John Calvin

We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your Name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.

“The repetition serves the more forcibly to express his strong affection and his ardent zeal in singing the praises of God.”

“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.

“When I shall have taken the congregation. The Hebrew verb yd, yaäd, signifies to appoint a place or day, and the noun mvd, moed, derived from it, which is here used, signifies both holy assemblies, or a congregation of the faithful assembled together in the…”

In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.

“There is, however, some ambiguity in the words. The Hebrew word yd, yad, which I have translated hand, is sometimes taken metaphorically for a wound; and, therefore, many interpreters elicit this sense, My wound ran in the night, and ceased not, that is to say…”

Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

“He does not without cause allege before God the oppressions which he endured as a plea for obtaining the divine favor; for nothing is more suitable to the nature of God than to succor the afflicted: and the more severely any one is oppressed, and…”

Preserve my soul, for I am godly. You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.

“Since God then has avowed himself to be the defender both of good causes and of those who follow after righteousness, David, not without good reason, testifies that he had endeavored to exercise kindness and gentleness; that from this it may appear that he was…”

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout to the Rock of our salvation!

“By this he showed that the outward worship of God principally consisted in the sacrifice of praise, and not in dead ceremonies. He enjoins haste upon them; by which they might testify their alacrity in this service.”

For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.

“We know that there has always been a host of gods in the world, as Paul says, "There are many on the earth who are called gods," (1 Corinthians 8:5.)”

Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name.

“If even the prophet, who was inflamed with a more intense and fervent zeal than other men, was not free from this malady, of which his earnestness in stimulating himself is a plain confession, how much more necessary is it for us, who have abundant…”

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—

“How is it that we are so listless and drowsy in the performance of this the chief exercise of true religion, if it is not because our shameful and wicked forgetfulness buries in our hearts the innumerable benefits of God, which are openly manifest to…”

He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,

“Who forgiveth all thy iniquities He now enumerates the different kinds of the divine benefits, in considering which he has told us that we are too forgetful and slothful.”

laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

“The scope of the passage is shortly this, that we need not pierce our way above the clouds for the purpose of finding God, since he meets us in the fabric of the world, and is everywhere exhibiting to our view scenes of the most…”

In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.

“The name of the author of the Psalm is not expressed, but the style of it throughout presents David to our view. Although, therefore, I cannot positively affirm, yet I am rather inclined to think that it was composed by him.”

Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.

“Now if David, who was endued with such eminent virtue, and free from every mark of disgrace, and far removed from every wicked action, was yet assailed with contumely, is it to be wondered at if the children of God in the present day labor…”

I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

“My opinion, then, rather is, that this form of prayer was composed for all the godly by some Prophet, either when the Jews were captives in Babylon, or when Antiochus Epiphanes exercised towards them the most relentless cruelty.”

As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on…

“Behold as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters. This similitude is very suitable to the present case.”

If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel now declare—

“To get quit of this difficulty they observe, that what had not yet come to pass is described prophetically; but this is a forced conjecture, for the Prophets usually speak of things to come in a different manner.”

if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,

“But for Jehovah who was on our side. It is not without cause that he twice repeats the same sentence.”

When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.

“Now, whoever was the author of it, whether one of the Levites or one of the Prophets, he affirms that the manner of their deliverance was too wonderful to be attributed to fortune, in order to lead the faithful to the conclusion that the prophecy…”

Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

“Now shall our mouth be filled with laughter. The adverb of time, 'z, az, is commonly translated then; but as the verbs are in the future tense, I have thought that it might not be improper to translate tires -- grow shall our mouth be…”

Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!

“And it is wonderful, considering that whilst we enjoy peace and prosperity we are cold in prayer, because then our hearts are in a state of infatuated security, how in adversities, which ought to quicken us, we are still more stupefied.”

O LORD, remember on behalf of David all the hardships he endured,

“The name of David is prominently mentioned, because it was to him that the continuance of the kingdom and Temple was promised, and though dead, this could not affect the truthfulness of God's word.”

May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

“Jehovah bless thee out of Zion! We have conclusive proof in my opinion from this verse that the Psalm is to be considered as referring to the priests and Levites only, for to them it properly belonged under the law to bless the people.”

I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises.

“The praise David speaks of is that which is of a public kind. The solemn assembly is, so to speak, a heavenly theater, graced by the presence of attending angels; and one reason why the cherubim overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant was to let…”

I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all…

“He singles out the divine mercy and truth as the subject of his praise, for while the power and greatness of God are equally worthy of commendation, nothing has a more sensible influence in stimulating us to thanksgiving than his free mercy; and in communicating…”

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

“The reference would then be very appropriately to the fact that the most distant objects are contemplated as near by God.”