Commentary on Psalms Volume 3 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
he reminds us that true worship can be paid to God no where else than upon mount Zion. For he employs a style of writing such as is calculated to elevate the minds of the godly above the world, and, at the same time, does not in the least degree detract from the holiness of the temple, which alone of all places of the earth God had chosen as the place where he was to be worshipped. From this we may see, since the days of Augustine, how vainly many perplex themselves in endeavoring to ascertain the reason for the prophet ordering God's footstool to be worshipped. The answer of Augustine is ingenious. If, says he, we look to Christ's manhood, we will perceive a reason why we may worship the footstool of God, and yet not be guilty of idolatry; for that body in which he wishes to be worshipped he took from the earth, and on this earth nothing else than God is worshipped, for the earth is both the habitation of Deity, and God himself condescended to become earth. All this is very plausible, but it is foreign to the design of the prophet, who, intending to distinguish between legal worship, (which was the only worship that God sanctioned,) and the superstitious rites of the heathen, summons the children of Abraham to the temple, as if to their standard, there, after a spiritual manner, to worship God, because he dwells in celestial glory.
Now that the shadowy dispensation has passed away, I believe that God cannot otherwise be properly worshipped, than when we come to him directly through Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. It were improper and absurd for any one to designate him a footstool. For the prophet merely spake in this manner to show that God was not confined to the visible temple, but that he is to be sought for above all heavens, 119 inasmuch as he is elevated above the whole world.
The frantic bishops of Greece, in the second Council of Nice, very shamefully perverted this passage, when they endeavored to prove from it that God was to be worshipped by images and pictures. The reason 120 assigned for exalting Jehovah our God, and worshipping at his footstool, contains an antithesis: he is holy For the prophet, in hallowing the name of the one God, declares all the idols of the heathen to be unholy; as if he should say, Although the heathen claim for their idols an imaginary sanctity, they are nevertheless very vanity, an offense, and abomination. Some translate this clauses for it is holy; but it will appear from the end of the psalm that it was the design of the prophet by this title to distinguish God from all idols.
6. Moses and Aaron. The Psalmist magnifies the special grace which God in a very remarkable manner vouchsafed to the seed of Abraham, that thence
"Comme aussi il est esleve par dessus tout le monde." — Fr.
"La cause qu'il rend." — Fr. "Causae redditio." — Lat.
COMMENTARY ON PSALMS - VOLUME 3 he chose for himself prophets and priests to be, as it were, mediators between him and the people, to ratify the covenant of salvation. And he mentions three persons who were famous in former times. For Moses was, as it were, a mediator to reconcile the people unto God. Aaron was invested with the same office; and, subsequently, Samuel sustained the same character. There is no doubt, however, that under these three persons he included all the people with whom God had made a covenant. But he mentions the names of those who were the depositaries and guardians of this invaluable treasure. It may appear improper that he should speak of Moses as among the priests, since his sons were only among the common Levites, and that
Moses himself, after the giving of the law, never held the office of high priest. But as the Hebrews call,כוהניםchohanim, those who are chief and very eminent personages, 121 such as kings' sons, there is nothing to prevent the prophet from giving this designation to Moses, as if he had said that he was one of the holy rulers of the Church. 122 Moreover, if we go back to the first original — to the period prior to the publication of the law, it is certain that Moses was then invested with the high priest's office. The design of the prophet must also be kept in mind, namely, that God not only adopted the seed of Abraham, but set apart some of them to act as mediators, whom he enjoined to call upon his name, in order that his covenant might be the more confirmed. For the invocation of which he speaks must not be understood indiscriminately of every manner of calling upon, but only of that which belongs to the priests, who were chosen by God, as intercessors to appear in his presence in the name of all the people, and to speak on their behalf.
They called upon Jehovah The Psalmist explains more fully what I have just now said, that God from the very first, and with a special reference to his gracious covenant, bestowed great benefits upon the descendants of Abraham — the Jews. And, therefore, as often as they experienced the loving-kindness of God, it behooved them to call to mind his former lovingkindness. The prophet, too, makes particular mention of the visible symbol
"Ceux qui sont les principaux et les plus excellens personnages." — Fr.
Accordingly, some instead of priests read princes, or chief men,כחן ,כהןto minister, is a common title of civil as well as ecclesiastical officers. Hence, in Exodus 2:16, for the Hebrew term,כהןthe Chaldee has" ,רבאthe Prince of Midian." And in 2 Samuel 8:18, it is said of David's sons, that they were,כהניםwhich does not there mean priests, but princes or chief rulers; —,רברביןgreat men, as the Chaldee has it, or,הראשונים "principal or chief men about the king," as they are termed in 1 Chronicles 18:17. Of this sort was Ira the Jairite, who, in 2 Samuel 20:26, is called,כהןwhich does not there denote priest, but a chief ruler about David. Thus, as in the more general sense of the word, it comprehends civil as well as ecclesiastical rulers, it is evident that Moses, no less than Aaron, may be reckoned,בכהניוamong God's rulers or chief men; and, as Calvin states, it is to be noticed that Moses was, properly speaking, the Priest of the Israelites before the appointment of Aaron and his family to the sacerdotal office.