalm—as if it were credible that his descendants would have rebelled against him.