As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.
I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1–11 1. As the hart crieth for the fountains of…
1. As the hart crieth for the fountains of water, etc The meaning of these two verses simply is, that David preferred to all the enjoyments, riches, pleasures, and honors of this world, the opportunity of access to the sanctuary, that in this way he might cherish and strengthen his faith and piety by the exercises prescribed in the Law. When he says that he cried for the living God, we are not to understand it merely in the sense of a burning love and desire towards God: but we ought to remember in what manner it is that, God allures us to himself, and by what means he raises our minds upwards. He does not enjoin us to ascend forthwith into heaven, but, consulting our weakness, he descends to us. David, then, considering that the way of access was shut against him, cried to God, because he was excluded from the outward service of the sanctuary, which is the sacred bond of intercourse with God. I do not mean to say that the observance of external ceremonies can of itself bring us into favor with God, but they are religious exercises which we cannot bear to want by reason of our infirmity. David, therefore, being excluded from the sanctuary, is no less grieved than if he had been separated from God himself. He did not, it is true, cease in the meantime to direct his prayers towards heaven, and even to the sanctuary itself; but conscious of his own infirmity, he was specially grieved that the way by which the faithful obtained access to God was shut against him. This is an example which may well suffice to put to shame the arrogance of those who without concern can bear to be deprived of those means, or rather, who proudly despise them, as if it were in their power to ascend to heaven in a moment’s flight; nay, as if they surpassed David in zeal and alacrity of mind. We must not, however, imagine that the prophet suffered himself to rest in earthly elements, but only that he made use of them as a ladder, by which he might ascend to God, finding that he had not wings with which to fly thither. The similitude which he takes from a hart is designed to express the extreme ardor of his desire. The sense in which some explain this is, that the waters are eagerly sought by the harts, that they may recover from fatigue; but this, perhaps, is too limited. I admit that if the hunter pursue the stag, and the dogs also follow hard after it, when it comes to a river it gathers new strength by plunging into it. But we know also that at certain seasons of the year, harts, with an almost incredible desire, and more intensely than could proceed from mere thirst, seek after water; and although I would not contend for it, yet I think this is referred to by the prophet here.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 By these similitudes of thirst and panting, he showeth…
By these similitudes of thirst and panting, he showeth his fervent desire to serve God in his Temple.
As a treasure to be kept of them, which were of the number of the Levites.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–11 Psa 42:1 « To the chief Musician, Maschil, for…
Psa 42:1 « To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. » As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Maschil, for the sons of Korah] Korah and his compilers were swallowed up quick by the earth in the wilderness for their gainsaying, Num 16:1-50, but some of his sons, disliking his practice, escaped, and of them came Heman (the nephew of Samuel), a chief singer, 1Ch 6:23. Now, to him and his brethren was this and some other of David’s psalms committed, both to be kept as a treasure, and to be sung in the sanctuary, for comfort and instruction under affliction, according to the signification of the word Maschil; whereof see Psa 32:1, title, παθηματα γαρ μαθηματα. Nocumenta documenta.
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Ver. 1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks] Heb. As the hind. Greek, η ελαφος, for in females the passions are stronger, saith an interpreter here, quicquid volunt, valde volunt. This creature is naturally hot and dry, about autumn especially (as Aristotle testifieth), but when hunted extremely thirsty. Chrysostom and Basil say, that she eateth serpents, and so is further inflamed by their poison. Now, as the hunted and heated hind glocitat, breatheth and brayeth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O God] He saith not, after my former dignity and greatness, before Absalom disturbed me, and drove me out (though he could not but be sensible of such a loss; we know what miserable moans Cicero made when sent into banishment; how impatient Cato and many others were in like case, so that they became their own deathsmen), but after thee, Lord, and the enjoyment of thy public ordinances; from which I am now, alas, hunted and hindered. Amo te Domine plus quam mea, meos, me (Bern.). After that God’s Holy Spirit hath once touched a soul it will never be quiet until it stands pointed Godward.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–11 After thee; after the enjoyment of thee in thy…
After thee; after the enjoyment of thee in thy sanctuary, as it appears from Psa 42:4.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 Holy love to God as the chief good and…
Holy love to God as the chief good and our felicity is the power of godliness, the very life and soul of religion, without which all external professions and performances are but a shell and carcase: now here we have some of the expressions of that love. Here is,
I. Holy love thirsting, love upon the wing, soaring upwards in holy desires towards the Lord and towards the remembrance of his name (Psa 42:1, Psa 42:2): "My soul panteth, thirsteth, for God, for nothing more than God, but still for more and more of him." Now observe,
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1. When it was that David thus expressed his vehement desire towards God. It was, (1.) When he was debarred from his outward opportunities of waiting on God, when he was banished to the land of Jordan, a great way off from the courts of God's house. Note, Sometimes God teaches us effectually to know the worth of mercies by the want of them, and whets our appetite for the means of grace by cutting us short in those means. We are apt to loathe that manna, when we have plenty of it, which will be very precious to us if ever we come to know the scarcity of it. (2.) When he was deprived, in a great measure, of the inward comfort he used to have in God. He now went mourning, but he went on panting. Note, If God, by his grace, has wrought in us sincere and earnest desires towards him, we may take comfort from these when we want those ravishing delights we have sometimes had in God, because lamenting after God is as sure an evidence that we love him as rejoicing in God. Before the psalmist records his doubts, and fears, and griefs, which had sorely shaken him, he premises this, That he looked upon the living God as his chief good, and had set his heart upon him accordingly, and was resolved to live and die by him; and, casting anchor thus at first, he rides out the storm.
2. What is the object of his desire and what it is he thus thirsts after. (1.) He pants after God, he thirsts for God, not the ordinances themselves, but the God of the ordinances. A gracious soul can take little satisfaction in God's courts if it do not meet with God himself there: "O that I knew where I might find him! that I might have more of the tokens of his favour, the graces and comforts of his Spirit, and the earnests of his glory." (2.) He has, herein, an eye to God as the living God, that has life in himself, and is the fountain of life and all happiness to those that are his, the living God, not only in opposition to dead idols, the works of men's hands, but to all the dying comforts of this world, which perish in the using. Living souls can never take up their rest any where short of a living God. (3.) He longs to come and appear before God, - to make himself known to him, as being conscious to himself of his own sincerity, - to attend on him, as a servant appears before his master, to pay his respects to him and receive his commands, - to give an account to him, as one from whom our judgment proceeds. To appear before God is as much the desire of the upright as it is the dread of the hypocrite. The psalmist knew he could not come into God's courts without incurring expense, for so was the law, that none should appear before God empty; yet he longs to come, and will not grudge the charges.
3. What is the degree of this desire. It is very importunate; it is his soul that pants, his soul that thirsts, which denotes not only the sincerity, but the strength, of his desire. His longing for the water of the well of Bethlehem was nothing to this. He compares it to the panting of a hart, or deer, which is naturally hot and dry, especially of a hunted buck, after the water-brooks. Thus earnestly does a gracious soul desire communion with God, thus impatient is it in the want of that communion, so impossible does it find it to be satisfied with any thing short of that communion, and so insatiable is it in taking the pleasures of that communion when the opportunity of it returns, still thirsting after the full enjoyment of him in the heavenly kingdom.
II. Holy love mourning for God's present withdrawings and the want of the benefit of solemn ordinances (Psa 42:3): "My tears have been my meat day and night during this forced absence from God's house." His circumstances were sorrowful, and he accommodated himself to them, received the impressions and returned the signs of sorrow. Even the royal prophet was a weeping prophet when he wanted the comforts of God's house. His tears were mingled with his meat; nay, they were his meat day and night; he fed, he feasted, upon his own tears, when there was such just cause for them; and it was a satisfaction to him that he found his heart so much affected with a grievance of this nature. Observe, He did not think it enough to shed a tear or two at parting from the sanctuary, to weep a farewell-prayer when he took his leave, but, as long as he continued under a forced absence from that place of his delight, he never looked up, but wept day and night. Note, Those that are deprived of the benefit of public ordinances constantly miss them, and therefore should constantly mourn for the want of them, till they are restored to them again. Two things aggravated his grief: -
1. The reproaches with which his enemies teased him: They continually say unto me, Where is thy God? (1.) Because he was absent from the ark, the token of God's presence. Judging of the God of Israel by the gods of the heathen, they concluded he had lost his God. Note, Those are mistaken who think that when they have robbed us of our Bibles, and our ministers, and our solemn assemblies, they have robbed us of our God; for, though God has tied us to them when they are to be had, he has not tied himself to them. We know where our God is, and where to find him, when we know not where his ark is, nor where to find that. Wherever we are there is a way open heaven-ward. (2.) Because God did not immediately appear for his deliverance they concluded that he had abandoned him; but herein also they were deceived: it does not follow that the saints have lost their God because they have lost all their other friends. However, by this base reflection on God and his people, they added affliction to the afflicted, and that was what they aimed at. Nothing is more grievous to a gracious soul than that which is intended to shake its hope and confidence in God.
2. The remembrance of his former liberties and enjoyments, Psa 42:4. Son, remember thy good things, is a great aggravation of evil things, so much do our powers of reflection and anticipation add to the grievance of this present time. David remembered the days of old, and then his soul was poured out in him; he melted away, and the thought almost broke his heart. he poured out his soul within him in sorrow, and then poured out his soul before God in prayer. But what was it that occasioned this painful melting of spirit? It was not the remembrance of the pleasures at court, or the entertainments of his own house, from which he was now banished, that afflicted him, but the remembrance of the free access he had formerly had to God's house and the pleasure he had in attending the sacred solemnities there. (1.) He went to the house of God, though in his time it was but a tent; nay, if this psalm was penned, as many think it was, at the time of his being persecuted by Saul, the ark was then in a private house, Sa2 6:3. But the meanness, obscurity, and inconveniency of the place did not lessen his esteem of that sacred symbol of the divine presence. David was a courtier, a prince, a man of honour, a man of business, and yet very diligent in attending God's house and joining in public ordinances, even in the days of Saul, when he and his great men enquired not at it, Ch1 13:3. Whatever others did, David and his house would serve the Lord. (2.) He went with the multitude, and thought it no disparagement to his dignity to be at the head of a crowd in attending upon God. Nay, this added to the pleasure of it, that he was accompanied with a multitude, and therefore it is twice mentioned, as that which he greatly lamented the want of now. The more the better in the service of God; it is the more like heaven, and a sensible help to our comfort in the communion of saints. (3.) He went with the voice of joy and praise, not only with joy and praise in his heart, but with the outward expressions of it, proclaiming his joy and speaking forth the high praises of his God. Note, When we wait upon God in public ordinances we have reason to do it both with cheerfulness and thankfulness, to take to ourselves the comfort and give to God the glory of our liberty of access to him. (4.) He went to keep holy-days, not to keep them in vain mirth and recreation, but in religious exercises. Solemn days are spent most comfortably in solemn assemblies.
III. Holy love hoping (Psa 42:5): Why art thou cast down, O my soul? His sorrow was upon a very good account, and yet it must not exceed its due limits, nor prevail to depress his spirits; he therefore communes with his own heart, for his relief. "Come, my soul, I have something to say to thee in thy heaviness." Let us consider, 1. The cause of it. "Thou art cast down, as one stooping and sinking under a burden, Pro 12:25. Thou art disquieted, in confusion and disorder; now why are thou so?" This may be taken as an enquiring question: "Let the cause of this uneasiness be duly weighed, and see whether it be a just cause." Our disquietudes would in many cases vanish before a strict scrutiny into the grounds and reasons of them. "Why am I cast down? Is there a cause, a real cause? Have not others more cause, that do not make so much ado? Have not we, at the same time, cause to be encouraged?" Or it may be taken as an expostulating question; those that commune much with their own hearts will often have occasion to chide them, as David here. "Why do I thus dishonour God by my melancholy dejections? Why do I discourage others and do so much injury to myself? Can I give a good account of this tumult?" 2. The cure of it: Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him. A believing confidence in God is a sovereign antidote against prevailing despondency and disquietude of spirit. And therefore, when we chide ourselves to hope in God; when the soul embraces itself it sinks; if it catch hold on the power and promise of God, it keeps the head above water. Hope in God, (1.) That he shall have glory from us: "I shall yet praise him; I shall experience such a change in my state that I shall not want matter for praise, and such a change in my spirit that I shall not want a heart for praise." It is the greatest honour and happiness of a man, and the greatest desire and hope of every good man, to be unto God for a name and a praise. What is the crown of heaven's bliss but this, that there we shall be for ever praising God? And what is our support under our present woes but this, that we shall yet praise God, that they shall not prevent nor abate our endless hallelujahs? (2.) That we shall have comfort in him. We shall praise him for the help of his countenance, for his favour, the support we have by it and the satisfaction we have in it. Those that know how to value and improve the light of God's countenance will find in that a suitable, seasonable, and sufficient help, in the worst of times, and that which will furnish them with constant matter for praise. David's believing expectation of this kept him from sinking, nay, it kept him from drooping; his harp was a palliative cure of Saul's melancholy, but his hope was an effectual cure of his own.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–11 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,.... Either…
As the hart panteth after the water brooks,.... Either through a natural thirst that creature is said to have; or through the heat of the summer season; and especially when hunted by dogs, it betakes itself to rivers of water, partly to make its escape, and partly to extinguish its thirst, and refresh itself. The word here used denotes the cry of the hart, when in distress for water, and pants after it, and is peculiar to it; and the verb being of the feminine gender, hence the Septuagint render it the "hind"; and Kimchi conjectures that the reason of it may be, because the voice of the female may be stronger than that of the male; but the contrary is asserted by the philosopher (c), who says, that the male harts cry much stronger than the females; and that the voice of the female is short, but that of the male is long, or protracted. Schindler (d) gives three reasons why these creatures are so desirous of water; because they were in desert places, where water was wanting; and another, that being heated by destroying and eating serpents, they coveted water to refresh themselves; and the third, when followed by dogs, they betake themselves into the water, and go into that for safety;
so panteth my soul after thee, O God; being persecuted by men, and deprived of the word and worship of God, which occasioned a vehement desire after communion with him in his house and ordinances: some render the words, "as the field", or "meadow, desires the shower", &c. (e); or thirsts after it when parched with drought; see Isa 35:7; and by these metaphors, one or the other, is expressed the psalmist's violent and eager thirst after the enjoyment of God in public worship.
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(c) Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 4. c. 11. (d) Lexic. Pentaglott. col. 68. so Kimchi. (e) Sept. & Symmachus apud Drusium.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 The psalmist longs for the public service of God,…
The psalmist longs for the public service of God, ver. 1-4. Stirs himself up to trust in God, ver. 5-9. Reproached by his enemies, still hopes in him, ver. 10, 11. To the chief musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. Title of the psalm. Sons of Korah - Who were an eminent order of singers in the house of God, 1 Chron. vi, 33.
Panteth - After the enjoyment of thee in thy sanctuary.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 The psalmist earnestly longs for the ordinances of the…
PSALM XLII
The psalmist earnestly longs for the ordinances of the Lord's
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house, 1-4;
describes his deep distress, 5-7;
endeavours to take comfort from the consideration that the Lord
would appear in his behalf, 8, 9;
speaks of the insults of his enemies, 10;
and again takes encouragement, 11.
NOTES ON PSALM XLII
The title, To the chief Musician giving instruction to the sons of Korah. This is the first of the Psalms that has this title prefixed, and it is probable that such Psalms were composed by the descendants of Korah during the Babylonish captivity, or by some eminent person among those descendants, and that they were used by the Israelites during their long captivity, as means of consolation: and, indeed, most of the Psalms which bear this inscription are of the consoling kind and the sentiments appear to belong to that period of the Jewish history, and to none other. The word משכיל maskil, from שכל sakal, signifies to make wise, to direct wisely, to give instruction; and here is so understood by our translators, who have left this signification in the margin; and so the Versions in general.
The Syriac says, "It is a Psalm which David sung when he was an exile, and desired to return to Jerusalem." The Arabic says: "A Psalm for the backsliding Jews."
Verse 1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks] The hart is not only fond of feeding near some water for the benefit of drinking, "but when he is hard hunted, and nearly spent, he will take to some river or brook, in which," says Tuberville, "he will keep as long as his breath will suffer him. Understand that when a hart is spent and sore run, his last refuge is to the water; and he will commonly descend down the streame and swimme in the very middest thereof; for he will take as good heede as he can to touch no boughes or twygges that grow upon the sides of the river, for feare lest the hounds should there take sent of him. And sometimes the hart will lye under the water, all but his very nose; and I have seene divers lye so until the hounds have been upon them, before they would rise; for they are constrayned to take the water as their last refuge." - Tuberville's Art of Venerie, chap. xl. Lond. 4to., 1611.
The above extracts will give a fine illustration of this passage. The hart feels himself almost entirely spent; he is nearly hunted down; the dogs are in full pursuit; he is parched with thirst; and in a burning heat pants after the water, and when he comes to the river, plunges in as his last refuge. Thus pursued, spent, and nearly ready to give up the ghost, the psalmist pants for God, for the living God! for him who can give life, and save from death.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11 Psa 42:1-2. As the hart panteth — תערג, tagnarog,…
Psa 42:1-2. As the hart panteth — תערג, tagnarog, brayeth: “The word is strong, and expresses that eagerness and fervency of desire, which extreme thirst may be supposed to raise in an animal almost spent in its flight from the pursuing dogs. Nothing can give us a higher idea of the psalmist’s ardent and inexpressible longing to attend the public worship of God than the burning thirst of such a hunted creature for a cooling and refreshing draught of water.” So panteth my soul after thee, O God — After the enjoyment of thee in thy sanctuary, as appears from Psa 42:4. My soul thirsteth for God — Thirst is more vehement than hunger, and more impatient of dissatisfaction; for the living God — Him who is the eternal spring of life and comfort. This he mentions as a just cause of his thirst. He did not thirst after vain, useless idols, but after the only true and living God, who was his life, and the length of his days, Deu 30:20; without whose presence and favour David accounted himself for a dead and lost man; when shall I come and appear before God — In the place of his special presence and public worship? When, when will the happy hour return that I shall once more have access to his tabernacle, where he manifests his presence, and from which I am now driven by them who seek my life? Archbishop Sharp’s Sermons, vol. 3. p. 2.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–11 As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - Margin,…
As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - Margin, brayeth. The word rendered hart - איל 'ayâl - means commonly a stag, hart, male deer: Deu 12:15; Deu 14:5; Isa 35:6. The word is masculine, but in this place is joined with a feminine verb, as words of the common gender may be, and thus denotes a hind, or female deer. The word rendered in the text “panteth,” and in the margin “brayeth” - ערג ‛ârag - occurs only in this place and in Joe 1:20, where it is applied to the beasts of the field as “crying” to God in a time of drought. The word properly means to rise; to ascend; and then, to look up toward anything; to long for. It refers here to the intense desire of the hind, in the heat of day, for water; or, in Joel, to the desire of the cattle for water in a time of drought. Luther renders it “cries;” the Septuagint and Vulgate render it simply “desires.”
