Psalm Psalm 17:15
‘Keep me…from the wicked that oppress me — from my deadly enemies who surround me!… As for me…, I shall be satisfied when I awake, with Your likeness!’ Psalm 17:8-15.
Calvin comments: “David triumphs…. God…assured him…that one day, he will enjoy the privilege of…beholding Him…. ‘To behold God’s face’ is nothing else than to have a sense of His fatherly favour, with which He…causes us to rejoice by removing our sorrow but also transports us even to Heaven…. Although He may hide His face…for a time, He causes…again in due season to
behold His bright countenance….
“‘I shall be satisfied!’ Some interpreters…restrict this — to the resurrection at the last day…. I readily admit that this satisfaction of which he speaks, will not in all respects be perfect before the last coming of Christ…
“(But) to me, it seems…suitable to refer the word ‘awake’ to David…. When the favour of God shall again have arisen and shone brightly upon him, he declares that then he will recover spiritual strength and enjoy tranquillity of mind….
“So long as we continue in this state of earthly pilgrimage, ‘we walk by faith — not by sight’…. Let each of us awaken…from his lethargy, so that we may now be satisfied with spiritual felicity — until God in due time brings us to His Own immediate presence and causes us to enjoy Him!”
Also in his Institutes II:10:17 & III:25:9-10, Calvin adds: “The holy fathers under the Old Testament were not ignorant that in this world, God…never gives His servants the fulfilment of what is promised them…. They doubted not then…, a time would at length arrive when the divine promises would be fulfilled. This is attested by such expressions as these: ‘As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with Your likeness!’ (Psalm 17:15)….
“‘There shall be a resurrection of the dead’…(Acts 24:15)…. The prophecy that death shall be swallowed up in victory (Hosea 13:14) will only then be completed…, (in) the day…on which He will manifest His glory to us…(First Corinthians 15:54)…. With this accords David’s sentiment…, ‘I shall be satisfied when I awake with Your likeness!’ (Psalm 17:15).”
Finally, in his Psychopannychia, Calvin concludes: “Rest is not yet full and perfect…. (It) has no end, till it has arrived where it was tending…. The eyes of the elect look to the supreme glory of God as their final good. Their desire is always moving onward, till the glory of God is complete…. This completion awaits the Judgment Day. Then will be verified the saying: ‘I will be satisfied when I awake with beholding Your countenance!’ (Psalm 17:15)….
“We will celebrate our triumph and enjoy the fruits of victory, when our head shall be raised above death in glory — that is, when death shall be swallowed up in victory. This is our aim…. It has been written: ‘I shall be satisfied, when I awake with beholding Your glory!’ (Psalm 17:15).”
