Commentary on Psalms Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
he speak of God as being near to him? He was pressed down to the very mouth of the grave; and how could he recognize the gracious presence of God? He was trembling in the momentary expectation of being destroyed; and how is it possible that he can triumph in the certain hope that Divine help will presently be extended to him? In numbering God amongst his defenders, we must not suppose that he assigns him a mere common rank amongst the men who supported his cause, which would have been highly derogatory to his glory. He means that God took part with those, such as Jonathan and others, who were interested in his welfare. These might be few in number, possessed of little power, and cast down with fears; but he believed that, under the guidance and protection of the Almighty, they would prove superior to his enemies: or, perhaps, we may view him as referring, in the words, to his complete destitution of all human defenders, and asserting that the help of God would abundantly compensate for all. 291
5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies As the verb,ישיבyashib, may be rendered he shall cause to return, 292 it seems to point not only at the punishment, but the kind of punishment, which would be awarded to his enemies, in the recoiling of their wicked machinations upon their own heads. Some give an optative signification to the verb, understanding the words to express a wish or prayer; but I see no reason why it should not be taken strictly in the future tense, and imagine that David intimates his certain expectation that this favor, which he had already prayed for, would be granted. It is by no means uncommon to find the prayers of the Psalmist intersected with sentences of this kind, inserted for the purpose of stimulating his faith, as here, where he announces the general truth, that God is the righteous judge who will recompense the wicked. With the view of confirming his hopes, he adverts particularly to the truth of God; for nothing can support us in the hour of temptation, when the Divine deliverance may
The phrase,,בסמכי אדניAdonai besomkey, which Calvin renders, "The Lord is with them that uphold," is translated by Hammond, "The Lord among the sustainers;" and he remarks, that this form of expression, which is not unusual among the Hebrews, signifies no more than "God is my upholder; not one of many upholders, but my only upholder." Thus, when Jephtha (Judges 11:35) tells his daughter, "Thou art among the troublers of me," or "one of them that trouble me," the meaning simply is, that she very much grieved and troubled him. So Psalm 55:18, "There were many with me;" i e., "God was with me," which is as good as the greatest multitude. This is the sense in which the learned Castellio understands the passage, rendering it, "Dominus is est qui mihi vitam sustentat;" "The Lord is he who sustains my life;" and he defends it by the above and like arguments. With this the Septuagint agrees: "Κυριος ἀντιλήπτωρ τὢς ψνχὢς μου," "The Lord is the defender of my soul;" and also the Syriac, Arabic, and Aethiopic.
French and Skinner read, "May their mischief return upon those who watch me;" and observe, "that their mischief in Hebrew is the evil, and that the meaning is, the very evil which they devised against me. Compare Psalm 7:16."