Neither the idea of panting nor braying seems to be in the original word. It is the idea of looking for, longing for, desiring, that is expressed there. By ‘water-brooks’ are meant the streams that run in vallies. Dr. Thomson (Land and the Book, vol. i., p. 253) says, “I have seen large flocks of these panting harts gather round the water-brooks in the great deserts of Central Syria, so subdued by thirst that you could approach quite near them before they fled.” There is an idea of tenderness in the reference to the word “hart” here - female deer, gazelle - which would not strike us if the reference had been to any other animal. These are so timid, so gentle, so delicate in their structure, so much the natural objects of love and compassion, that our feelings are drawn toward them as to all other animals in similar circumstances. We sympathize with them; we pity them; we love them; we feel deeply for them when they are pursued, when they fly away in fear, when they are in want. The following engraving will help us more to appreciate the comparison employed by the psalmist. Nothing could more beautifully or appropriately describe the earnest longing of a soul after God, in the circumstances of the psalmist, than this image.
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So panteth my soul after thee, O God - So earnest a desire have I to come before thee, and to enjoy thy presence and thy favor. So sensible am I of want; so much does my soul need something that can satisfy its desires. This was at first applied to the case of one who was cut off from the privileges of public worship, and who was driven into exile far from the place where he had been accustomed to unite with others in that service Psa 42:4; but it will also express the deep and earnest feelings of the heart of piety at all times, and in all circumstances, in regard to God. There is no desire of the soul more intense than that which the pious heart has for God; there is no want more deeply felt than that which is experienced when one who loves God is cut off by any cause from communion with him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 42-72
THE PSALTER
SECOND BOOK
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Psalms 42-72
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Psalms 42
To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah
1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my meat day and night,
While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me:
For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?
Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him
For the help of his countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee
From the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts:
All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
8 Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime.
And in the night his song shall be with me,
And my prayer unto the God of my life.
9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me?
Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me:
While they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him,
Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
———
Psalms 43
1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation:
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off?
Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me;
Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
4 Then will I go unto the altar of God,
Unto God my exceeding joy:
Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him,
Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition.—In regard to the Title, see Introduction, § 8, and § 2. The division of the matter into two distinct Psalms is very ancient, since we find it in all the versions. But it does not follow from this that such was their original relation, and that we have here (Hengstenberg) a nearly connected pair of Psalms. Not only are the contents, the tone, the structure of the strophes, and particular turns of expression similar in both, but the progress of thought is such that the two strophes of Psalms 42, taken by themselves might have been worked by P. Gerhardt into a regular Church hymn; and yet they by no means have such a complete rounding off, that Psalms 43. can certainly be regarded as simply a later addition (Cocceius, Rudinger, Venema), nor need we (with Hofmann) insist upon its being wholly independent of the former. On the contrary we find in Psalms 43. the prayer which is necessary to link together the complaint and the hopeful submission of Psalms 42; and hence in a certain relation it might be used independently as a Church prayer on Judica Sunday.1 But if it be regarded as a third strophe organically connected with the two preceding ones, it explains the very marked contrast of the second strophe. Hence most modern interpreters favor the view of their original unity, which is also supported by many MSS. The subsequent separation of the Psalms is by no means inconceivable (Hengsten.), though the occasion of it is unknown. The third strophe, which has none of the local references of the second, might very easily have been used as an independent Church song (Clauss). For the fundamental thought in it is an eager desire to share in the services of the Temple with the great annual assemblies of worshippers,—a desire which was quickened by the lively remembrance of former festivals, and which was still more intensified by the sense of present deprivation, and by a forced residence in a strange country and amidst heathen enemies. With this sentiment, the elegiac tone of the Psalm and its rythmic structure exactly agree. Thus in the three closing groups we find the most charming and touching thoughts united in a manner corresponding to the threefold aspect in which the fundamental sentiment is presented. There is first the desire, then the complaint, and finally the prayer with its so strongly expressed confidence in God. Very similar to it is Psalms 84. in which the Psalmist prays for the Messiah. This may be accounted for by the fact that here the poet expresses not David’s mind (Rosen., Hengsten., Tholuck), but speaks in his own name. Perhaps he was with David during his exile to the region east of Jordan, by reason of Absalom’s rebellion (2Sa_17:24); for it closely resembles the Davidic Psalms of that period, (Del.) and in Psa_42:7, express mention is made of the Psalmist’s residence in that country. We need not suppose that this expressed longing for the temple came from a priest (Paul, De Wette, Rosen., Maur); nor from the people of Israel while in captivity (the Rabbins, Koster); nor does the supposed connection of Psa_42:8, with Jon_2:4, and of Psa_42:9, with Sir_18:4, oblige us to refer it to a later age. These remarkable expressions originated with the Psalm and illustrate its thoroughly independent character. Nor is there any historical ground obliging us to suppose that they were uttered either by King Jechoniah (Ewald); or by one of the nobles who accompanied him to Babylon; (Cleric.); or by Priests (Reuss); or by a Levite banished by Athaliah (Vaihinger); or by the High-priest Onias III. who in the second century before Christ, after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Egyptian general Skopas, is said to have been carried by him as a hostage, to the sources of the Jordan (Hitzig); or to Antiochus Epiphanes, (Rud., Olshaus.). It is remarkable that the name Jehovah is used Psa_42:9, while in other places Elohim is apparently employed for a special purpose, as for example in Psa_43:4, we have Elohim Elohai instead of Jehovah Elohai. [Wordsworth: “These two Psalms are used together in the Hebrew Synagogues at the Great Festival of Tabernacles, Psalms 43. is appointed in the Gregorian use for Good-Friday, and in the present Latin Church for Easter eve.”—J. F.]
Psa_42:1. Panteth.—The radical idea of עדג is to direct oneself, to turn, to incline. (Hupfeld). [To ascend, i.e., the Arabic ד ּ Tregelles.—J. F.] This inclination may be both downwards and upwards; and hence its twofold construction with עַל and אֶל, the latter in Joe_1:20. From this latter passage translated by Sept. Vulg, Chald., “look up” Gesenius and most of the moderns, after the Sept., Chald., Jerome, derive the sense of longing and desire. The word, however, does not mean a simply quiet longing and inward desire, but an audible panting produced by the agony of thirst. The rendering of it by the word “to cry” (Syr., Rabbins, Luth., Calvin, and most of the older expositors) is, however, too strong. Its application to the relation of the soul of man to God Psa_42:2, and to the beasts of the field, Joe_1:20, is explained by the fact that the Living God is often set forth as a spring of living water for the refreshment of the thirsty, Psa_36:10; Psa_84:3; Jer_2:13; Jer_17:13.—[Alexander: “The essential idea is that of intense desire and an overwhelming sense of want.”—J. F.] Names of animals are often used for either sex, or for both sexes. Here the word for hart, must be taken in a feminine sense [Germ. Hindin], as it is an image of the soul, the term for which in Hebrew is feminine, and is associated with feminine predicates. The particle of comparison refers, as the accent indicates, not to the whole sentence, but to the principal word in it, (Ewald, Gram., § 360), hence the verb must be taken as relative to it.
Ver 2 refers, as is obvious from Exo_33:20, to the festive appearances of the people “before the Lord,” Exo_23:17; Exo_34:23, yet not in the sense of beholding the face of the Lord (Luther following some ancient expositors), though we find here the accusative but without the preposition which should stand before it. In this place the accusative is local and not objective. Hence it is not to be supposed that the reading אֶרְאֶה designed by the Poet (Böttch., Olshaus.), was afterwards changed, by a sort of religious fear into אֵרִָאֶה, a reading which, by the way, is found in some MSS. and is favored by Dathe, Knapp, and others. The Septuagint has the right reading, but it translates the former line “my soul thirsteth for the living God” or “after God the mighty the living,” because when Elohim and El come together, the latter word is usually rendered ἰσχυρός. [Alexander: “Of the two divine names here used, one (Elohim) describes God as an object of religious worship, the other (El) as a Being of infinite power.”—J. F.]
Psa_42:3. Tears become bread, not in the sense of nourishment, precious as bread (Calvin); nor of being a necessity like bread (De Wette); but of a substitute for bread. Job_3:24. Some take the meaning here to be the same as in 1Sa_1:7 i.e., forgetting to take food through sorrow (Hengst., Schegg), but the phrase is simply a picture of one’s daily life (Stier, Hupfeld, Delitz.) as in Psa_80:6; Psa_103:10, 1Ki_22:29; Isa_30:20. [Perowne: “My tears have been my daily portion.”—J. F.]
Psa_42:4. When I remember, (or think of). Many refer this to the scorn of enemies, and regard the statement as a hypothetical one, (Luther, Stier, Ges., Ewald,) the pilgrimage or the “going with the multitude” being the object of thought, i.e., of desire and hope. (So most ancient translators, Luth., Flam., Geier, Cleric., Stier, Köster). The description of the pilgrimage presents it, however, rather as an object of memory than desire. (Hup., Del., Hitzig). The imperfect form of the verb must not be taken in the sense of an optative future (that I might go), but as a preterite. [Barnes: “Though the future tense is used as denoting what the state of his mind would be, the immediate reference is to the past.” Perowne: “Let me remember, fain would I remember.”—J. F] As he recalls those festive processions in which he had taken part, and contrasts them with his present condition, the soul of the Psalmist melts within him, like water, 1Sa_7:6; Job_30:16. He now pours out his heart in tears (Lam_2:19,) as at other times he has poured it out in lamentation and prayer, 1Sa_1:25; Psa_62:9; Psa_102:1; Psa_142:3.—“Multitude,” lit. a mass of boughs, a thicket. [“The word סָךְ occurs no where else in Scripture.”—J. F.] A similar figure is used in Isa_10:17, in reference to the Assyrian army.—“The multitude that kept holy day,” (2Sa_6:19; comp. Isa_30:29), is in apposition with the personal suffix of the verb, which in the Hithpael signifies to go slowly, Isa_38:15. But as the Hithpael can have no transitive meaning, this suffix does not stand for an accusative of the object, but must be taken in the sense of, “in respect to it” (Hitzig). This suits very well the place in the procession, which the Psalmist may have held as a Levite. If, on the other hand, it be taken as in apposition to the whole sentence, (Hupfeld) the suffix is out of place. Either this must be removed from the text as in Isa_38:15, (Cleric., Olsh.), or by a change of the vowel points the verb must be put into the Piel form (= that I might lead or guide them, as Aquil., Ewald, Vaihinger, and others). [Barnes: “This does not refer to what had been in the past, but to what he confidently expected would be in the future.”—J. F.]
Psa_42:5. In the soul’s address to itself its unrest is very strongly expressed, as in Psa_55:18; Psa_77:4, by a word which elsewhere signifies to rave. [Perowne: “The word is used elsewhere of the raging and roaring of the sea. His soul is tossed and agitated like an angry sea.”—J. F.] The expression, “for I shall yet praise Him,” probably refers to such grateful praise as lives in one’s memory (Stier). God will do again, as He has formerly done (Hupfeld). According to the common text the first strophe ends with the words “the help of His countenance,” and the following one, omits the “and,” beginning with the vocative, “O my God.” Most modern expositors, like the Sept., Vulgate, Syriac, have so arranged the conclusion that it is expressed in the remaining final words. The defence (by Hengst., Hofm.) of the textus receptus is weak. As a matter of course slight variations occur in this refrain as elsewhere, e.g., Ps. 49:13, 21; 56:5, 11, and in this very Psalm they are found in several other single strophes; the phrase פָּנָיו יְשׂוּעוֹה also gives a good sense, and frequently occurs, e.g.,Psa_44:4; Isa_64:9. The only objection is their position. For being dependent upon the verb “praise,” and placed parallel to the preceding “Him,” i.e., God, if the connecting “and” be omitted, there arises a hard construction which requires a mental repetition of the verb, or the opposition is changed into a cold substitution. But to assert that the vocative address in the strophe “O my God” is absolutely indispensable (Hengst.), or that the poet should commence his strophe as he closes it, because at the end of the first one he must appeal to God as his God (Hofm.) is as gratuitous as it is untenable. By changing the text in the way proposed, we get not only a uniformity in the turn of the verse, but a suitable sense in an unobjectionable form, and a proper rhythmical cadence at the close.—The “countenance” is neither a simple nor a poetical designation of a person, but a characteristic manifestation of him in his moral and intellectual relations. It is often used not only in reference to God, Exo_33:14, but also to man, Isa_3:15. The plural “helps” expresses not merely manifold manifestations of help, but also the essential idea, the very substance of help itself. Now while one may point to Elohim as the substance and idea of that help, which he should seek for and acknowledge, yet in a prayer he would hardly stop to explain Elohim in this way, nor would he put on the same level, and as the objects of his praise, the manifestations of Divine help and the person of God Himself. [Alexander: “Salvation, frequent or complete deliverance. His face, his propitious countenance or aspect, with allusion to the benediction in Num_6:25-26.”—J. F.]
Psa_42:6. My soul is cast down within me. In this beginning of the second strophe, we have a renewed account of the Psalmist’s state of mind, which shows that in spite of the self-admonition and hope already expressed, his dejection and unrest were not yet overcome; the stream of his comfortable thoughts and feelings, the result of his hope in God, did not always flow onward without obstruction, but had its ebb as well as its flood-tide. But as before Psa_42:5 the mourner recalled to mind with a mixture of sadness and joy his former festive journeys to the temple, so now again, though an exile in a heathen land, and banished from the sanctuary, he maintains communion with God. Calvin’s explanation of עַל־כֵּן in the sense of “therefore, because,” in which he is followed by many commentators, is ungrammatical, and makes the remembrance of God the cause of the sadness of the poet, while seemingly forsaken of the Lord. The text, on the contrary, makes that mental depression which arises out of his own helplessness and his conscious need of aid the cause of his remembrance of the living God. Comp. Jon_2:8. The beginning and end of the line “me” and “thee” are antithetic.
From the land of Jordan.—The locality is indicated as Transjordanic (unclean, Jos_22:19; because heathen) by the phrase “and of the Hermonites.” Hermon was as characteristic a feature of the Transjordanic region as Tabor was of the Cisjordanic, Psa_89:13, i.e., the land of Canaan in the strict sense of the words, or the land of Lebanon, Jos_22:11. The plural Her monim is not used in allusion to the two summits of Hermon,2 because there is no reason why we should limit the locality to the northern side of the mountain, and the sources of the Jordan, but it is employed here in a sense analogous to that of שִׂעירם, Lev_17:7 (rendered in E. V devils) and Baalim, 1Ki_18:18, either as having a representative meaning, (Hengst.), or as a plural of amplification (Diedrich), since Hermon with its mighty cone far exceeds in height all the other peaks of the South-Eastern portion of Anti-Lebanon. The precise residence of the Psalmist is indicated by the words מִהַר מצְעָר, (lit., hill of littleness) not the Zoar mentioned, Gen_19:20 (Ven.) but some mountain whose name is now unknown. The phrase cannot be taken as in apposition with Hermon, not only because the words are in the singular, but because they could be applied to the lofty Hermon only in an ironical sense (Rosenm., Hengst., Hofm.), or as contrasting it contemptuously (mountain of contempt, Hupfeld) with Zion, and there is no evidence that the poet had any such idea in his mind. Yet many have thought that Zion, which while physically humble, in its moral relations far surpassed all other mountains, is meant. So Olshausen and Hitzig explain the phrase, but each of them in a very different way. For while the use of the preposition מִך, and its connection with זכר, very well agree with the assumption that an Israelite exiled from Palestine and the “little mountain” Zion (Olsh.), should have remembered Jehovah, yet the description of Palestine as the land of Jordan and the Hermonites is inadmissible. The translation “while I remember thee, O thou little hill” (Hitzig) requires an arbitrary change in the text, by striking out the preposition before הר, and giving to the word rendered “therefore” the sense of “because.” The choice of this phrase as a name of Zion, according to this interpretation, must be for the purpose of presenting strongly the contrast between Zion and Hermon, which according to its Arabic etymology means a lofty mountain. All the geographical and historical relations of these two places are utterly perverted, if we suppose that Hermonim (the lofty mountain) is applied in a hyperbolic sense to the hills on which Jerusalem stands, by some one who had been banished or had fled to (Böttcher) the low, ridgy region beyond Jordan, and who there expresses his longing desire for the house of God and his native hills, in the words “therefore I think of thee, from the land of Jordan, and of the high mountain from the hill of littleness.”
Psa_42:7. Deep calleth unto deep.—תּהום in all other places denotes not a single billow, but the confused noise of deep waters in motion. The force of the phrase here, lies in this, that the fact of one deep being heard by another is dependent on, or is connected with, (according to the sense assigned to ל) the great waterfalls which God makes. The image, therefore, is not that of waves rushing after each other in rapid succession, but that of a man in an abyss of water whose roaring joined with the voice of unseen and unmeasured cataracts impresses him with a sense of great and imminent danger. The rush and roar at once excite and stupify him. There is no proof in 2Sa_5:8, that by waterfalls is meant heavy showers of rain, such as might remind one of the deluge (Vatab, Grot., Geier, Hengst.) That verse is very obscure and variously explained, but the Hebrew word (there rendered “gutter”) which is found only in these two passages, probably means a waterfall or cataract (Ewald, Kiel). [Alexander: “The sense of waterfalls or cataracts, although supported by ancient versions has no foundation in etymology or usage.” Barnes: “There are two forms in which waterspouts occur in the East. One of them is described by Dr. Thomson, The Land and Book, I. 498.—The Arabs call it sale, we, a waterspout or bursting of a cloud. In the neighborhood of Hermon I have witnessed it repeatedly, and was caught in one last year, which in five minutes flooded the whole mountain side, and carried off whatever the tumultuous torrents encountered, as they leaped madly down in noisy cascades.”—J. F.] We need not, however, suppose that the waterfalls are those of the main source of the Jordan near Paneas (Bângas) on the south side of Hermon (Robinson, Bib. Researches, III, 309), nor the cataracts of the Lake Muzerib, which are from 60 to 80 feet high (Wetstein in appendix to Delitzsch on Job, 524) and are said to be the only ones in Syria. For the design of the Psalmist is to give us not a geographic but a symbolical description of his situation, and of his feelings at the time.
