Commentary on Psalms Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
defending themselves 343 receiving evil treatment undeservedly. Some take the word judgment in too restricted a sense for the right to the kingdom which was promised to David, as if he petitioned to be placed on the royal throne by the power of God, inasmuch as he had been chosen by him to be king, and had also, in his name and by his authority, been anointed to this office by the hand of Samuel. The meaning which I attach to David's language is simply this, that being oppressed with many and varied wrongs, he commits himself to the protection and defense of God.
Psalm 17:3-4
3. Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited it by night; thou hast examined it, thou shalt find nothing; my thoughts shall not pass beyond my mouth. 344 4. As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have taken heed of [or watched] the ways of the destroyer. 345
3. Thou hast proved my heart. Some are of opinion that in the three first verbs the past tense is put for the future. Others more correctly and more clearly resolve the words thus: If thou provest my heart, and visitest it by night, and examinest it thoroughly, there will not be found any deceit therein. But without making any change upon the words, they may be suitably enough explained in this way: Thou, Lord, who understandest all the secret affections and thoughts of my heart, even as it is thy peculiar prerogative to try men, knowest very well that I am not a double man, and do not cherish any deceit within. What David intended to express is certainly very evident. As he was unjustly and falsely charged with crime,
"Qui n'ont pas moyen de se defendre." — Fr.
Great difference of opinion has prevailed among critics, as to the rendering and interpretation of this and the following verse. The third verse is rendered thus in Tyndale's Bible: "Thou hast proved and visited mine heart in the night seasons, thou hast tried me in the fire, and hast found no wickedness in me; for I utterly purposed that my mouth should not offend." Geddes reads the third clause of the verse "Thou hast smelted me, and found in me no dross;" and observes, that smelted is "a metaphor taken from the smelting of metals to purify them from extraneous matter." — Geddes' New Translation of the Book of Psalms, with Notes. The last clause of the third verse is added to the first clause of the fourth verse, in the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and the reading is thus "My mouth has not transgressed as to the evil designs of other men; that is, I have not countenanced or approved of them by word."
"Du violent." — Fr. "Of the violent."