Commentary on Psalms Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
COMMENTARY ON PSALMS
12. Who can understand his errors? 463 Cleanse thou me from my secret sins. 13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins, 464 that they may not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright and clean from much wickedness. 465 14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my strength and my redeemer.
12. Who can understand his errors? This exclamation shows us what use we should make of the promises of the law, which have a condition annexed to them. It is this: As soon as they come forth, every man should examine his own life, and compare not only his actions, but also his thoughts, with that perfect rule of righteousness which is laid down in the law. Thus it will come to pass, that all, from the least to the greatest, seeing themselves cut off from all hope of reward from the law, will be constrained to flee for refuge to the mercy of God. It is not enough to consider what the doctrine of the law contains; we must also look into ourselves, that we may see how far short we have come in our obedience to the law. Whenever the Papists hear this promise,
"He who doeth these things shall live in them," (Leviticus 18:5,) they do not hesitate at once to connect eternal life with the merit of their works, as if it were in their own power to fulfill the law, of which we are all transgressors, not only in one point, but in all its parts. David, therefore, being involved as it were in a labyrinth on all sides, acknowledges with astonishment that he is overwhelmed under a sense of the multitude of his sins. We ought then to remember, in the first place, that as we are personally destitute of the righteousness which the law requires, we are on that account excluded from the hope of the reward which the law has promised; and, in
"Ses fautes." — Fr. "His faults." "Erreurs ou ignorances." — Fr. marg. "Errors or ignorances."
The word which our author uses denotes literally arrogances or proudnesses; and this is also the literal rendering of the Hebrew word here used. Calvin has the following note on the margin of the French version, explanatory of arrogances, "Pechez commis par contumace et rebellion." — Fr.
From much wickedness. This translation conveys the precise meaning of what David intended. He was afraid of incurring accumulated guilt. In our English translation it is "the great transgression," on which Walford remarks, "The insertion of the definite article 'the' is not authorised by the original, and leads to a supposition which is incorrect, that some definite crime, such as 'the sin against the Holy Ghost,' is intended."
JOHN CALVIN
the next place, that we are guilty before God, not of one fault or of two, but of sins innumerable, so that we ought, with the bitterest sorrow, to bewail our depravity, which not only deprives us of the blessing of God, but also turns to us life into death. This David did. There is no doubt that when, after having said that God liberally offers a reward to all who observe his law, he cried out, Who can understand his errors? it was from the terror with which he was stricken in thinking upon his sins. By the Hebrew word ,שגיאותshegioth, which we have translated errors, some think David intends lesser faults; but in my judgment he meant simply to say, that Satan has so many devices by which he deludes and blinds our minds, that there is not a man who knows the hundredth part of his own sins. The saints, it is true, often offend in lesser matters, through ignorance and inadvertence; but it happens also that, being entangled in the snares of Satan, they do not perceive even the grosser faults which they have committed. Accordingly, all the sins to the commission of which men give themselves loose reins, not being duly sensible of the evil which is in them, and being deceived by the allurements of the flesh, are justly included under the Hebrew word here used by David, which signifies faults or ignorances. 466 In summoning himself and others before the judgment-seat of God, he warns himself and them, that although their consciences do not condemn them, they are not on that account absolved; for God sees far more clearly than men's consciences, since even those who look most attentively into themselves, do not perceive a great part of the sins with which they are chargeable.
After making this confession, David adds a prayer for pardon, Cleanse thou me from my secret sins. The word cleanse is to be referred not to the blessing of regeneration, but to free forgiveness; for the Hebrew verb ,נקהnakah, here used, comes from a word which signifies to be innocent. The Psalmist explains more clearly what he intended by the word errors, in now calling them secret sins; that is to say, those with respect to which men deceive themselves, by thinking that they are no sins, and who thus deceive themselves not only purposely and by expressly aiming at doing so, but because they do not enter into the due consideration of the majesty of the judgment of God. It is in vain to attempt to justify ourselves under the pretext and excuse of ignorance. Nor does it avail any thing to be blind as to our faults, since no man is a competent judge in his own cause. We must, therefore, never account ourselves to be pure and innocent until we are pronounced such by God's sentence of absolution or acquittal. The faults which we do not perceive must necessarily come under the review of God's judgment, and entail upon us condemnation, unless he blot them out
"Dont a bon droict toutes pechez ausquels les hommes se laschent la bride, pource qu'ils ne sentent pas abon escient le real qui y est, et sont deceus par les allechemens de la chair, sont nommez du mot Hebrie a duquel David use yci qui signifie Fautes ou Ignorances." — Fr.