Psa_42:8. Yet the Lord will command.—Most expositors since Kimchi, think that in these words, the Psalmist, as in Psa_42:5, recalls his earlier gracious experiences, and contrasts them with his present destitution, the painful sense of which is expressed in his complaint, Psa_42:10. But such a contrast of Then and Now, in this connection, as Calvin, Isaaki, and others admit, would have required, at least in Psa_42:9, the perfect. To take the imperfect of Psa_42:9 as the present in Psa_42:10, is wholly arbitrary, and there is no need for it here, inasmuch as there is no evidence of any antithesis. Again, neither the connection nor the grammatical expression warrants the exposition of Delitzsch, that, a confidently expected and not distant day of Divine grace would be followed by a night of thanksgiving, a night rendered so joyful with Psalms and hymns of praise, that the exulting Psalmist would be unable to sleep. “Day” and “night” are not to be taken here as symbols of times of prosperity and of adversity, but as a poetical paraphrase for that which is continuous, constant (Hengst., Hupf.) The assignment of the gifts of God’s grace and the prayers and songs which they call forth, to different times, has little ground to stand on. The whole sentence is an expression of the Psalmist’s present state of mind, which, as Hupfeld justly says, was a mixed one. This view is preferable because schiroh denotes a song of which God is the author, (Heng., Hupf., Job 35:19) rather than one of which God is the object (Hitzig, Del.); and tefillah in apposition with schir need not be taken in the limited sense of a petition (Hengst.), nor in the larger sense of a prayer and thanksgiving, since in the verses that follow we have not the prayer itself, (Vaihinger), but a specimen of it (Hengst.)—a specimen proving that in the midst of his troubles, and though God seemed to have forsaken him, the pious singer had received grace as a messenger from God, and prayer as a gift of God, so that he knew how to cleave to God as the God of his life, and to rest upon Him with a firm faith, as upon a rock, while amid the tossing and roaring waves. The Syriac text and that of some other MSS. “to the living God,” is probably only a modification of Psa_42:3. In some copies, Psa_5:11—perhaps as an explanatory correction—begins with בְ Beth (Beth essential) instead of כְ Caph. It is not said here that reproach should be added to oppression, but that the one should in some way be an effect of the other. “Oppression“ does not necessarily (Hengstenb.) mean “murder” (Symm., Aquil.); it is to be taken in its original sense, as in the Arabic, and in Psa_62:4; Psa_69:21; Isa_48:13; Eze_21:27. [Alexander: “The strong expression in the first clause, Psa_42:11, is intended to denote excruciating pain.”—J. F.]
Psa_43:2. Why hast thou forsaken me.—The original here used is much stronger in meaning than that in Psa_42:10, expressing much more than “forsaking” or “casting off.” Its primary meaning is “to stink,” “to become rancid,” and it here conveys the idea of turning away as from something loathsome. In the German language there is no word exactly corresponding to it, for verstossen and verschmähen convey a different idea, and do not suit the phrase “God of my strength,” which is parallel to the earlier used phrase “God of my rock.”—The “deceitful man,” or “man of deceit,” must not be taken as an ideal person, but as an individualized foe, probably with reference to some one specially prominent enemy. Viewed in connection with the previous verses, the locality indicates that this opposer was a heathen. This heathenish character, however, would be inferred neither from the word גוֹיִ, nor from the adjective לא־חסיד, “ungodly,” for the first word denotes a mass of people, Isa_1:4, and the adjective does not of necessity deny their piety towards God, but only their gracious, kind, and merciful conduct towards men.—The light is that of Divine grace, which illumines and cheers the night of misery, Psa_36:10; and it is sent with the Truth as a pledge that the promises of the faithful God shall be performed, Psa_57:4, and that the Lord’s people shall be at last brought to His own dwelling-place, Exo_15:13. [Perowne: “Light and Truth—instead of the more usual Loving-kindness and Truth—these shall be to him, so he hopes, as angels of God, who shall lead him by the hand till they bring him to the holy mountain. Possibly there may be an allusion to the Urim and Thummim.”—J. F.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The Living God alone can be the object of desire of the human heart. This yearning after the Living God comprehends the deepest aspirations of the pious soul. During our life on earth, this desire finds its satisfaction by means of the acts of divine worship. If deprived of these means of grace by any external force, this spiritual longing only becomes the more intense, and, in a way not to be mistaken, it will manifest its liveliness, fervor, depth, and power. Communion in the public worship of God is not necessarily communion with God Himself, but it is both an expression and sign of it, and a means and help to it. It is the channel of the brook, through which the water smoothly flows, without the supply of which, the soul becomes like a “land of drought,” Psa_62:2; and, like the beasts of the field under such circumstances, it perishes of thirst, Joe_1:20.
2. Whenever the pious man finds himself in a condition, in which he is hindered from going to the house of God, which keeps him away from the congregation of the Lord, and from using the appointed means of grace, he feels and recognizes not only the power of the enemies, or of the outward misfortunes that have occasioned this loss, but also the chastening hand of God. His sorrows are intensified partly by the unjustifiable scorn of his enemies, on account of his having been deserted by God, richly as he may have merited such dealing at God’s hands, and partly by the sad yet sweet remembrance of the spiritual enjoyments of other days in the house of the Lord and the fellowship of His people.
3. The bread of tears, Psa_80:6, though very distasteful, is yet wholesome food, since it awakens and maintains hunger and thirst for the Living God, and the means of communion with Him. But though the pious man, under such circumstances, is, as it were, divided into two parts, is driven now in this direction, now in that by mixed and even antagonistic feelings, yet he finally struggles through and above all the impulses of the flesh, subdues the unrest and impatience of his soul, and learns to lean upon and trust in God alone. The remedy for weakness is hope in God; and the ground of hope is the assured faith of the Psalmist, that God, who is still his God, will in due time redeem him, and give him cause for singing joyful songs of deliverance. (Heng.)
4. Temptations caused by times of trouble, and the growing insolence and number of enemies are specially grievous, when old doubts and anxious questions force themselves afresh upon the soul, when the feeling that God has forsaken us gains in strength, until it even reaches the point of apprehending that we may be cast off. But so long as the tempted man is able both to weep and to pray, so long as he can interweave his questionings and complaints with expressions of faith in God’s grace and truth, there is good ground for confidence in his final deliverance and salvation. Even in the midst of troubles, the believer lays hold of God’s grace, as a Light, sent by Him as a testimony of His mercy, to confirm His faithfulness and truth, and to be a guide to those who seek Him.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The soul’s longing for its home.—a. How it is awakened. b. Whither it is directed. c. By what it is quieted.—The bread of tears is bitter, but is often wholesome.—Happy the man who feels himself to be a stranger only in the world, but not in the house of God.—God never leaves those who sigh for Him without comfort, nor those who seek Him without guidance.—He alone who has first conversed earnestly with God, can speak comfortably to his own soul.—So great is the blessing connected with the service of God, that the mere memory of it can keep a tempted soul from despair.—The ordinances of divine worship are the open channels, the ordained methods, the appointed ways through which God in his mercy sends to us needy ones the water of life, the light of truth, the power of grace.—Suffering is painful; scorn is still more so; but most of all is guilt.—While each day has its prayer, and each night its song, the sources of divine help and comfort are open to the soul.—In a time of sorrow, he who begins with prayer, and continues to exhort his soul to be patient and trust in God, may confidently hope that he will end with a hymn of praise.—We may enjoy communion with God even when exiled from the house of God; but there is an essential difference between voluntary and compulsory exile.—The good man may fall into trouble, but he is not disheartened; he may come out of one tribulation only to go into another, but he is never destroyed.—The true longing of the soul is for communion with God Himself; but whoever desires to feel it, must not despise the means of grace in the ways of divine worship.—There is such a thing as yearning for the house, the word, the face of God.—Faith has a struggle with temptation in times of trouble, and with the weakness of the flesh.
Luther: Where God’s word is, there is God’s house; and His countenance is His presence, where He manifests Himself, and through His word reveals His grace.
Calvin: David presents himself to us here as if he had been divided into two parts. So far as he by faith rests on the promises of God, he is armed with a spirit of invincible courage, rises superior to fleshly feelings, and, at the same time, chides himself for his weakness. Without the grace of God, we can never overcome those evil thoughts, which are constantly rising within us.
Starke: Earthly things can never satisfy the soul, since they are transient and liable to change. The soul of man is immortal, and therefore needs an immortal source of consolation,—one that has in itself eternal life.—We now see the face of God in His word and sacraments, but as the soul is created for eternity, it is ever longing to behold the Lord face to face. The highest enjoyment is to feel that God is our God; and never is the soul so sorely troubled as when, instead of being certain of this, it imagines the contrary.—Sometimes the more lonesome a man is, the more trustingly he can tell God of his needs, and the Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will hear and answer his complaint.—Even in our greatest temptations, nothing is better than prayer and confidence in God.—When God sends a cross, it is always in such a way that we should thank Him for it, as a costly and wholesome medicine.—In our greatest tribulations, if we have faith, we shall also have hope and patience.—When God’s waves break upon us, it is not to destroy but to do us good; they are under His control, and by a word He can assuage and still them.—Let us not be tender saints, but let us learn how to bear the cross.—When things go well with thee, gather up a treasure of divine promises, they will be useful to thee in times of trouble.—If thou neglectest to do so, how wilt thou sustain thyself?—A believer is not so much troubled by a personal injury as by dishonor done to the name of God,—he will willingly suffer any thing, even death itself, if only God is thereby praised. How easy is it for God to change complaint into joy, and the song of sadness into the hymn of praise.—We can have no better guide than God and His word; but under whose conduct art thou? O soul!—What greater blessedness can one have than to be able to call God his delight and joy?—The calmness which God imparts is the true Christian’s greatest treasure.—From God’s gracious countenance comes the fulness of the believer’s help and comfort, and for it he is ever and most heartily thankful.—Our hearts are full of darkness;—if we would have them full of light, the bright morning star must shine into them.—Osiander: If justice is denied us here on earth, we must commit our cause to God.—To know God as our gracious God is a real and perpetual joy.—Selnekker: When there is no cross one becomes more easily secure, as well as lazy and negligent in prayer, and then the displeasure of God is near at hand.—He who trusts in God endures; he who does not falls and perishes.—Franke: We must carefully note the necessity of a genuine penitential struggle, and observe how it has fared with other children of God in this respect.—The moment one becomes a follower of Christ, he is liable to have a cross laid upon him.—Arndt: He whose strength is in God will not be utterly cast down, nor will he always go sorrowfully.—Frisch: It is a peculiar trait of God’s children that they rejoice in the exercises of His true worship, and nothing pains them more than the being prevented in joining in them.—The remembrance of God is the best medicine for our sadness.—Listen to the voice of thy God, so that thy heart may by faith share in the joy and consolation which He gives in His word; but do thou also open thy mouth in praise of God, and laud Him with thy tongue, which He has given thee in order that thou mayest proclaim his glory in time and in eternity.—Oetinger: The Christian overtaken by sorrow and oppressed by enemies prays to God to undertake his cause, and to open the way for his return to the assembly of the saints; he will guard against sorrow, but if it comes upon him in a new form, he will turn afresh to God and get strength from Him.—Roos How shall we get out of sorrow and unrest? By waiting, in confidence, for God. What we have not, we must hope for; what is not now, we must expect, relying upon God’s goodness, faithfulness, omnipotence, and the truth of those promises, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus.—Whenever David approached the altar of God, he went to God his delight and joy.—God Himself did not call the Temple precisely a house of sacrifice, but the house of prayer for all nations, Isa_56:7; Luk_19:46—Rieger: As faith grows in power we learn to apply to God the most tender names; as we get nearer and nearer beneath His wings we find a retreat and refuge in His house, at His altar, in Himself.—As the light of His face illumines our darkness, it also diffuses the light of peace and joy over our countenance.—Renschel: We should take comfort from certain passages of Scripture when we find that the holiest people have been led into the same school.—Burk: Exspecta Deum; erit quum confitebor ei; erit Deus meus. (Wait for God; He will be when I confess to Him, my God).—Günther: When do men think least of their God? When they are in misery? or in the days of prosperity?—Tholuck: When the heart is sad, even the fairest scenes of nature assume a sombre garment. He whose past life has been eventful stands upon an eminence from whence he can cast joyful looks into the future.—Umbreit: There is a melaneholy joy in the remembrance of a devout and blessed life at home.—Most brilliantly does the light of God’s help shine in the faithfulness with which He always attends the pious.—Schaubach: (15th Sunday after Trinity). No man can serve two masters. But the distinctive feature of our time is not unqualified devotion to the kingdom of God, but rather indecision and lukewarmness.—The sharpest sting of pain in all personal trials, is the scornful question, “Where is now thy God?”—Diedrich: If I can only see God beside me, one look to Him consoles me for a whole world of suffering.—Even to the timid God makes eternal salvation certain when they look to Him with tearful eyes.—Taube: The soul of a child of God, that in the depth of want and temptation thirsts for and cries to God, through victorious faith comes before God and finds its rest in God.—Soul-thirst, soul-need, soul-struggles.—Against men of deceit and injustice, you can do nothing but complain to God and leave the case with Him.—Deichert: If God be for us, who can be against us?—Schaubach: (Judica Sunday) God has judged and conducted the cause of His Son against the unholy people.
[Henry: 1. Those that come to the tabernacles, should come to the altar; those who come to ordinances, should qualify themselves to come, and then come to special ordinances, to those that are most affecting and most binding. 2 Those that come to the altar of God, must see to it that therein they come unto God, and draw near to Him with the heart. 3. Those that come unto God, must come to Him as their exceeding joy, not only as their future bliss, but their present joy. When we come to God as our exceeding joy, our comforts in Him must be the matter of our praises in Him as God and our God.—Robertson: The Living God. What we want is not infinitude, but a boundless One; not to feel that love is the law of this universe, but to feel One whose name is Love.—It is a dark moment when the sense of that personality is lost; more terrible than the doubt of immortality.—No thought is more hideous than that of an eternity without Him.—Distinguish between the feelings of faith that God is present, and the hope of faith that He will be.—What God is in Himself, not what we may chance to feel Him in this or that moment to be, that is our hope.—Barnes: He who has an eternity of blessedness before him,—who is to commence a career of glory which is never to terminate and never to change should not be cast down—should not be overwhelmed with sorrow.—J. F.]
Footnotes:
[1]The Fifth Sunday in Lent.—[J. F.]
[2][“The gigantic Jebelesh Sheikh, or Hermon, lay before us. We had a view of two of its conspicuous summits on account of which it is probably spoken of in Scripture as the hill of the Hermonites.” Lands of the Bible, by Dr. J. Wilson, II 161.—J. F.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 appear before God--in acts of worship, the terms used…
appear before God--in acts of worship, the terms used in the command for the stated personal appearance of the Jews at the sanctuary.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–11 1. As the hart panteth— “Hart,” though here construed…
1. As the hart panteth— “Hart,” though here construed with a feminine verb, (which would require it to be rendered hind,) should be taken as a common gender. The “hart” repeatedly stands connected with “roebuck” in the Pentateuch, (Deu_12:15; Deu_12:22,) as belonging to the same family, and of the class of clean animals. It is the symbol of fleetness, of surefootedness, of timidity and innocence, Psa_18:33; Hab_3:18-19; Son_2:8-9; and is here represented as hotly pursued, faint, and thirsty—an emblem of the fugitive and weary king.
Water brooks—The term applies often to streams which dry up in summer. The pursued hind would pass the dry beds of such brooks with aggravated thirst at the disappointment. Job_6:15-20. So David had found treachery where he looked for fidelity, and nothing could revive him but the everliving waters of divine grace.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–10 1. As a hind which panteth for water-brooks,
1. As a hind which panteth for water-brooks,
So panteth my soul for Thee, O God.
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Render hind, not hart, for the verb is feminine, and the timorous hind is the apter emblem for the soul. The parallel in Joe_1:20 (the only other instance of the verb) makes it clear that the figure is suggested by the sufferings of wild animals in a prolonged drought (cp. Jer_14:5 f.), not by the hind “heated in the chase,” and deterred by the fear of its pursuers from descending into the valley to slake its thirst.
1, 2. The yearning of the Psalmist’s soul for communion with God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–10 (1) As the hart panteth.—“I have seen large flocks…
(1) As the hart panteth.—“I have seen large flocks of these panting harts gather round the water-brooks in the great deserts of central Syria, so subdued by thirst that you could approach quite near them before they fled” (Thomson, Land and Book, p. 172).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–11 THIS psalm, committed (like so many others) to the…
THIS psalm, committed (like so many others) to the precentor, or. chief musician, for its musical setting, is entitled "Maschil of the sous of Korahi.e. an "instruction," or didactic psalm, composed by the Korahite Levites a Levitical family of singers. (1Ch_26:1, 2 2Ch_20:19) To the same family are assigned Ps 45-49, in the present book, and Ps 84 Ps 85 Ps 87, and Ps 88, in Book III The composition, though assigned by some to the commencement of the Babylonian Captivity (Four Friends, p. 168), belongs more probably to the time of David, and the words seem put by the author into the mouth of David himself. The date of the composition is probably the year of David"s flight from Jerusalem on the revolt of Absalom, (2Sa_15:16) when he spent some months in the Trans-Jordanic territory, chiefly at Mahanaim. (2Sa_17:24 2Sa_19:32) The psalm is chiefly an outpouring of sorrow and complaint; but still is an "instruction," inasmuch as it teaches the lesson that in the deepest gulf of sorrow (ver. 7) the soul may still turn to God, and rest itself in hope on him (vers. 5, 8, 12).
There is an intimate union between this psalm and the next, which is a sort of additional stanza, terminating in the same refrain (comp. Psa_43:5 with Psa_42:5, Psa_42:11)
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As the hart panteth after the water-brooks. Stags and hinds need abundant water, especially in hot countries, and, in time of drought, may be said, with a slight poetical licence, to "pant," or "cry" (Joe_1:20) for it. They are still found in Palestine (Tristram, "Land of Israel," pp. 418, 447), though rather scarce. So panteth my soul after thee, O God. The "panting" of the soul does not mean any physical action, but a longing desire for a Messing that is, at any fate for a time, withheld.
Vers. 1, 2. The intense longing of the soul after God.
"My soul thirsteth," etc. Amid the trackless mountains and rugged valleys beyond Jordan, where the roaring torrents seem to answer one another from glen to glen, the heart of the pious exile turned with passionate yearning to the city and temple of God. It was, perhaps, as difficult for him to dissociate his deep spiritual yearning after God from the solemn and glorious services of the temple, as it is for us fully to realize the power and value of those services for an ancient believer. Remember that we, as Christians, have in Christ all that the Israelites had in the temple sacrifices and priesthood, and which he could find nowhere else. Nevertheless, the central inspiration of these words is the intense longing of the heart and soul after God himself.
