March 31 Daily Devotional

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. The Psalmist here specifies the second manifestation of his grace which God makes towards those who, being subdued by his power, and bought under his yoke, bear it willingly, and submit themselves to his government. But never will this docility be found in any man, until the heart, which is naturally elated and filled with pride, has been humbled and subdued.

It is as if he had said, When God has first humbled them, then he kindly stretches forth his hand to them, and leads and guides them throughout the whole course of their life. The meaning therefore is, that those who are truly humbled in their hearts, and brought to place their confidence in God, shall experience how much care he has for his children, and how well he provides for their necessities. After he has moulded and trained us by the cross to humility and meekness, he still shows himself to be a wise and provident father in guiding us through life.

For the sake of your name, O LORD. In order to show more distinctly that he depends entirely upon the free grace of God, David expressly says, for the sake of your name; meaning that God, as often as he vouchsafes to pardon his people, does so from no other cause than his own good pleasure. He was also constrained, by a consideration of the magnitude of his offence, to call upon the name of God: for he immediately adds, by the way of confession, for my iniquity is great, or manifold, as if he had said, My sins are, indeed, like a heavy burden which overwhelms me, so that the multitude or enormity of them might well deprive me of all hope of pardon; but, Lord, the infinite glory of your name will not suffer you to cast me off.

He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. If the supreme felicity of man consists in undertaking or attempting nothing except by the warrant of God, it follows that it is also a high and incomparable benefit to have him for our conductor and guide through life, that we may never go astray. But, in addition to this, an earthly blessing is here promised, in which the fruit of the preceding grace is distinctly shown, as Paul also teaches (1 Tim.4:8), "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

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John Calvin, A Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms, is copyright © 1999 by P & R Publishing Company, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—except for brief quotations for the purpose of review or comment, without the prior permission of the publisher, P & R Publishing Company, P.O. Box 817, Phillipsburg, New Jersey 08865-0817.

Unless marked by an asterisk, italic Scripture excerpts preceding Calvin's exposition are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House, all rights reserved. Phrases of Scripture within Calvin's exposition are based on an unidentified older translation, or in rare instances modified to conform to the NIV excerpts preceding Calvin's exposition.

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