Commentary on Psalms Volume 1 John Calvin
COMMENTARY ON PSALMS
6. And in my tranquillity 629 I had said, I shall never be moved. 7. O Jehovah! in thy good pleasure thou hast established strength to my mountain: thou hast hidden thy face, I have been terrified. 8. O Jehovah! I cried to thee, and to my Lord 630 I made my supplication. 9. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down into the pit? 631 Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10. Hear, O Jehovah! and have mercy upon me: O Jehovah! Be thou my helper.
6. And in my tranquillity I had said. This is the confession which I formerly mentioned, in which David acknowledges that he had been justly and deservedly punished for his foolish and rash security, in forgetting his mortal and mutable condition as a man, and in setting his heart too much on prosperity. By the term tranquillity, he means the quiet and flourishing state of his kingdom. Some translate the Hebrew word,שלוהshiluah, which we have rendered tranquillity, by abundance, in which sense it is often used in other places; but the word tranquillity agrees better with the context; as if David had said, When fortune smiled upon me on every side, and no danger appeared to occasion fear, my mind sunk as it were into a deep sleep, and I flattered myself that my happy condition would continue, and that things would always go on in the same course. This carnal confidence frequently creeps upon the saints when they indulge themselves in their prosperity, and so to speak, wallow upon their dunghill. 632 Hence Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:18) compares himself to a wild bullock before the Lord tamed him and accustomed him to the yoke. This may at first sight appear to be but a small crime, yet we may gather from its punishment how much it is displeasing to God; nor will we wonder at this when we consider the root from which it springs and the fruits which it bears. As deaths innumerable continually hover before our eyes, and as there are so many examples of change to awaken us to fear and caution, those must be bewitched with devilish pride who persuade themselves that their life is privileged above the common lot of the world. They see the whole earth jumbled together in undistinguishing "C'est, en ma prosperite." — Note, Fr. marg. "That is, in my prosperity."
Our author here uses Dominus; but in the Hebrew it is,יהוהYehovah
The Septuagint has "Εἰς διαθοράν" — to corruption. The rendering of Jerome is the same, "In corruptionem."
"Qu'ils se mignardent en leur prosperite, et par maniere de dire, croupessent sur leur fumier. — Fr.