I THIS LONGING AFTER GOD IS THE HIGHEST AFFECTION OF WHICH HUMAN NATURE IS CAPABLE. It is so, because fixed on the highest Object, and capable of lifting human character to the highest level. What we love most both tests and moulds our character; shows what we are, and makes us such. Ignoble, foul, false, and trivial objects degrade in proportion as they attract; pure, noble, worthy objects of affection and pursuit elevate. Misdirected worship, therefore, degrades. The sincerity of the idolater"s religious faith and feeling makes no amends for the degrading and polluting influence of his false creed. Heathendom offers the miserable choice of either the gross and even vicious and foul conceptions of God (or the gods) exemplified in Greek mythology and Hindu incarnations; or the shadowy, unreal, far-away ideas of philosophers, which inspire neither love nor worship, neither obedience nor trust. Contrast the psalmist"s view of God living God". (cf. Deu_32:40, not Revised Version) The Old Testament saint could not anticipate the full revelation of God in Christ Jesus. But the books of Moses and history of Israel carried the personal revela tion of God as far as was possible (before the Incarnation), except as supplemented by the teaching of the prophets. The Book of Psalms is filled and inspired with the contemplation of God, as thus known the Creator, the Author of all life, whose glory fills the heavens, his goodness the earth, his tender mercies reaching even the lowest creatures; as the righteous Judge and Lawgiver, not of Israel merely, but mankind; the Holy One, eternally opposed to sin, yet pardoning the sinner freely; the pitying Father, the only Refuge in trouble, the Hearer of prayer, the soul"s true Portion. What does the gospel add? The manifestation of God in Jesus Christ; (Col_1:19) and revelation of God"s love. (1Jn_4:9, 1Jn_4:10)
II THIS THIRST FOR GOD IS GOD"S OWN VOICE WITHIN THE SOUL. The germ and capacity of this affection are inborn in our nature. Heathenism bears world-wide witness to men"s longing for some kind of worship. But not worship of the holy, wise, righteous, loving, infinite Creator. This is practically dead. (Rom_1:28) The majority, even in a Christian land like this, live in careless forgetfulness of God; utterly indifferent; others (as in France) hating the very name of God. The presence, therefore, of this overmastering desire after God implies an adequate cause to awaken and maintain. No cause can be suggested but the Spirit of God quickening the dead soul and changing enmity or indifference into love. (Joh_3:3, 6 1Co_2:14 Rom_5:5)
III A SEARCHING TEST OF CHARACTER AND OF SPIRITUAL LIFE IS THUS SUPPLIED. This experience is genuine, real, beyond all doubt. Therefore possible for us. With the full revelation of God in Christ, this affection ought to be both easier and more intense. Is it ours? If not, why? Is it from defective views of God? From secret love of what is sinful, and so indifference or antipathy to perfect holiness? Or, in many cases, neglect of meditation, study of God"s Word, and communion with Christ? Note, as caution: Some natures are far colder than others, incapable of the same spiritual ardour. There may be a quiet devotion, an undemonstrative but unswerving consecration, which our Saviour accepts as the true evidence of love. (Joh_14:21 Joh_15:14) But shall any real Christian be content without some experience of that love and longing of heart towards God, which can make a sanctuary in a desert solitude, and without which heaven itself would be no true temple?
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE Vers. 1-11. A thirst for God.
This is one of the most touching, pathetic, and beautiful of the Psalms. It is not possible to decide either its author or the time of its composition. Its tones are very much like the plaintive sounds from David"s harp, whether or no he was its writer (but see homily on Psalm 43). Leaving untouched, owing to want of space, the historical and geographical matters suggested in the psalm, we shall devote ourselves entirely to the opening up of its deep pathos and spiritual fervour, so as to administer instruction and comfort to those saints of God who may even now be ready to say, "All thy waves and billows are gone over me," and from whom, for a while, the face of God seems to be hid. May they find help in tracing the experience of a like sufferer in the ancient days!
I ONLY THE LIVING GOD CAN SATISFY THE CRAVINGS OF HUMAN SPIRITS. (Vers. 1, 2) So the writer of Psa_84:2. The words of Augustine are well known, declaring that our hearts want rest, and cannot find it till it is found in God. There are four lines of illustration along which this thought may be worked out.
1. In the heathen world. There are many Corneliuses longing for the Peters to come and tell them about God. The late Mrs. Porter, widow of a missionary at Madras, assured the writer that her husband and herself often came across instances of this sort, and said, "Oh, if Christian people did but know how men long after God, they surely would hasten to send them the news of his love!" This yearning after God shows itself in what is best in the several religions of the world.
2. In the worldly, even in Christian lands. Men thirst after riches, honour, rank, etc., and yet the raging thirst of the spirit remains unquenched. Some, indeed, may have suppressed the craving till it ceases to be felt. But such numbness of feeling is not to be confounded with satisfaction. At the moment we are writing, an Italian, named Succi, is making the experiment of going without food for forty days, having made similar attempts before, though for a shorter period. He declares that after the first week no desire for food is left. But, for all that, he is a shrivelling, starving man. Will any be so foolish as to mistake the absence of desire for food for the satisfaction and sustenance of his nature? So in spiritual things, a man may trifle with the yearnings of the Spirit, till the yearning ceases. But he wants God, for all that!
3. In the awakened soul, when the first throbbings of the renewed life are felt, the desire after God becomes intelligent, clear, and strong; the soul craves its God, in whom alone it can find light, pardon, friendship, power, to the full extent of its longings.
4. In the experienced believer. He has found God as his God, as his "exceeding Joy;" but there are times in the experience of many such when all that they have known and realized of God"s love seems like a dream of the past; when the light of heaven is partially or even totally eclipsed. This may arise from bodily weakness, from overwhelming sorrows, or from mental and spiritual gloom. But let the cause be what it may, it is agony to the saint when he can neither see, nor feel, nor find his God (see Job_23:3-10; also Psa_21:1, and our notes thereon).
II AT TIMES OF SORE DEPRESSION, THE BELIEVER LONGS FOR THE JOYS OF BYGONE DAYS. (Vers. 2, 4) At the time when this psalm was penned, its writer was unable to attend the house of God. He looked back to the time when he used to accompany the throng and to lead them in procession to the sanctuary. In those days, "the Lord loved the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob;" and on many grounds the worship in the courts of Zion played a very large part in the spiritual delights of the saints. And though changes of circumstance and the advance of the Divine dispensations have altered to some extent the relations between temple worship and home life, yet even now it is a sore privation to be debarred from the fellowship of saints, especially when other causes of depression are active at the same time; for in such a case the saints are shut out from the public service when they are most dependent on its helpful aid. Note: Even so, it is far better to have the heart to go and not he able, than to be able to go and not have the heart for it.
III THE ENEMY OFTEN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF OUR TIMES OF SPECIAL WEAKNESS. (Vers. 3, 10) "They say daily unto me, Where is thy God?" We know not who these were that could be so intensely cruel to the psalmist when they witnessed his woe. But he was not alone in his experience, though in detail the form of it with us may vary.
1. Very often the taunt of the unbeliever is equivalent to this, when we are pointed to the weaknesses and distresses of the Church, and asked How can your Christianity be Divine, if this is allowed? And in more private ways:
2. The evil one will take advantage of our moments of distress to insinuate racking doubts. No kindly considerations will ever lead the devil to refrain from tempting us because we are weak. He seized on the Master "when he was a hungred." "The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord.
IV STILL, THE CHILDLIKE HEART MUST CRY OUT, "GOD!" (Vers. 1, 6, 9) If the light of heaven is shut out, the soul will cry after it. There is a world of difference between the light being kept out because the eye is closed, and its being hidden behind a dense black cloud. And even if the strength is so feeble that the tongue cannot cry, "Father I" yet the heart will We were once visiting a dear friend in sickness. She said, "I am so weak, I cannot think, I cannot pray, I cannot enjoy God at all." We said to her, "Your little Ada was very ill some time back, was she not?" "Very." "Was she not too ill to speak to you? Yes" "Did you love her less because she couldn"t speak to you?" "No; I think I loved her more, if anything." Even so, when all that is possible is for the heart to yearn out, "O my God!" the loving relations between God and the saint are not for a moment disturbed.
V AT THE DARKEST MOMENT, THERE IS REASONING WITHIN REASONING. (Vers. 5, 11) If there be any who have not passed through any such experience as that in this psalm, these words will be wonderfully uninteresting, if not unintelligible. They baffle the logic of the intellect; but the heart has a logic and an eloquence too, that are all its own. It is cast down, and yet chides itself for being cast down. It cannot see God, cannot feel him, yet knows he is there. It is in the depths, through billow after billow rolling over it, and yet at the very moment indulges in blessed memories and hopeful faith. Such are the mazes of the soul. It can scarce understand itself; but "He knoweth our frame," with all its complicated and vexing play of doubt and chiding, of hope and fear.
VI FROM A RIFT IN THE BLACK CLOUD THERE IS A GLEAM OF SUNSHINE. (Ver. 9) "The Lord will command his loving-kindness," etc. Then all is not lost. The saint may be "perplexed, yet not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" Here is a fine group of words for a man to take upon his lips: "Jehovah;" "lovingkindness in the daytime;" "in the night, a song;" "the God of my life." Downcast soul, take heart. If all these words are true, take heart. The eclipse will soon be over. He whose face is as yet concealed will soon be revealed.
VII FOR THE WHOLE OF THIS MOANING CRY IS ONE CONTINUOUS PRAYER. Though not every sentence is in orderly petition, yet the outgoing of the soul in this psalm is one prayer from beginning to end. And however broken the prayer may be, it is real, it is intense, it is wrung out of the necessities of a living soul. And such a prayer, with all its ruggedness and brokenness, is infinitely better than one of those orderly, cold, lukewarm petitions which come from no suffering, and cry for no relief. Far better to hear a man who prays as if he had something to pray for, than one who prays as if he must pray for something. For nots: Those who have gone down to the lowest depths in suffering and humiliation will be led up to the noblest heights of gladness and of honour. Our God never did, never will, never can, desert the soul that leans on him. We are never in a surer or safer position than when, deep in sorrow and care, deserted by friends, slighted by neighbours, taunted by foes, we, in loneliness of spirit, look up to God, and to God alone. Who shall separate us from his love? Let our earthly sorrows now be what they may"He who has loved us bears us through, And makes us more than conquerors too! C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-11. Spiritual depression.
The scene of this psalm seems to have been on the other side of Jordan, near the shining heights of Hermon. Here we may imagine the writer, probably a Hebrew exile, straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of the dear laud of his fathers that was soon to pass from his sight. To him it seemed as if to be separated from Jerusalem was to be separated from God; as if losing the fellowship of the saints were losing God. The hart panting for the water-brooks imaged the grief of his heart athirst after God. The Jordan with its winding rapids, "deep calling unto deep," reflected the tumults of his soul, and reminded him of his distance from home and from the house of God. But he encourages himself by meditation and prayer, and the hope of better times. We may take the psalm as a picture of spiritual depression.
I THE GODLY MAN CAST DOWN. His trouble does not arise from outward causes; it is within, it is from the absence of God. There were still faith, affection, the going forth of his whole being toward God in love and desire; but there seemed to be no response. Like the hart, hard pressed by the hunters, "the big tears rolling from his eyes, and the moisture standing black upon his side," and panting for the water-brooks, his soul thirsted, but thirsted in vain, for God. His sorrows were increased by the taunts of scoffers and the remembrance of happier times (vers. 3, 4). Repulsed on all sides and lonely, and feeling as if God had forsaken him, he is in sore trouble, and his own heart sadly echoes the cry of his enemies, "Where is now thy God?" Such experiences are not uncommon. We all know what it is to "thirst;" but what do we thirst after? Is it gain, or pleasure, or worldly honours, or such-like? If so, our thirst will not be satisfied. But if we have been quickened by the Spirit, we cannot but thirst after God. He and he alone can supply our need and satisfy our hearts. And if we "thirst for God," let us remember that this implies far more than longing for outward ordinances and joys which for a season we have lost. We are persons, and want a personal God. We are living souls, and crave a living God. We love truth and justice and goodness, and therefore we cry after the eternal God, in whom all truth and justice and goodness dwell. There will come to us, as to others, times of trial, days of darkness, when God seems afar off and silent. But let us not be cast down with overmuch sorrow. "The feeling of forsakenness is no proof of being forsaken. Mourning an absent God is an evidence of love as strong as rejoicing in a present one." With God, for us to desire is to have; and to hunger and thirst is to be filled.
II THE GODLY MAN COMFORTED. "Why?" This question is first of all addressed to the soul. There is self-interrogation. This is good. When we ask, "Why?" this sets us to inquire as to the reason of things. Light will arise. We may see that the cause of depression is not in God, but in ourselves. For us to abide in this state is unreasonable, contrary to our past experiences, and inconsistent with God"s mercy and truth. We can therefore call upon ourselves to cast out fear, and still to hope in God as our God and our Redeemer. But though something has been gained in this way, it is not enough. Old foes rise up, and beat down the soul into the deep waters, where the tumult drowns the voice of mercy, and the billows rising higher and higher threaten us with total engulfment. The cry now takes a nobler form. It is not to the soul, but to God (ver. 6). Mark that there is hope. This points to coming good. Further, it is hope in God. This gives rest. Our own feelings vary. We cannot get comfort from them. Neither can we rely upon past experiences. We may deceive ourselves. Nor can we of ourselves change the circumstances which cause us pain. But the living God is a sure Refuge. He cannot change. He is more stable than the everlasting hills. This hope in God also opens up to us a way from the darkness into the bright future. "I shall yet praise him." At last it rises to full assurance, and the joy of inviolable and everlasting possession, "My God. W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Ver.1-Psa_43:5. Remonstrance of the spiritual man against the natural man.
Supposed to be written by some king or priest on his way into exile, perhaps somewhere in the region of Mount Hermon. It is the remonstrance of the spiritual man within him against the despondency of the natural man.
I THE CAUSES OF HIS DESPONDENCY.
1. An unsatisfied longing for God. He was being carried away from the temple to a land of heathen idolaters, and this aroused in him an intense longing for some manifestation of God which should deliver him from such a calamity. As the hunted stag pants for the watercourses, so he pants for the living God.
2. His enemies reproach him with being forsaken of God. (Ver. 3) And he can only answer them with tears. His adverse circumstances seem to warrant the reproach; for he sees no prospect at present of a Divine deliverance. They were like Job"s comforters. Spiritual calamity the greatest of all calamities.
3. He remembers with anguish the religious privileges he has lost. (Ver. 4) In former days he had gone up with the pilgrim-processions to worship at Jerusalem, to keep holy day; and now he was going in a very different procession away from Jerusalem, as a captive to Babylon, and he is filled with bitter sorrow. Worship and fellowship with God the very air that he breathed.
II HOW HE ATTEMPTS TO CONQUER HIS DESPONDENCY.
1. In the relocated question Why?" he remonstrates with himself for yielding to it. As if it was only his lower self that was giving way, his higher self was braving itself to courage and strength.
2. He comforts himself with the everlasting resource of the soul. He hopes in God; for God is still the Health of his countenance and his God, who will show his loving-kindness in the open day of his favour, and give him songs of praise in the night of adversity. This is a hope that springs into the highest regions of faith.
3. He anticipates with assurance a time when he shall praise God for his deliverance. (Vers. 5, 11) Here again is unconquerable faith, which refuses to believe that God will abandon him, though now he has lost the evidence of his presence. Even Christ cried," My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–11 Title. To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons…
Title. To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. Dedicated to the Master of Music, this Psalm is worthy of his office; he who can sing best can have nothing better to sing. It is called, Maschil, or an instructive ode; and full as it is of deep experimental expressions, it is eminently calculated to instruct those pilgrims whose road to heaven is of the same trying kind as David's was. It is always edifying to listen to the experience of a thoroughly gracious and much afflicted saint.
That choice band of singers, the sons of Korah, are bidden to make this delightful Psalm one of their peculiars. They had been spared when their father and all his company, and all the children of his associates were swallowed up alive in their sin. Nu 27:11. They were the spared ones of sovereign grace. Preserved, we know not why, by the distinguishing favour of God, it may be surmised that after their remarkable election to mercy, they became so filled with gratitude that they addicted themselves to sacred music in order that their spared lives might be consecrated to the glory of God. At any rate, we who have been rescued as they were from going down into the pit, out of the mere good pleasure of Jehovah, can heartily join in this Psalm, and indeed in all the songs which show forth the praises of our God and the pantings of our hearts after him. Although David is not mentioned as the author, this Psalm must be the offspring of his pen; it is so Davidic, it smells of the son of Jesse, it bears the marks of his style and experience in every letter. We could sooner doubt the authorship of the second part of Pilgrim's Progress than question David's title to be the composer of this Psalm.
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Subject. It is the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances and worship of God, sighing for the long loved house of his God; and at the same time it is the voice of a spiritual believer, under depressions, longing for the renewal of the divine presence, struggling with doubts and fears, but yet holding his ground by faith in the living God. Most of the Lord's family have sailed on the sea which is here so graphically described. It is probable that David's flight from Absalom may have been the occasion for composing this Maschil.
Division. The structure of the song directs us to consider it in two parts which end with the same refrain; Ps 42:1-5 and then Ps 42:6-11.
Ver. 1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after the, O God. As after a long drought the poor fainting hind longs for the streams, or rather as the hunted hart instinctively seeks after the river to lave its smoking flanks and to escape the dogs, even so my weary, persecuted soul pants after the Lord my God. Debarred from public worship, David was heartsick. Ease he did not seek, honour he did not covet, but the enjoyment of communion with God was an urgent need of his soul; he viewed it not merely as the sweetest of all luxuries, but as an absolute necessity, like water to a stag. Like the parched traveller in the wilderness, whose skin bottle is empty, and who finds the wells dry, he must drink or die he must have his God or faint. His soul, his very self, his deepest life, was insatiable for a sense of the divine presence. As the hart brays so his soul prays. Give him his God and he is as content as the poor deer which at length slakes its thirst and is perfectly happy; but deny him his Lord, and his heart heaves, his bosom palpitates, his whole frame is convulsed, like one who gasps for breath, or pants with long running. Dear reader, dost thou know what this is, by personally having felt the same? It is a sweet bitterness. The next best thing to living in the light of the Lord's love is to be unhappy till we have it, and to pant hourly after it hourly, did I say? thirst is a perpetual appetite, and not to be forgotten, and even thus continual is the heart's longing after God. When it is as natural for us to long for God as for an animal to thirst, it is well with our souls, however painful our feelings. We may learn from this verse that the eagerness of our desires may be pleaded with God, and the more so, because there are special promises for the importunate and fervent.
Title. "Sons of Korah." Who were the sons of Korah? These opinions have more or less prevailed. One is that they sprang from some one of that name in the days of David. Mudge and others think that the sons of Korah were a society of musicians, founded or presided over by Korah. Others think that the sons of Korah were the surviving descendants of that miserable man who, together with two hundred and fifty of his adherents, who were princes, perished when "the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, together with Korah." In Nu 26:11 we read: "Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not." They had taken the warning given, and had departed from the tents of these wicked men. Nu 16:24, 26. It must be admitted that the name Korah and the patronymic Korahite are found in the Scriptures in a way that creates considerable doubt respecting the particular man from whom the Korahites are named. See 1Ch 1:35 2:43 6:22,54 9:19 26:1 2Ch 20:19. Yet the more common belief is that they descended from him who perished in his gainsaying. This view is taken by Ainsworth with entire confidence, by Gill, and others. Korah, who perished, was a Levite. Whatever may have been their origin, it is clear the sons of Korah were a Levitical family of singers. Nothing, then, could be more appropriate than the dedication of a sacred song to these very people. William S. Plumer.
Title. "Sons of Korah." The "Korah" whose "sons" are here spoken of, is the Levite who headed the insurrection against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Nu 16:1-50. We find his descendants existing as a powerful Levitical family in the time of David, at least, if they are to be identified, as is probable, with the Korahites mentioned in 1Ch 12:6, who, like our own warlike bishops of former times, seem to have known how to doff the priestly vestment for the soldier's armour, and whose hand could wield the sword as well as strike the harp. The Korahites were a part of the band who acknowledged David as their chief, at Ziklag; warriors "whose faces, "it is said, "were like the faces of lions, and who were (for speed) like gazelles upon the mountains." According to 1Ch 9:17-19, the Korahites were in David's time, keepers of the threshold of the tabernacle; and still earlier, in the time of Moses, watchmen at the entrance of the camp of the Levites. In 1Ch 26:1-19, we find two branches of this family associated with that of Merari, as guardians of the doors of the Temple. There is probably an allusion to this their office, in Ps 84:10. But the Korahites were also celebrated musicians and singers; see 1Ch 6:16-33, where Heman, one of the three famous musicians of the time, is said to be a Korahite (compare 1Ch 25:1-31). The musical reputation of the family continued in the time of Jehoshaphat 2Ch 20:19, where we have the peculiar doubly plural form (Myxrqhynb), "Sons of the Korahites." J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Title. "Sons of Korah." Medieval writers remark how here, as so often, it was the will of God to raise up saints where they could have been least looked for. Who should imagine that from the posterity of him who said, "Ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Aaron, "should have risen those whose sweet Psalms would be the heritage of the church of God to the end of time? J. M. Neale.
Ver. 1. The hart panteth after the water brooks. And here we have started up, and have sent leaping over the plain another of Solomon's favourites. What elegant creatures these gazelles are, and how gracefully they bound! ...The sacred writers frequently mention gazelles under the various names of harts, roes, and hinds...I have seen large flocks of these panting harts gather round the water brooks in the great deserts of Central Syria, so subdued by thirst that you could approach quite near them before they fled. W. M. Thomson.
Ver. 1. Little do the drunkards think that take so much pleasure in frequenting the houses of Bacchus, that the godly take a great deal more, and have a great deal more joy in frequenting the houses of God. But it is a thing that God promised long ago by the prophet: "Then will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." Isa 56:7. And I think, I hear the willing people of God's power, merrily calling one to another in the words of Mic 4:2, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." How is a godly man ravished with "the beauty of holiness, "when he is at such meetings! How was holy David taken with being in the house of God at Jerusalem! insomuch, that if he were kept from it but a little while, his soul panted for it, and longed after it, and fainted for lack of it, as a thirsty hart would do for lack of water! As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? The poor disconsolate captives preferred it to the best place in their memory. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." Ps 137:5; nay, they preferred it to their chiefest joy: "If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy, "Ps 42:6. There was no place in the world that David regarded or cared to be in in comparison of it. "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" Ps 84:10, insomuch, that he could find it in his heart, nay, and would choose, if he might have his desire, to spend all his days in that house. Ps 27:4. Zachary Bogan.
Ver. 1. The soul strongly desires acquaintance with God here in his ordinances. Chrysostom's very rhetorical upon the text, and tells us how that David, like a lover in absence, must express his affection; as they have their dainty sighs, and passionate complaints, their loving exclamations, and sundry discoveries of affection; they can meet with never a tree, but in the bark of it they must engrave the name of their darling, Denfos d o erws d kittos auton ek paaes anadeoai profaoews; it will twine upon every opportunity, as the Moralist speaks. And the true lovers of God, they are always thinking upon him, sighing for him, panting after him, talking of him, and (if it were possible) would engrave the name of the Lord Jesus upon the breasts of all the men in the world. Look upon David, now a banished man, and fled from the presence of Saul, and see how he behaves himself: not like Themistocles or Camillus, or some of those brave banished worthies. He does not complain of the ungratefulness of his country, the malice of his adversaries, and his own unhappy success. No, instead of murmuring, he falls a panting, and that only after his God. He is banished from the sanctuary, the palace of God's nearest presence, and chiefest residence; he cannot enjoy the beauty of holiness, and all other places seem to him but as the tents of Kedar. He is banished from the temple, and he thinks himself banished from his God, as it is in the following words, When shall I come and appear before God? The whole stream of expositors run this way, that it is meant of his strong longing to visit the Temple, and those amiable courts of his God, with which his soul was so much taken. Nathanael Culverwel's "Panting Soul, "1652.
Ver. 1-3. are an illustration of the frequent use of the word Elohim in the second book of Psalms. We give Fry's translation of the first three verses.
As the hart looketh for the springs of water,
So my soul looketh for thee, O Elohim.
My soul is athirst for Elohim for the living El:
When shall I go and see the face of Elohim?
My tears have been my meat day and night,
While they say to me continually, Where is thy Elohim?
Ver. 1. The longing heart and the panting hart compared.
Ver. 1,2. Those who have enjoyed the presence of God in the public ordinances of religion will greatly desire, if deprived of them, to be favoured with them again...Prevention from attending the public ordinances of God's house may be made the means of great benefit to the soul.
1. By renewing our relish for the provisions of the Lord's house, which so soon and so often palls.
2. By making us to prize the means of grace more highly. There is, through human degeneracy, a proneness to value things less, however excellent in themselves, because of their being common, or plentiful, or of easy attainment.
3. By driving us more directly from God. H. March.
Ver. 1-3. The home sickness of the soul. What awakens it in the soul? To what is it directed, or does it point or tend? Wherewith can it be satisfied? By the bitter, but ofttimes wholesome food of tears. J. P. Lange.
A Practical Exposition of the Forty-second Psalm, in ten Sermons, in Choice and Practical Expositions on four select Psalms. Psalms 4, 42, 51, 63. By THOMAS HORTON, D.D. 1675. Folio.
Sabbaths at Home: or, a help to their right improvement; founded on the Forty-second and Forty-third Psalms. Intended for the use of pious persons when prevented from attending the public worship of God. By HENRY MARCH. London: 1823.
On the eleventh verse of this Psalm there are the following works:
Twelve Sermons, in "A Cordial for a Fainting Soule." By JOHN COLLINGS. 1652. Part 2, pp. 133-206.
Thirteen Sermons in the works of WILLIAM BRIDGE (1600-1670), entitled, "A Lifting Up for the Downcast." Volume 2, of the edition of 1845.
Comfort and Counsel for Dejected Souls. By JOHN DURANT. 8vo.
1651.
The Soul's Conflict with Itself. By RICHARD SIBBES. (Numerous old editions). In Sibbes' Works, Nichol's Puritan Series, vol. I.
Psalms 42:2*
Ver. 1-3. are an illustration of the frequent use of the word Elohim in the second book of Psalms. We give Fry's translation of the first three verses.
As the hart looketh for the springs of water,
So my soul looketh for thee, O Elohim.
My soul is athirst for Elohim for the living El:
When shall I go and see the face of Elohim?
My tears have been my meat day and night,
While they say to me continually, Where is thy Elohim?
Ver. 1-2. Those who have enjoyed the presence of God in the public ordinances of religion will greatly desire, if deprived of them, to be favoured with them again...Prevention from attending the public ordinances of God's house may be made the means of great benefit to the soul.
1. By renewing our relish for the provisions of the Lord's house, which so soon and so often palls.
2. By making us to prize the means of grace more highly. There is, through human degeneracy, a proneness to value things less, however excellent in themselves, because of their being common, or plentiful, or of easy attainment.
3. By driving us more directly from God. H. March.
Ver. 1-3. The home sickness of the soul. What awakens it in the soul? To what is it directed, or does it point or tend? Wherewith can it be satisfied? By the bitter, but ofttimes wholesome food of tears. J. P. Lange.
Ver. 1-3. are an illustration of the frequent use of the word Elohim in the second book of Psalms. We give Fry's translation of the first three verses.
As the hart looketh for the springs of water,
So my soul looketh for thee, O Elohim.
My soul is athirst for Elohim for the living El:
When shall I go and see the face of Elohim?
My tears have been my meat day and night,
While they say to me continually, Where is thy Elohim?
Ver. 1-3. The home sickness of the soul. What awakens it in the soul? To what is it directed, or does it point or tend? Wherewith can it be satisfied? By the bitter, but ofttimes wholesome food of tears. J. P. Lange.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1–11 As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so…
Psa_42:1-11
As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
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The Korachite psalms
The second book of the Psalter, characterized by the use of the Divine name Elohim instead of Jehovah, begins with a cluster of seven psalms (reckoning Psa_43:1-5, as one), of which the superscription is most probably regarded as ascribing their authorship to the sons of Korach. These were Levites, and (1Ch_9:19, etc.) the office of keepers of the door of the sanctuary had been hereditary in their family from the time of Moses. Some of them were among the faithful adherents of David at Ziklag (1Ch_12:6), and in the new model of worship inaugurated by him the Korachites were doorkeepers and musicians. They retained the former office in the second Temple (Nell. 11:19). The ascription of authorship to a group is remarkable, and has led to the suggestion that the superscription does not specify the authors, but the persons for whose use the psalms in question were composed. The Hebrew would bear either meaning; but if the later is adopted, all these psalms are anonymous. The same construction is found in Book I. in Psa_25:1-22; Psa_26:1-12; Psa_27:1-14; Psa_28:1-9; Psa_35:1-28; Psa_37:1-40., where it is obviously the designation of authorship, and it is naturally taken to have the same force in these Korachite psahns. It has been conjectured by Delitzsch that the Korachite Psalms originally formed a separate collection entitled Songs of the Sons of Korach, and that this title afterwards passed over into the superscriptions when they were incorporated in the Psalter. The supposition is unnecessary. It was not literary fame which psalmists hungered for. The actual author, as one of a band of kinsmen who worked and sang together, would, not unnaturally, be content to sink his individuality and let his songs go forth as that of the band. Clearly the superscriptions rested upon some tradition or knowledge, else defective information would not have been acknowledged as it is in this one; but some name would have been coined to fill the gap. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Over the aqueducts of water
The Hebrew term is apheek; and in the original the clause reads, al apheekaiyrnayim, which may be translated, over the aqueducts of water. Aqueducts are, and always must have been, very common in Palestine, not only for bringing water to waterless towns, but also for the purpose of irrigating gardens. Ruined remains of these structures are to be found everywhere throughout the country. It seems certain that there must have been a familiar technical term for them in Hebrew, and that the writers of the Bible, who draw their imagery so largely from the features of garden culture, must have referred to these precious water-channels. One word in Hebrew, the sense of which seems to have been entirely overlooked, must plainly have borne this meaning, the word apheek, which occurs eighteen times in the Old Testament, and also in some names of places, as Aphaik, near Beth-boron. The translators of our Authorized Version have been able to make but little of it, rendering it by seven different words, most frequently by river, which it cannot possibly mean. The word comes from Aphak, restrained, or forced, and this is the main idea of an aqueduct, which is a structure formed for the purpose of constraining or forcing a stream of water to flow in a desired direction. So strongly were the Palestine aqueducts made, that their ruins, probably in some places two thousand years old, remain to this day. In rare instances (there is one at Jerusalem) they are fashioned of bored stones. Sometimes for a short distance they are cut as open grooves in the hard limestone of the hills, or as small channels bored through their sides. When the level required it, they are built up stone structures above ground. But the aqueducts of Palestine mostly consist of earthenware pipes, laid on or underground in a casing of strong cement. Apheek, I contend, in its technical sense stands for an ordinary covered Palestine aqueduct, but it is also poetically applied to the natural underground channels, which supply springs and to the gorge-like, rocky beds of some mountain streams which appear like huge, open aqueducts . . . The psalmist thirsts for God, and longs to taste again the joy of His house, like the parched and weary hind who comes to a covered channel conveying the living waters of some far-off spring across the intervening desert. She scents the precious current in its bed of adamantine cement, or hears its rippling flow close beneath her feet, or, perchance, sees it deep down through one of the narrow air holes; and as she agonises for the inaccessible draught, she pants over the aqueducts of water. (James Nell, M. A.)
The soul compared to a hind
The soul is feminine in Hebrew, and is here compared to the female deer, for pants is the feminine form of the verb, though its noun is masculine. It is better, therefore, to translate hind than hart. The soul is the seat of emotions and desires. It pants and thirsts, is cast down and disquieted; it is poured out; it can be bidden to hope. Thus tremulous, timid, mobile, it is beautifully compared to a hind. The true object of its longings is always God, however little it knows for what it is thirsting. But they are happy in their very yearnings who are conscious of the true direction of these, and can say that it is God for whom they are athirst. The correspondence between mans needs and their true object is involved in that name the living God; for a heart can rest only in one all-sufficient Person, and must have a heart to throb against. But no finite being can still them; and after all sweetnesses of human loves and helps of human strengths, the souls thirst remains unslaked, and the Person who is enough must be the living God. The difference between the devout and the worldly man is just that the one can only say, My soul pants and thirsts, and the other can add after Thee, O God. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The religious aspects of a soul in earnest
I. Intensely thirsting after God. This craving for the living God--
1. Renders all logical arguments for a Supreme Being unnecessary.
2. Indicates the only method for elevating the race.
II. Greatly distressed on account of the wicked.
1. Taunted on account of his religion.
2. Deprived of the public privileges of his religion.
III. Anxiously expostulating with self on account of despondency.
1. He inquired into the reason.
2. He resolved upon the remedy. (Homilist.)
Religious depression
I. The causes of Davids despondency.
1. The thirst for God.
2. The temporary loss of the sense of Gods personality.
Let us search our own experience. What we want is, we shall find, not infinitude, but a boundless One; not to feel that love is the law of this universe, but to feel One whose name is Love. For else, if in this world of order there be no One in whose bosom that order is centred, and of whose Being it is the expression: in this world of manifold contrivance, no Personal Affection which gave to the skies their trembling tenderness, and to the snow its purity: then order, affection, contrivance, wisdom, are only horrible abstractions, and we are in the dreary universe alone. Foremost in the declaration of this truth was the Jewish religion. It proclaimed--not Let us meditate on the Adorable light, it shall guide our intellects--which is the most sacred verse of the Hindoo sacred books: but Thus saith the Lord, I am, that I am. In that word I am, is declared Personality; and it contains, too, in the expression, Thus saith, the real idea of a revelation, viz., the voluntary approach of the Creator to the creature. Accordingly, these Jewish psalms are remarkable for that personal tenderness towards God--those outbursts of passionate individual attachment which are in every page. How different this from the God of the theologian--a God that was, but scarcely is: and from the God of the philosopher--a mere abstraction, a law into which all other laws are resolved. Quite differently speaks the Bible of God. Not as a Law: but as the Life of all that is--the Being who feels and is felt--is loved and loves again--counts the hairs of my head: feeds the ravens, and clothes the lilies: hears my prayers, and interprets them through a Spirit which has affinity with my spirit. It is a dark moment when the sense of that personality is lost: more terrible than the doubt of immortality. For of the two--eternity without a personal God, or God for seventy years without immortality no one after Davids heart would hesitate, Give me God for life, to know and be known by Him. No thought is more hideous than that of an eternity without Him. My soul is athirst for God. The desire for immortality is second to the desire for God.
3. The taunts of scoffers. Where is now thy God? (Psa_42:3). This is ever the way in religious perplexity: the unsympathizing world taunts or misunderstands. In spiritual grief they ask, why is he not like others? In bereavement they call your deep sorrow unbelief. In misfortune they comfort you, like Jobs friends, by calling it a visitation. Or like the barbarians at Melita, when the viper fastened on Pauls hand: no doubt they call you an infidel, though your soul be crying after God. Specially in that dark and awful hour, when He called on God, Eloi, Eloi: they said, Let be: let us see whether Elias will come to save Him.
II. Davids consolation.
1. And first, in hope (verse 5): distinguish between the feelings of faith that God is present, and the hope of faith that He will be so. There are hours in which physical derangement darkens the windows of the soul; days in which shattered nerves make life simply endurance; months and years in which intellectual difficulties, pressing for solution, shut out God. Then faith must be replaced by hope. What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Clouds and darkness are round about Him: but righteousness and truth are the habitation of His throne.
2. This hope was in God. The mistake we make is to look for a source of comfort in ourselves: self-contemplation instead of gazing upon God. In other words, we look for comfort precisely where comfort never can be. For first, it is impossible to derive consolation from our own feelings, because of their mutability. Nor can we gain comfort from our own acts, because in a low state we cannot justly judge them. And we lose time in remorse. In God alone is our hope. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Living thirst
This language is that of the true Christian believer. The strength that he feels is not the strength of a transient passion of the heart, but the thirst of an enlightened, sanctified, and believing soul. The object of that thirst is God. Its object indicates its origin; for a thirst that stretches upwards to God originates with the inspiration of God, and, like true religion, must have had its origin in God. This thirst is caused by admiration of God; by love of God; by desire after His holiness and His presence, and His promised restoration of all things. But how does the Christian reach the element that will satisfy this the thirst of his soul?
1. First, by thinking upon Him. A Christian in solitude and in silence can think of God. The literary man can think of literature, and hold communion with the spirits of departed literati through the medium of the writings they have left behind them. The statesman can think of great political questions, and his mind can be absorbed with them. Now, communion with God, thinking of Him, what He is, what He has done what He has promised to do, what He will give, and what He has given, is really letting the water pot descend into that better than Jacobs well, to bring from its cool depths that which will satisfy our thirst for God, for the living God.
2. A Christian will try to satisfy his thirst for God by reading His holy Word. What is the Bible? Just a description of what God is. It is poetry, and oratory, and history, and all the resources of human thought, of human genius, inspired by the Spirit of God, designed to stimulate your thirst for Him, and to bring you into closer contact with the inexhaustible Fountain out of which you may drink freely.
3. In the next place, you gratify this thirst, and you deepen it also while you do so, in the exercises of public prayer and praise, and public worship.
4. And we gratify this thirst, as well as excite it, by appearing from time to time at the table of our blessed Lord. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
Thirsting for God
I. The causes of this spiritual thirst.
1. Admiration of the Divine attributes.
2. Love for the Divine Being,
3. A lively sense of Divine goodness in the dispensation of both temporal and spiritual benefits.
4. A deep sense of his wants as a sinner.
5. A conviction of the inadequacy of his inward sources of happiness, and of the unsatisfying nature of all sublunary enjoyments.
6. The afflictions which he is called to endure.
II. The means by which the Christian seeks to gratify this spiritual thirst.
1. The studious reading of Gods Word.
2. The exercise of devout and holy contemplation.
3. Prayer and praise.
4. Avoidance of sin.
5. Eye fixed on heaven. (G. Thacker.)
Panting after God
Genuine piety is the tendency of the soul towards God; the aspiration of the immortal spirit after the great Father of spirits, in a desire to know Him and to be like Him.
I. How Is A desire to know God and to be like him implanted and cherished in the heart of man? All true piety, all genuine devotion in fallen man, has a near and intimate connection with the Lord Jesus, and is dependent on Him. It is by His mediation that the devout soul aspires towards the blessed God; it thirsts for fuller and clearer discoveries of His glories, as they shine with a mild effulgence in the person of His incarnate Son; it longs to attain that conformity to Him of which it sees in Jesus Christ the perfect model.
II. The excellence of this panting of the soul after God, this vital principle of all genuine piety.
1. It is a most ennobling principle; it elevates and purifies the soul, and produces in the character all that is lovely and of good report.
2. It is a most active principle. From a world groaning under the ruins of the apostasy, where darkness, and pollution, and misery prevail, and death reigns, the child of God looks up to that glorious Being whose essence pervades the universe, and whose perfections and blessedness are immense, unchanging, and eternal, and he longs to know and resemble Him.
3. It is a permanent and unfailing principle. Each changing scene of his earthly pilgrimage affords the devout man opportunity of growing in the knowledge and the likeness of God, and the touch of death at which his material frame returns to its native dust, does but release his spirit from every clog, that she may rise unencumbered to see Him as He is and know even as she is known. (Bishop Armstrong.)
The panting hart
In this state of mind there is something sad. But something commendable also. For the next best thing to having close communion with God is to be wretched until we find Him.
I. The object of the desire which is here described. It was for God. Probably this psalm belongs to the time of the revolt of Absalom. But Davids desire is not for lost royalties, wealth, palaces, children: no, nor the temple, nor his country, but God. He longed to appear again before God, so that--
1. He might unite in the worship of the people.
2. Gain restored confidence as to his interest in the love of God, and to have it shed abroad in his heart. May such desires be ours.
II. The characteristics of this desire.
1. Directness. The hart panteth, there can be no doubt what for. So with David, he goes straight to the point. He knew what he needed.
2. Unity. As the hart longs for nothing but the water brooks, so David for God only. Have you ever seen a little child that has lost its way crying in the streets for mother? Now, you shall give that child what you will, but it will not stay crying for mother. I know it is thus with all the family of God in regard to an absent God.
3. The intensity of this desire. How awful is thirst. In a long and weary march soldiers have been able to endure much want of solid food, but--as in the marches of Alexander--they have died by hundreds from thirst.
4. Its vitality. Thirst is connected with the very springs of life. Men must drink or die.
5. And it is an expressive desire. The Scotch version reads--Like as the hart for water brooks, In thirst doth pant and bray. And in the margin of our Bibles it reads, As the hart brayeth, etc. The hart, usually so silent, now begins to bray in its agony. So the believer hath a desire which forceth itself into expression. It may be inarticulate, groanings which cannot be uttered, but they are all the more sincere and deep. In all ways will he express before God his great desire.
III. Its exciting causes.
1. Something inward, the secret life within. A camel does not pant after water brooks, because it carries its own supplies of water within it; but the hart does because it has no such resources.
2. But also something outward. The hart because of the heat, the distance, the dogs. So the believer. The source of Davids longings lay partly in the past. We remember delightful seasons gone by. Also from the present, lie was at that moment in eminent distress. And the future. Hope thou in God, saith he, for I shall yet praise Him.
IV. Comfortable encouragements. There is no thirst like the thirst of the man who has once known what the sweetness of the wine of heaven is. A poor king must be poor indeed. Yet out of our strong desires after God there come these comforts.
1. The thought--whence come they? This desire is a gift from God.
2. If He has given it me, will He not fulfil it?
3. And if I have wandered from my God, tie is willing to forgive. Let us return to Him, then, and let us recollect that when we return we shall soon be uplifted into the light. It does not take long for the Lord to make summer-time in the wintry heart. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Thirsting for God
I. The object of the psalmists desire--God. By which he means--
1. A sense of Gods favour.
2. A sight of Gods glory, so that he might not merely know that God was glorious, but that he might feel it.
3. The enjoyment of Gods presence. Hence it was that he longed after Gods house, for it was there that so often God had met him and had satisfied this thirst of his soul.
II. The strength of his desire. My soul panteth, yea, etc. This was his souls deep yearning. Hence we learn--
1. That a soul really desiring God can be satisfied with nothing else. Nor--
2. With but a little of Him. It is not a drop or a taste of the water brook that quiets the panting deer. He plunges into it and drinks eagerly of it. And so with our souls. The more these blessed waters are drunk the more they are relished and desired.
3. The cause which made David thus earnestly desire God. It was his affliction, and his inward distress and darkness. And this is Gods gracious purpose in letting such things come upon us. Do not be dismayed if you can only say, I wish I did thus thirst. We are saved not for our thirst, but for Christs sake. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
The longing for God
I. What this longing of David was. It was not, observe, his lost crown that he most longed for; nor the broken peace of his kingdom; nor even Absalom his son; he had deeper longings than these; he had a deeper need than they could supply. What he did long for was God Himself; for God, he knew, was the strength of his heart, and the only portion which could satisfy him for ever.
II. This longing is common to Gods saints (2Co_5:4; 2Ti_4:8; Tit_2:13; 2Pe_3:12; Rev_22:20). A great part of our nature is made for feeling; a great portion of our life is made up of it; every moment is full of love, and hope, and desire, and fear; and Christ who claims the whole man will not pass over these levers of action, these moving powers of the whole man, as of no importance. Let us give them their proper place; and if David, and Paul, and Peter, and John, mark out a longing after God as the healthy state of the soul, let us not be satisfied if we are strangers to such a longing.
III. How the presence of this longing is an earnest of complete blessedness. Gods Holy Spirit is Himself the water brook for mans consolation; and He comes, as the Nile when it overflows its banks, and wherever there is a channel, or an aperture, or even a crack in the dry and thirsty soil, there He pours in the life-giving streams of comfort and of love, as one who knows not how to give and to bless enough. Your mourning heart is opened by its very grief, and He is come to bless it. Doubt Him not. Doubt not but that the same Spirit will restore you to peace and joy; will fill you with the assurance of fresh hope; will strengthen you to bear meekly the yoke which He shall lay upon you; will make you to overflow with love, and give you even upon earth a foretaste of heaven. (Canon Morse.)
Desire after God
I. Divine in its source. Desires are the pulses of the soul. We are that in the sight of God which we habitually desire and aim to be. Archbishop Leighton said, I should utterly despair of my own religion, were it not for that text, Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness.
II. Intense in its degree. Thirst is the strongest feeling we know. It is the established order of nature, and an original law in the constitution of the mind, that love should create love; and if this obtain in the measures and intercourse of human kindness, much more might we expect it to prevail in the sacred converse which is held between earth and heaven--spirits are not thus finely touched, but to fine issues.
III. Practical in its tendency, and ennobling in its influence. A pure affection towards an earthly object exalts the soul in which it dwells, by associating anothers happiness with our own; according to Wordsworths fine line--Love betters that is best, by strengthening those fine ties which ally us to the side of virtue. How much more must this be the case with our religious emotions, where the object is infinite and the benefactor is Divine.
IV. Prophetic of its own fulfilment.
Panting after God
I. The believing pant after the favour of God. The most luxurious pasture, or the securest shade and retreat of the forest has no attraction for the hart panting in the agony of thirst for the water brook; and what were honour, power, or wealth to trembling sinners, if that which alone can meet their necessities be withheld?
II. The believing pant after resemblance to God. This is a part of salvation as well as the former, and the two are inseparably connected. No man has the favour of God that does not aspire to be like Him, and no man who is like God is without His favour and complacential regard.
III. The believing pant after spiritual intercourse and communion with God.
IV. The believing pant after the presence and enjoyment of God in heaven. This is the final and glorious issue to which their hopes and desires are habitually directed; all that they pant after in God on earth shall in that better country be possessed fully and for ever. (J. Kirkwood.)
The souls thirst for God
Such psalms as this and the sixty-third are as important items in the history of man as the hieroglyphics of Egypt, or the cuneiform inscriptions of Assyria, or the stone implements of prehistoric times: if you are to have a complete system of anthropology, to investigate and know what man really is, it is manifest that you must take account of the aspirations of his soul, as well as of the power of his intellect or the skill of his hands. Conceive an investigation as to the nature of man being made by some one quite fresh to the subject--say an inhabitant of Jupiter or Saturn: conceive such an investigator to have examined our ships and our steam engines and our agriculture, our books of science, our treatises on law and medicine and what not: and suppose that when all this was done, and our distant visitor was forming his opinion about man, he suddenly stumbled upon a book containing such words as these. My soul is athirst for God, etc.; suppose this, and what would be the result? Certainly this at least, our investigator would say, this is quite a new view of man: thirst for the living God And that is something very different in kind from agriculture and commerce and steam engines and law and medicine--all these things might exist, and be the things upon which the mind of man fully occupied itself--but a soul thirsting for the living God--that is something totally different in kind from what I had hitherto imagined man to be: I must begin my examination of man all over again. And surely, if we consider the manner in which the different parts of this wonderful universe fit one into another, and exhibit consistency and order and unity, the thirst of the human soul for God is a good argument that there is a God to be thirsted for. When the hart seeks the water brooks, it is no speculative voyage of discovery upon which the poor creature goes. The living creature and the water are close akin to each other: if you analyze the animals substance you will find that water constitutes a large proportion of it: and though this does not prove that every hart that is thirsty will at once be fortunate enough to find a water brook, it is a good proof that water is what the animal must find if it is not to die, and it gives a strong reason to believe that the water brooks will somehow be found. And this gives us a rough suggestion of the argument for the Being of God, arising from the thirst for God which the human soul is undoubtedly capable of feeling: men would not thirst for that with which their own nature has no affinity: it is the unseen presence of the Spirit of God--that Spirit which was breathed into man when he became a living soul it is this presence which makes him thirst for God Himself, and which assures him that there is a God without whom he cannot live, in whose presence there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there is pleasure for evermore. One might have fancied or even hoped that the truth of Gods being, which was evidently the support of human souls three thousand years ago, would not have been questioned now, but as there were persons in those days who were ready at once to turn upon a believer in trouble and ask him scornfully, Where is thy God now? and as there were others who were prepared to assert dogmatically, There is no God, so it has been true ever since that the being of God has been liable to be denied. Of course that which you cannot see it is always easy to deny. Who can contradict you? Is not one mans No as good as another mans Aye? (Bishop Harvey Goodwin.)
Mans craving for God
Both these psalms are by the Sons of Koraeh, a family of Levites whose inheritance lay on the eastern side of Jordan. They were appointed doorkeepers of the Tabernacle. They possessed the Hebrew faculty for music in a high degree; and some of them possessed the closely allied faculty of poetical conception and utterance, and became singers in both senses of that word, composing the psalms which they afterwards set to music and chanted in the Temple. Dwelling on the other side of Jordan, it was often impossible for them to reach Jerusalem. Many of the Korachite psalms were composed when they were thus kept from their loved work. They abound in expressions of intense passionate desire to appear before the Lord. If we ask, Why this intense craving for the Temple and its services, the sons of Koraeh reply: It is because we want Him, the Living God. Do these words express one of the primitive intuitions, one of the profoundest yearnings and desires of every human heart, a yearning which no words can adequately utter, much more over-state? Is this the secret of the restlessness which underlies all our rest--that we want God, and cannot be at peace until He lift up upon us the light of His countenance? We are denizens of two worlds, the natural and the spiritual, and these two, opposed as they may seem, are really one, since the natural world is but the body, the complex phenomenon and organ of the spiritual. So manifold are the ways in which the sense of a Divine Presence is quickened within us, and our need of that Presence, that it is hard to select those which are most suggestive and impressive Only as we trust, love and reverence God, can the cry of our heart be stilled, and the infinite hunger of the soul be satisfied. (Samuel Cox, D. D.)
Religious affections attended with increase of spiritual longing
The higher the gracious affections are raised, observes Edwards, the more is a spiritual appetite after spiritual attainments increased; but the false affections rest satisfied in themselves.
I. Marks of the true affection.
1. The more a true Christian loves God, the more he desires to love Him.
2. The greatest eminency has no tendency to satiety.
3. Spiritual enjoyments are soul-satisfying.
II. Marks of the false affections.
1. As the false affections arise, the desire for more grace is abated.
2. As soon as the soul is convinced that its title to heaven is sure, all its desires are satisfied.
III. If hypocrites profess to have the true affections, all their desires are for by-ends.
1. They long after clearer discoveries, but it is that they may be the better satisfied with themselves.
2. Or their longings are forced, because they think they must have them.
IV. Good signs of grace.
1. A longing after a more holy heart.
2. A longing after a more holy life. (Lewis O. Thompson.)
Thirsting for God
I. Man needs God.
1. Think how helpless we are in the presence of all the mysteries of life without God.
2. Think of the far greater mysteries of a moral and spiritual kind by which we are surrounded; how the wicked appear to triumph over the righteous, how the kingdom of darkness seems likely to gain the victory over the kingdom of light; and then ask what rest we can find, unless we believe and know that God ruleth over all, and that He will yet bring all things into subjection unto Him.
3. Think of the awful power of sin, how it enslaves the soul and oppresses the heart and troubles the conscience; how it spreads like fire and like pestilence, carrying death and desolation wherever it goes; and then ask how we are to be delivered from this terrible destroyer, except by the power of the living God.
4. Think how we need God in all the temptations and trials, the perplexities and cares, the business and toil and responsibility.
II. God gives himself to man. Just as He gives light and beauty for the eye, sound and music for the ear, bread for the hunger and water for the thirst of the body, so He gives Himself, for the satisfaction of the soul. It remains for us to abide in fellowship with Him, to walk all the day in the light of His countenance, and to make our life on earth a pledge and earnest of the nobler and diviner life of heaven. (G. Hunsworth, M. A.)
God
I. As A personality.
1. That He is as distinct from the universe as the architect from the building, the author from his book, admits of no rational doubt.
2. We believe in His personality
(1) Because we have it. Could He give what He has not?
(2) Because we instinctively believe it, and
(3)Because the Bible declares it.
II. As a living personality. The living God. The world abounds with dead gods, but the God is living, consciously, independently, actively, ubiquitously. The God of modern Christendom is rather the God that was living in Old Testament times, and in the days of Christ, than the God that is living here, and with every man.
III. As a living personality craved after by the human soul. My soul thirsteth for the living God.
1. The soul is constitutionally theistic. It believes in God.
2. The soul is immensely great. Nothing but God can satisfy it. It will not be satisfied with His works, however vast and lovely, it must have Him Himself. (Homilist.)
Thirsting for God
As the hunted hart; as the hart flying from the enemy, more dead than living; as the overrun, overborne, imperilled hart pants and cries for the water brooks, so . . . then we fill in our human experience; for if we are living any life at all we are hunted, persecuted, threatened. Until we are sensible of being hunted we cannot pray much. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so . . . The so is balanced by the as. These words of manner must be equal the one to the other; the hart will be ashamed of them if it should ever come to know that so quiet, tame speech addressed to heaven is supposed to represent its earnestness when it is hunted by furious hounds. As the hart . . . Then this soul-panting after God is natural. Whatever is natural admits of legitimate satisfaction; whatever is acquired grows by what it feeds on until it works out the ruin of its devotee. No hart ever panted after wine; no bird in the air ever fluttered because of a desire to be intoxicated. When we lose or leave the line of nature we become weak, infatuated, lost. Tertullian says the natural response of the human heart is Christian. So panteth my soul after Thee, O God. Yea, for nothing less. Man needs all God. Every sinner needs the whole Cross. Every flower needs the whole solar system. Herein is the mystery of Divine passion and love, that we can all have a whole--a mystery, mayhap a contradiction in words, but a sweet reality in experience. For Thee, O God. Then for nothing strange. As the water brooks were made for the chased or panting hart, so God lives to satisfy the soul of man. Herein see the greatness of the soul of man. What does that soul need to fill it and satisfy it, and quiet it, and give it all its possible consciousness of glory? It needs the living God. Atheists themselves are intermittently religious. Even God-deniers are in some degree in an unconscious sense God-seekers. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The feelings and sentiments of a renewed soul
I. From whence does this vehement breathing after God arise? It evidently arises from a deep sense of our own insufficiency, and the insufficiency of any creature, however accomplished or perfect, to render the soul happy. The soul, brought to feel its own indigence, is encouraged to look forward with hope, and made to thirst after God, the living God,
II. What is implied in this thirsting for God?
1. An experimental feeling of the love of God.
2. Delight in every means, in every duty, in every ordinance of Divine appointment, where He hath promised to meet with His humble worshippers, and to bless them.
3. A heart disposed to wrestle with every difficulty that obstructs our access to God, and stands in the way of the full enjoyment of Him, as reconciled to us, and at peace with us.
4. This thirsting for God never fails to be accompanied with longing desires to be with the Lord, and to behold His glory. Sooner may iron cease to be attracted by the lodestone, or the sparks cease to fly upwards, or the rivers to roll towards the ocean, than a soul thirsting for God should sit down satisfied with any attainments at which it can arrive in this mixed and imperfect state. (T. Gordon.)
The soul of man has no resource independent of God
A camel does not pant after water brooks, because it carries its own water within it; but the hart does, because it has no inward resources. After being hunted on a hot day, it has no inward supplies; it is drained of its moisture. So are we. We do not carry a store of grace within of our own upon which we can rely; we need to come again, and again, and again, to the Divine fountain, and drink again from the eternal spring. Hence it is because we have a new life, and that life is dependent upon God, and has all its fresh springs in Him, that therefore we pant and thirst after Him. O Christian, if you had a sacred life which could be maintained by its own energies within, you might do without your God, but since you are naked, and poor, and miserable, apart from Him, you must come and drink day by day of the living springs, or else you faint and die. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 42, Psalms 43
Psalms 42, Psalms 43
THE second book of the Psalter is characterised by the use of the Divine name "Elohim" instead of "Jehovah." It begins with a cluster of seven psalms (reckoning Psalms 42 and 43, as one) of which the superscription is most probably regarded as ascribing their authorship to "the sons of Korach." These were Levites, and (according to 1Ch_9:19 seq.) the office of keepers of the door of the sanctuary had been hereditary in their family from the time of Moses. Some of them were among the faithful adherents of David at Ziklag, {1Ch_12:6} and in the new model of worship inaugurated by him the Korachites were doorkeepers and musicians. They retained the former office in the second Temple. {Neh_11:19} The ascription of authorship to a group is remarkable, and has led to the suggestion that the superscription does not specify the authors, but the persons for whose use the psalms in question were composed. The Hebrew would bear either meaning; but if the latter is adopted, all these psalms are anonymous. The same construction is found in Book 1 in Psalms 25-28, 35, 37 where it is obviously the designation of authorship, and it is naturally taken to have the same force in these Korachite psalms. It has been ingeniously conjectured by Delitzsch that the Korachite psalms originally formed a separate collection entitled "Songs of the Sons of Korach," and that this title afterwards passed over into the superscriptions when they were incorporated in the Psalter. It may have been so, but the supposition is unnecessary. It was not exactly literary fame which psalmists hungered for. The actual author, as one of a band of kinsmen who worked and sang together, would, not unnaturally, be content to sink his individuality and let his song go forth as that of the band. Clearly the superscriptions rested upon some tradition or knowledge, else defective information would not have been acknowledged as it is in this one; but some name would have been coined to fill the gap.
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The two psalms (Psalms 42, Psalms 43) are plainly one. The absence of a title for the second, the identity of tone throughout, the recurrence of several phrases, and especially of the refrain, put this beyond doubt. The separation, however, is old, since it is found in the LXX. It is useless to speculate on its origin.
There is much in the psalms which favours the hypothesis that the author was a Korachite companion of Davids in his flight before Absalom; but the locality, described as that of the singer, does not entirely correspond to that of the kings retreat, and the description of the enemies is not easily capable of application in all points to his foes. The house of God is still standing, the poet has been there recently, and hopes soon to return and render praise. Therefore the psalm must be pre-exilic; and while there is no certainty attainable as to date, it may at least be said that the circumstances of the singer present more points of contact with those of the supposed Korachite follower of Davids fortunes on the uplands across Jordan than with those of any other of the imaginary persons to whom modern criticism has assigned the poem. Whoever wrote it has given immortal form to the longings of the soul after God. He has fixed forever and made melodious a sigh.
The psalm falls into three parts, each closing with the same refrain. Longings and tears, remembrances of festal hours passed in the sanctuary melt the singers soul, while taunting enemies hiss continual sarcasms at him as forsaken by his God. But his truer self silences these lamentations, and cheers the feebler "soul" with clear notes of trust and hope, blown in the refrain, like some trumpet clang rallying dispirited fugitives to the fight. The stimulus serves for a moment; but once more courage fails, and once more, at yet greater length and with yet sadder tones, plaints and longings are wailed forth. Once more, too, the higher self repeats its half-rebuke, half-encouragement. So ends the first of the psalms; but obviously it is no real ending, for the victory over fear is not won, and longing has not become blessed. So once more the wave of emotion rolls over the psalmist, but with a new aspect which makes all the difference. He prays now; he had only remembered and complained and said that he would pray before. Therefore now he triumphs, and though he still is keenly conscious of his enemies, they appear but for a moment, and though he still feels that he is far from the sanctuary, his heart goes out in hopeful visions of the gladness of his return thither, and he already tastes the rapture of the joy that will then flood his heart. Therefore the refrain comes for a third time; and this time the longing, trembling soul continues at the height to which the better self has lifted it, and silently acknowledges that it need not have been cast down. Thus the whole song is a picture of a soul climbing, not without backward slips, from the depths to the heights, or, in another aspect, of the transformation of longing into certainty of fruition, which is itself fruition after a kind.
Perhaps the singer had seen, during his exile on the eastern side of Jordan, some gentle creature, with open mouth and heaving flanks, eagerly seeking in dry wadies for a drop of water to cool her outstretched tongue; and the sight had struck on his heart as an image of himself longing for the presence of God in the sanctuary. A similar bit of local colour is generally recognised in Psa_42:7. Nature reflects the poets moods, and overmastering emotion sees its own analogues everywhere. That lovely metaphor has touched the common heart as few have done, and the solitary singers plaint has fitted all devout lips. Injustice is done it, if it is regarded merely as the longing of a Levite for approach to the sanctuary. No doubt the psalmist connected communion with God and presence in the Temple more closely together than they should do who have heard the great charter, "neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem"; but, however the two things were coupled in his mind, they were sufficiently separate to allow of approach by longing and prayer while distant in body, and the true object of yearning was not access to the Temple, but communion with the God of the Temple.
The "soul" is feminine in Hebrew, and is here compared to the female deer, for "pants" is the feminine form of the verb, though its noun is masculine. It is better therefore to translate "hind" than "hart." The "soul" is the seat of emotions and desires. It "pants" and "thirsts," is "cast down" and disquieted; it is "poured out"; it can be bidden to "hope." Thus tremulous, timid, mobile, it is beautifully compared to a hind. The true object of its longings is always God, however little it knows for what it is thirsting. But they are happy in their very yearnings who are conscious of the true direction of these, and can say that it is God for whom they are athirst. All unrest of longing, all fever of thirst, all outgoings of desire, are feelers put out blindly, and are only stilled when they clasp Him. The correspondence between mans needs and their true object is involved in that name "the living God"; for a heart can rest only in one all-sufficient Person, and must have a heart to throb against. Neither abstractions nor dead things can still its cravings. That which does must be living. But no finite being can still them; and after all sweetnesses of human loves and helps of human strengths the souls thirst remains unslaked, and the Person who is enough must be the living God. The difference between the devout and the worldly man is just that the one can only say, "My soul pants and thirsts," and the other can add "after Thee, O God." This mans longing was intensified by his unwilling exile from the sanctuary, a special privation to a door keeper of the Temple. His situation and mood closely resemble those in another Korachite psalm (Psalms 84), in which, as here, the soul "faints for the courts of the Lord," and as here the panting hind, so there the glancing swallows flitting about the eaves are woven into the song. Unnamed foes taunt the psalmist with the question, "Where is thy God?" There is no necessity to conclude that these were heathens, though the taunt is usually put into heathen lips {Psa_79:10; Psa_52:2} but it would be quite as natural from co-religionists, flouting his fervour and personal grasp of God and taking his sorrows as tokens of Gods abandonment of him. That is the worlds way with the calamities of a devout man, whose humble cry, "My God," it resents as presumption or hypocrisy. But even these bitter sarcasms are less bitter than the remembrance of "happier things," which is his "sorrows crown of sorrow." Yet, with the strange but universal love of summoning up remembrance of departed joys, the psalmist finds a certain pleasure in the pain of recalling how he. a Levite, led the festal march to the Temple, and in listening in fancy again to the shrill cries of joy which broke from the tumultuous crowd. The form of the verbs "remember" and "pour out" in Psa_42:4 indicates set purpose. The higher self arrests this flow of self-pity and lamentation. The feminine soul has to give account of her moods to calmer judgment, and to be lifted and steadied by the strong spirit. The preceding verses have given ample reason why she has been dejected, but now she is summoned to repeat them to a judicial ear. The insufficiency of the circumstances described to warrant the vehement emotions expressed is implied in the summons. Feeling has to vindicate its rationality or to suppress itself, and its grounds have often only to be stated to the better self, to be found altogether disproportioned to the storm they have raised. It is a very elementary but necessary lesson for the conduct of life that emotion of all sorts, sad or glad, religious or other, needs rigid scrutiny and firm control, sometimes stimulating and sometimes chilling. The true counterpoise to its excess lies in directing it to God and in making Him the object of hope and patient waiting. Emotion varies, but God is the same. The facts on which faith feeds abide while faith fluctuates. The secret of calm is to dwell in that inner chamber of the secret place of the Most High, which whoso inhabits "heareth not the loud winds when they call," and is neither dejected nor uplifted, neither disturbed by excessive joys nor torn by anxieties.
Psa_42:5 has the refrain in a form slightly different from that of the other two instances of its occurrence. {Psa_42:11 and Psa_43:5} But probably the text is faulty. The shifting of the initial word of Psa_42:6 to the end of Psa_42:5, and the substitution of My for His, bring the three refrains into line, and avoid the harsh expression "help of His countenance." Since no reason for the variation is discernible, and the proposed slight change of text improves construction and restores uniformity, it is probably to be adopted. If it is, the second part of the psalm is also conformed to the other two in regard to its not beginning with the Divine name.
The break in the clouds is but momentary, and the grey wrack fills the sky once more. The second part of the psalm takes up the question of the refrain, and first reiterates with bitter emphasis that the soul is bowed down, and then pours out once more the stream of reasons for dejection. But the curb has not been applied quite in vain, for throughout the succeeding verses there is a striking alternation of despondency and hope. Streaks of brightness flash through the gloom. Sorrow is shot with trust. This conflict of opposite emotions is the characteristic of the second part of the psalm, while that of the first part is an all but unrelieved predominance of gloom, and that of the third an all but undisputed victory of sunshine. Naturally this transition strophe is marked by the mingling of both. In the former part, memory was the handmaid of sorrow, and came involuntarily, and increased the singers pain; but in this part he makes an effort of will to remember, and in remembrance finds an antidote to sorrow. To recall past joys adds stings to present grief, but to remember God brings an anodyne for the smart. The psalmist is far from the sanctuary, but distance does not hinder thought. This mans faith was not so dependent on externals that it could not come close to God while distant from His temple. It had been so far strengthened by the encouragement of the refrain that the reflux of sadness at once rouses it to action. "My soul is cast down; therefore let me remember Thee." With wise resolve he finds in dejection a reason for nestling closer to God. In reference to the description of the psalmists locality, Cheyne beautifully says, "The preposition from is chosen (rather than in) with a subtle purpose. It suggests that the psalmists faith will bridge over the interval between himself and the sanctuary: I can send my thoughts to Thee from the distant frontier" (in loc.). The region intended seems to be "the northeastern corner of Palestine, near the lower slopes of Hermons" (Cheyne. u.s.). The plural "Hermons" is probably used in reference to the group of crests. "Mizar" is probably the name of a hill otherwise unknown, and specifies the singers locality more minutely, though not helpfully to us. Many ingenious attempts have been made to explain the name either as symbolical or as a common noun, and not a proper name, but these need not be dealt with here. The locality thus designated is too far north for the scene of Davids retreat before Absalom, unless we give an unusual southward extension to the names; and this makes a difficulty in the way of accepting the hypothesis of the authors having been in his retinue.
The twofold emotions of Psa_42:6 recur in Psa_42:7-8, where we have first renewed despondency and then reaction into hope. The imagery of floods lifting up their voices, and cataracts sounding as they fall, and breaking waves rolling over the half-drowned psalmist has been supposed to be suggested by the scenery in which he was; but the rushing noise of Jordan in its rocky bed seems scarcely enough to deserve being described as "flood calling to flood," and "breakers and rollers" is an exaggeration if applied to any commotion possible on such a stream. The imagery is so usual that it needs no assumption of having been occasioned by the poets locality. The psalmist paints his calamities as storming on him in dismal continuity, each "flood" seeming to summon its successor. They rush upon him, multitudinous and close following; they pour down on him as with the thunder of descending cataracts; they overwhelm him like the breakers and rollers of an angry ocean. The bold metaphors are more striking when contrasted with the opposite ones of the first part. The dry and thirsty land there and the rush of waters here mean the same thing, so flexible is nature in a poets hands.
Then follows a gleam of hope, like a rainbow spanning the waterfall. With the alternation of mood already noticed as characteristic, the singer looks forward, even from the midst of overwhelming seas of trouble, to a future day when God will give His angel, Mercy or Lovingkindness, charge concerning him and draw him out of many waters. That day of extrication will surely be followed by a night of music and of thankful prayer (for supplication is not the only element in prayer) to Him who by His deliverance has shown Himself to be the "God of" the rescued mans "life." The epithet answers to that of the former part, "the living God," from which it differs by but one additional letter. He who has life in Himself is the Giver and Rescuer of our lives, and to Him they are to be rendered in thankful sacrifice. Once more the contending currents meet in Psa_42:9 and Psa_42:10, in the former of which confidence and hope utter themselves in the resolve to appeal to God and in the name given to Him as "my Rock"; while another surge of despondency breaks, in the question in which the soul interrogates God, as the better self had interrogated her, and contrasts almost reproachfully Gods apparent forgetfulness, manifested by His delay in deliverance with her remembrance of Him. It is not a question asked for enlightenments sake but is an exclamation of impatience, if not of rebuke. Psa_42:10 repeats the enemies taunt, which is there represented as like crushing blows which broke the bones. And then once more above this conflict of emotion soars the clear note of the refrain, summoning to self-command, calmness, and unfaltering hope.
But the victory is not quite won, and therefore Psalms 43, follows. It is sufficiently distinct in tone to explain its separation from the preceding, inasmuch as it is prayer throughout, and the note of joy is dominant, even while an undertone of sadness links it with the previous parts. The unity is vouched by the considerations already noticed, and by the incompleteness of Psalms 42 without such triumphant close and of Psalms 43 without such despondent beginning. The prayer of Psa_43:1-2, blends the two elements, which were at war in the second part; and for the moment the darker is the more prominent. The situation is described as in the preceding parts. The enemy is called a "loveless nation." The word rendered "loveless" is compounded of the negative prefix and the word which is usually found with the meaning of "one whom God favours," or visits with lovingkindness. It has been much disputed whether its proper signification is active (one who shows lovingkindness) or passive (one who receives it). But, considering that lovingkindness is in the Psalter mainly a Divine attribute, and that, when a human excellence, it is regarded as derived from and being the echo of experienced Divine mercy, it is best to take the passive meaning as the principal, though sometimes, as unmistakably here, the active is more suitable. These loveless people are not further defined, and may either have been Israelites or aliens. Perhaps there was one "man" of special mischief prominent among them, but it is not safe to treat that expression as anything but a collective. Psa_43:2 looks back to Psa_42:9, the former clause in each verse being practically equivalent, and the second in 43 (Psa_43:2), being a quotation of the second in Psa_42:9, with a variation in the form of the verb to suggest more vividly the picture of weary, slow, dragging gait, fit for a man clad in mourning garb.
But the gloomier mood has shot its last bolt. Grief which finds no fresh words is beginning to dry up. The stage of mechanical repetition of complaints is not far from that of cessation of them. So the higher mood conquers at last, and breaks into a burst of joyous petition, which passes swiftly into realisation of the future joys whose coming shines thus far off. Hope and trust hold the field. The certainty of return to the Temple overbears the pain of absence from it, and the vivid realisation of the gladness of worshipping again at the altar takes the place of the vivid remembrance of former festal approach thither. It is the prerogative of faith to make pictures drawn by memory pale beside those painted by hope. Light and Troth-i.e., Lovingkindness and Faithfulness in fulfilling promises-are like two angels, despatched from the presence-chamber of God, to guide with gentleness the exiles steps. That is to say, because God is mercy and faithfulness, the return of the psalmist to the home of his heart is sure. God being what He is, no longing soul can ever remain unsatisfied. The actual return to the Temple is desired because thereby new praise will be occasioned. Not mere bodily presence there, but that joyful outpouring of triumph and gladness, is the object of the psalmists longing. He began with yearning after the living God. In his sorrow he could still think of Him at intervals as the help of his countenance and call Him "my God." He ends with naming Him "the gladness of my joy." Whoever begins as he did will finish where he climbed. The refrain is repeated for a third time, and is followed by no relapse into sadness. The effort of faith should be persistent, even if old bitternesses begin again and "break the low beginnings of content"; for, even if the wild waters burst through the dam once and again, they do not utterly wash it away, and there remains a foundation on which it may be built up anew. Each swing of the gymnast lifts him higher until he is on a level with a firm platform on which he can spring and stand secure. Faith may have a long struggle with fear, but it will have the last word, and that word will be "the help of my countenance and my God."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Superscription: “To the Chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons…
INTRODUCTION
Superscription: “To the Chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.” Maschil, an instruction, a didactic poem.
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“The sons of Korah,” descendants of Korah, were an important company of singers (1Ch_6:33; 2Ch_20:19). Opinions differ as to whether this and ten or eleven other psalms bearing the name of “the sons of Korah” were composed by them or for them. The title may mean “for the sons of Korah,” “to the sons of Korah,” or “of the sons of Korah.” Winer, Origen, Rosenmüller, Hensler, Eichorn, De Wette, Olshausen, Hengstenberg, et al., hold that the sons of Korah were the authors of these psalms. Hengstenberg regards the 42 and 43 psalms as the composition of one of the sons of Korah concerning the experience of David; the former is the author and the latter is the object of the psalm: “one of the sons of Korah sang this psalm as from the soul of David.” The psalms which bear this title are remarkable for beauty, sublimity, and intense feeling. “As, however, the language of several of these psalms—as the 42 and 48, &c.—is manifestly meant to apply to David, it seems much simpler to explain the title ‘for the sons of Korah,’ to mean that they were given to them to sing in the temple services. If their style of music, vocal and instrumental, was of a more sublime and lyric character than that of the sons of Merari or Gershon, and Heman had more fire in his execution than Asaph and Jeduthun, it is perfectly natural that David should have given his more poetic and elevated strains to Heman and his choir, and the simpler and quieter psalms to the other choirs.”
The occasion of the composition was probably the time of the rebellion of Absalom, when David was forced into exile from his home and from the tabernacle of God. This and the following psalm stand in very close relation to each other, and were probably composed on the same occasion.
Homiletically, the psalm sets before us, A godly soul under a sense of absence from God (Psa_42:1-5); and the deep depression and strong consolation of a godly soul (Psa_42:6-11).
A GODLY SOUL UNDER A SENSE OF ABSENCE FROM GOD
(Psa_42:1-5.)
I. The sorrow of a godly soul. “My tears have been my meat day and night,” &c. David here sets forth—
1. The cause of his sorrow. The Psalmist was driven into exile, away from home and from the tabernacle of God. And in his trials he seems to have temporarily lost the sense of the Divine presence and favour. It was probably the weight and bitterness of the trials of the Psalmist at this time which led to his inability to realise the gracious presence of God. Under severe afflictions, the soul is apt to feel itself forsaken by God. This was the cause of David’s sorrow. He felt himself deserted by God. “Sometimes God teaches us effectually to know the work of mercies by the want of them, and whets our appetite for the means of grace by cutting us short in those means.”
2. The aggravation of his sorrow. David’s sorrow was made all the keener by
(1.) The reproaches of his enemies. “They continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” His enemies seem to have reproached him with being forsaken by God; that, being exiled from the tabernacle of God, he was exiled also from God Himself; that his miseries were an evidence that he was abandoned by God. “This,” says Robertson, “is ever the way in religious perplexity: the unsympathising world taunts or misunderstands. In spiritual grief they ask, Why is he not like others? In bereavement, they call your deep sorrow unbelief. In misfortune, they comfort you like Job’s friends by calling it a visitation. Or, like the barbarians at Melita, when the viper fastened on Paul’s hand, no doubt they call you an infidel, though your soul be crying after God. Specially in that dark and awful hour, when HE called on God, ‘Eloi, Eloi,’ they said, ‘Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save Him.’ Now, this is sharp to bear. It is easy to say Christian fortitude should be superior to it. But in darkness to have no sympathy,—when the soul gropes for God, to have the hand of man relax its grasp!”
(2.) The recollection of past joys. “When I remember these, I pour out my soul in me,” &c. (Psa_42:4.) Here is worship. David was a devout man. His delight was in the worship of God. “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.” Here is social worship. “I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God.” His enjoyment of religious ordinances was increased by uniting in them with others. Here is joyous social worship. “With the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy-day.” Their religious assemblies were characterised by devout gladness. Now, “the pain of the Psalmist is increased, when he brings into view his earlier blessedness, and places it beside his present misery.” His experience is like that described by Tennyson,
“A sorrow’s crown of sorrow is remembering happier things.”
3. The continuousness of his sorrow, “My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually,” &c. His grief was with him as a constant companion. His sorrow knew no intermission. And the reproaches of his enemies were ever ringing in his ears and agonising his heart. This tearstained page from the autobiography of David, represents the sorrows of many a godly soul to-day.
II. The desire of a godly soul. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God” (Psa_42:1-2). Notice—
1. The object of his desire. “God, … the living God.” David’s great longing was not for restoration to his palace and throne, or even to the tabernacle; it was for realisation of the presence of God. It is quite true that “lamenting after God is as sure an evidence that we love Him as rejoicing in God.” But the soul thus mourning His absence fails to realise this, or, realising it, derives little or no help from it. We are so constituted that, we cannot rest out of God. Now, consider the God the Psalmist longed for. His God was a Person, “Thee, O God.” He was a living Person. “The living God.” How different from the heartless God which science and philosophy offer to men! a God which is but another name for “law” and “order.” How different also from the God of metaphysical creeds and rigid theological systems! In these, the Divine Being is too often represented as cold, hard, far remote from men, and having little or no interest in the affairs of His creatures. The God for whom the Psalmist longed is very different. He is a living Person who takes deep interest in His creatures, who loves them and seeks their love, who listens to their prayers, and works for their salvation. This is the God that anxious and burdened men cry out for,—the God for whom the Psalmist thirsted and whom the Saviour revealed. To realise the presence and favour of this living God was the great object of desire to David.
2. The intensity of his desire. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth,” &c. The word translated “hart” is a common noun, but, inasmuch as it is here joined with a feminine verb, it must be taken as denoting the hind or female deer. “The Psalmist chose the hind,” says Hengstenberg,” “chiefly because the hind rather than the hart is suitable as compared with the feminine soul, which is like it in its weakness.” And Barnes: “There is an idea of tenderness in the reference to the word hart here—female deer, gazelle—which would not strike us if the reference had been to any other animal. These are so timid, so gentle, so delicate in their structure, so much the natural objects of love and compassion, that our feelings are drawn towards them as to all other animals in similar circumstances.” We are not to think of the hunted hind, exhausted, parched, and alarmed by pursuit, but of the hind in time of prevailing drought (compare Psa_63:1). “My soul thirsteth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.” The word translated “panteth”—margin, “brayeth”—denotes eager desire. So the Psalmist intensely longed for the presence and fellowship of God. His desire “is very importunate: it is his soul that pants, his soul that thirsts, which denotes not only the sincerity, but the strength of his desire.”
III. The hope of a godly soul. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” &c. (Psa_42:5). Calvin says: “David represents himself here to us as divided into two parts. In so far as he rests through faith in God’s promises, he raises himself, equipped with the spirit of an invincible valour, against the feelings of the flesh, and at the same time blames his weakness.” Hengstenberg: “It is the spirit mighty in God which here meets the trembling soul.” Consider—
1. Whom he hoped in. “Hope thou in God.” He turned the eye of his soul away from his painful circumstances, from the ingratitude and treachery of men, from its own troubled mood, to God. He is always the same, always gracious, always strong to save. Hope in Him.
2. What he hoped for. “The help of His countenance.” “The salvation of His countenance.” “Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.” “Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us.” “In His favour is life.” The Psalmist hoped for complete deliverance and restoration by the favour of God. This he designates, “the salvation of His countenance.”
3. Whereon he grounded his hope. “For I shall yet praise Him,” &c. “The ground of his hope is his believing confidence that the Lord, who is always his God, will by his deliverance give him occasion for thanks.”—Hengstenberg.
CONCLUSION.—Here we have a remedy for despondency. Look up and hope in God. Away from thine unhappy circumstances, away from thy cheerless prospects, away from thine own troubled condition, look up and hope in God; and thy moan shall be changed into a grateful song.
MAN SPEAKING TO HIS SOUL
(Psa_42:5.)
We have in these words—
I. Self-remonstrance. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?” “It is the spirit mighty in God, which here meets the trembling soul.” It is faith interrogating feeling. We all have had some experience of this duality in unity in our own being. We know what it is for the human soul to shrink and tremble and suffer, while the spirit, nerved by faith, is calm, fearless, and heroic. These interrogations imply—
1. Great suffering of soul. “Cast down,” bowed down, deeply dejected. “Disquieted,” anxious, agitated, troubled. Godly souls sometimes pass through deep waters.
2. Groundless suffering of soul. “Why art thou cast down?” &c. The interrogation implies that there was no sufficient reason for this depression and anxiety. The man who can call the Lord his God can never have sufficient reason to be so deeply troubled as David was.
II. Self-exhortation. “Hope thou in God.” “In God,” as contradistinguished,
1. From man. Man is not always willing to aid us in the day of distress. Even when he is willing, his power to do so is very limited. Man is sometimes unreliable, false. Supposing this psalm to have been written during the rebellion of Absalom, or to refer to it, David was having painful experiences of the ingratitude and treachery of men, notably in the cases of Absalom and Ahithophel. “In God;” not in man.
2. From circumstances. The circumstances and prospects of the poet were very dark. Circumstances are sometimes as variable as April weather. They are not to be relied on. “In God;” not in circumstances.
3. From ourselves. We are foolish, weak, changeable. The moods of our soul are influenced by almost countless circumstances. To-day we are on Hermon; to-morrow we must enter Gethsemane. “In God;” not in ourselves. “In God;” for He is
(1) Ever gracious.
(2) All-sufficient.
(3) Unchangeable.
III. Self-encouragement. “For I shall yet praise Him,” &c.
1. The facts concerning salvation which are here suggested.
(1) That it is the result of the favour of God. “The salvation of His countenance.” (See preceding exposition of these words.)
(2) That it inspires the praise of man. “For I shall yet praise Him.” The salvation of God gives both matter for praise and the disposition to praise.
2. The assurance of salvation. There is no faltering or hesitation in the declaration of the Psalmist. The spirit is triumphant in faith, though the soul is dejected by suffering.
3. The ground of this assurance. The Psalmist’s faith rests in the relation of God to him. This is brought out in the eleventh verse, which is an almost exact repetition of this one. “My God.” He who can so speak of God may well be confident of full and glorious salvation.
THE DEEP DEPRESSION AND STRONG CONSOLATION OF A GODLY SOUL
(Psa_42:6-11.)
The Psalmist has addressed himself to his own soul, but has not obtained the victory over his troubles. Now he turns to God and addresses Him on the matter.
I. The deep depression of a godly soul “O my God, my soul is cast down within me.” He sets before us—
1. The greatness of his troubles. He expresses this variously.
(1) He declares his great dejection of soul. “My soul is cast down within me.” It was sinking under the weight of its trials.
(2) He compares his troubles to an angry flood. “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts,” &c. Hengstenberg says: “The floods are the roaring sea-billows of suffering and pain. Flood calls to flood, one invites, as it were, another to pour itself forth on the Psalmist.” The waves of anguish were beating pitilessly upon the poet’ soul.
(3) He compares his troubles to the slaughter of his soul. “As with a sword in my bones,” &c. Margin: “As with a killing,” &c. Hengstenberg: “It is as a murder in my bones,” &c” The murder here is used figuratively for designating a deadly anguish of soul: the reproaches are to the soul of the Psalmist what murder is to the body. (Comp. Luk_2:35.) ‘A sword shall pierce through thine own soul also.’ That the murder is represented as having its seat in the bones of the Psalmist, is designed to mark the pain as going through the marrow and bones wounding the heart.”
2. The causes of his trouble. Of these he mentions two:—
(1) His forced exile from his home and from the tabernacle of the Lord. He was now far away from home, in “the land of Jordan and the Hermonites, and the hill Mizar.” Jordan was the eastern boundary of Canaan. Hermon, a mountain on the north eastern border of Palestine, having three summits, for which reason probably it is spoken of here as “the Hermonites” or Hermons. “Mizar” is probably the name of a small mountain; but what mountain is now unknown. But the point for us to seize is this, the Psalmist “was now driven to the utmost borders of the land of Canaan, to shelter himself there from the rage of his persecutors.” He is far from home, far from the tabernacle and worship of His God.
(2) The reproaches of his enemies. “Mine enemies reproach me,” &c. (See notes on Psa_42:3.)
3. The relation of his trouble to God. “Thy waterspouts, all Thy waves and Thy billows.” He regarded his troubles as in some sense coming from God. God is either the originator or permitter of all our troubles. “Whatever waves and billows of affliction go over us at any time we must call them God’s waves and His billows, that we may humble ourselves under His mighty hand, and may encourage ourselves to hope that though we be threatened we shall not be ruined; for the waves and billows are under a Divine check.”—M. Henry.
When we consider these things we wonder not that the Psalmist was deeply depressed.
II. The strong consolation of a godly soul.
1. In the remembrance of God. “O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore will I remember Thee.” He recollected the great goodness and the mighty acts of God, and was comforted. “The way to forget the sense of our miseries is to remember the God of our mercies.”
2. In the assurance of God’s constant mercy. “The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the day-time,” &c The loving-kindness of God consists, says Hengstenberg, “in the inward consolations which are granted to the Psalmist in the midst of his outward misery. In and along with the favour the song is also at the same time given. For the person who is comforted through God’s favour, is enabled to sing praise to Him. Upon the song and out of it follows the prayer.” “Believing expectation of mercy must not supersede, but quicken, our prayers for it.” “Daytime” and “night” we understand, as in Psa_42:3, as indicating continuance. The assurance of the Psalmist is that God would always show him His mercy. Even in our greatest troubles there is Divine mercy. “The Psalmist called the Lord the God of his life, because He preserved and supported it, and must awaken him out of the death to which he seemed now appointed.”
3. In confident access to God in prayer “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast Thou forgotten me?” &c. Notice,
(1) His characterisation of God. “God, my Rock;” implying that God was his strength, his defence, firm and immovable.
(2) His expostulation with God. “Why hast Thou forgotten me?” &c. To his suffering soul it seemed as though God had forgotten him. But his spirit, strong in faith, knew otherwise. The inquiry, “Why,” &c., implies the conviction that God could not possibly even in appearance forget him much longer, that soon his mourning must be changed into rejoicing. Thus to have access to God is no small consolation to His people when they are tried.
4. In the assured anticipation of deliverance from trouble. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” &c. (See notes and homiletic sketch on Psa_42:5.) This verse is a repetition of Psa_42:5, with this difference, instead of “His countenance” we have “my countenance,” and the words “and my God” are added at the close. The idea is that when David found salvation in God’s countenance or favour, the clouds would pass away from his own countenance, and it would become radiant with gratitude and gladness. “And my God” is a note of triumph in response to the enemies who had mockingly challenged him, “Where is thy God?” So the psalm closes with notes of assured and complete victory.
CONCLUSION.—
1. Here is instruction for the depressed believer. In your deep dejection remember God, pray unto Him, trust Him. In the land of the Hermons He is as near to save thee as in the sacred worship of the sanctuary.
2. Here is encouragement for the depressed believer. “Hope in God; for thou shalt yet praise Him,” &c.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Psa 42:1-3
Psa 42:1-3
I. The Christian must often share feelings such as these. The iron fetters of his oppressors—namely, the sins which are ever besetting him—are sore and heavy. These fearful foes which he bears within his own bosom—sins of unrestrained appetite, sins that spring of past habits, sins of criminal weakness and cowardice—they triumph over him sometimes; and when he falls, they seem to say, "Where is thy God?" But it is not his fall only and God’s absence that afflict him. It is that he knows how these enemies are carrying him away—carrying him into captivity; and he knows not how or when he shall again return to appear in the presence of his God. When apathy has silently crept over our souls till we begin, not exactly to disobey, but to be careless about obedience; when we have wandered away from Christ and from the Cross, not indeed on purpose, but simply from not heeding our steps, what shall startle us and bring us back better than to have our hearts touched and our feelings stirred by the return of a festival or a fast unlike common days?
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II. But there are dangers, it may be said, in such observances; and the observances themselves are more like Jewish discipline than Christian liberty. Both these things are true. We may say that we will not have a special season for penitence, and will make our penitence extend over our whole life, and as we are always sinning, so always be repenting. But if we try it, we find that the result is that if we are much engaged, as many of us ought to be, in the work which God has given us to do in the world, the penitent spirit, instead of being spread over our lives, threatens to disappear altogether, and our characters sink down to a lower level; less spiritual, less pure, less lofty, less self-denying. We need such seasons in order to keep alive in our minds the high standard by which the pure conscience ought to judge.
III. The natural expression of our feelings at such seasons is that expressed in the verse of the Psalms, "To commune with our own hearts and in our chambers." Real, earnest self-examination has taken the place of all other penitential expressions.
Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, p. 254.
I. The figure of intense thirst is current coin in the figurative language of all ages; and with this thirst, says the Psalmist, "My soul longeth for the living God." There is something more here than mere intellectual conviction. To believe in God is much; to be athirst and to long for Him is much more.
II. The language of the text not only transcends mere belief in God as the great Creator and Governor of the world; it also surpasses any language which could be adopted by the belief in God as the Benefactor and Preserver of the man who used the language. It is just when David seems to be deserted, when his enemies are triumphing over him, when his whole prospect is as black as night, that his soul is thirsting for God, even for the living God.
III. This language by no means stands alone. It is no exaggeration to say that the connection between the human soul and the living God and the consequent appetite of the pure soul for God’s presence constitutes the very first principle of the book of Psalms.
IV. The thirst of the human soul after God is a great argument that there is a God to be thirsted for. Men would not thirst for that for which they have no affinity. The human soul longs for the sympathy of some being higher than, and yet like, itself. The presence of God can only be imagined as, in some sense, a human presence. The practical proof of the being of God—not of God as a mere power, or a mere synonym for nature, or a mere hypothesis, but of God Who has created man, and Who loves him with the love of a Father, and desires a return of love for love—is to be found in the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 289.
References: Psa 42:1.—R. M. McCheyne, Additional Remains, p. 410. Psa 42:1-3.—F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 106.
Psa 42:2
I. When the Psalmist says, "My soul is athirst," he certainly describes no rare or peculiar state of feeling. The thirst of the soul is as generic as the thirst of the body.
II. The Psalmist said, "My soul is athirst for God." He knew that all men in the nations round him were pursuing gods. Pleasure was a god; wealth was a god; fame was a god. What the Jew had been taught was that the Lord his God was one Lord. He was not to pursue a god of pleasure, a god of wealth, a god of fame. He was made in the image of the God. The God was not far from him. The thirst for happiness means and ends in the thirst for God.
III. The Psalmist goes on, "Even for the living God." It is no idle addition to the former words. The gods which the Israelites had been taught they were not to worship were dead gods. There is a thirst of the soul to create something in its own likeness, but the first and deepest thirst is to find in what likeness it is itself created, whence all its living powers are derived, who has fixed their ends, who can direct them to their ends.
IV. Finally, the Psalmist says, "When shall I come and appear before God?" A bold petition! Ought he not rather to have prayed, "O God, prepare me for the day when I must appear before Thee"? This is the modification which we who live under the New Testament generally give to words which those who lived before the incarnation and epiphany of Jesus Christ could utter in simple fulness. What they held was that God prepared them for His appearing by teaching them to hope for it. If they did not expect it, did not hope for it, they would be startled and confounded by it; if they did, every step in their history, every struggle, every joy, was an education for it.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 129.
Psa 42:2
This verse expresses the attitude and mission of the Christian Church. The attitude. For what are the struggles of Christian souls except, in the midst of a world that is quite complicated with difficulties, in the midst of a world that is overwhelmed with sorrow, in the midst of a time of severe temptation, to constantly rise and gaze high above the thought of evil, and gaze towards the sun of brightness, and cry for God? And what is the mission of the Christian Church? Is it not to help men and women in their struggle and their sorrow to forget, at least at times, their pettinesses and degradation, to rise to better standards and loftier ideals, and to cry for God?
I. In such a verse as this we are face to face with one of those great governed contrasts that are found throughout Scripture and throughout human life. There are at least four forms of attraction which are presented to our souls. There is (1) the attraction of natural beauty; (2) the attraction of activity; (3) the attraction of the intellect; (4) the attraction of the affections. There are many things given; there are many attractions to draw: they will stimulate; they will help; they will console; they will give pleasure: there is one thing that satisfies the immortal; there is one life that meets your need. "My soul is athirst for God." There is something deeper in man than his aesthetic desire or his active practice, something deeper beneath us all than anything that finds expression, certainly than anything that finds satisfaction. You yourself, the foundation of your life, must be satisfied; and being infinite and immortal, you can know but one satisfaction.
II. What is meant by the thirst for God? (1) It means thirsting for and desiring moral truth. The thirst for God means the thirst within us to fulfil His moral law. (2) The thirst of the soul for God is the thirst to love goodness because it is right.
III. It is our privilege, beyond the privilege of the Psalmist, to know in the Gospel, to know in the Church, Christ, God expressed in humanity. Is your soul athirst for the Highest? You may find it if you come in repentance, if you come in desire, if you come in quiet determination to do your duty—you may find it satisfied in Christ.
J. Knox-Little, Anglican Pulpit of To-Day, p. 267 (see also Manchester Sermons, p. 193).
I. Let us learn from these words a great law of our being. God made us that He might love us. God has given us the capacity of loving Himself, and He has made it a law of our being that we must love Him if we are ever to be happy, that there is no happiness for us but in fulfilling that law of our being which requires us to love the living God.
II. Again, we learn when we look at the text and think of the longing that filled the heart of the Psalmist how wonderfully little our lives and our hearts correspond to this purpose of God’s love. How little of this longing there is in our hearts, this thirst for God, the living God; and all the while God, looking down upon us in His infinite mercy, is longing for our hearts, the hearts of His children. We may say it with reverence that the heart of God is athirst for our love, and longs that our hearts should be athirst for Him.
III. This expression of the Psalmist may be the expression of a soul that has known what it is to love God and to enjoy God’s love, who is mourning under the hidings of God’s countenance, the sunshine of whose love has been clouded, who is walking in darkness and having no light. Never did a soul thirst for God, cry out for God, the living God, but God sooner or later, in His own good time, filled that soul with all His fulness, flooded that soul with all the sunshine of His love. It is for the Holy Spirit’s help that we must pray; it is on His help we must lean; it is He from whom we must ask the power to thirst for God, the living God.
Bishop Maclagan, Penny Pulpit, No. 731.
Taken in their original sense, the words of our text apply only to that strange phenomenon which we call religious depression. But I have ventured to take them in a wider sense than that. It is not only Christian men who are cast down, whose souls "thirst for God." All men, everywhere, may take this text for theirs.
I. There is in every man an unconscious and unsatisfied longing after God, and that is the state of nature. Experience is the test of that principle. (1) We are not independent. None of us can stand by himself. No man carries within him the fountain from which he can draw. (2) We are made to need, not things, but living persons. Hearts want hearts. A living man must have a living God, or his soul will perish in the midst of earthly plenty, and will thirst and die whilst the water of earthly delights is running all around him. (3) We need one Being who shall be all-sufficient. If a man is to be blessed, he must have one source where he can go. The merchantman that seeks for many goodly pearls may find the many, but until he has bartered them all for the one there is something lacking.
II. There is a conscious longing, imperfect, though fully supplied; and that is the state of grace, the beginning of religion in a man’s soul. There can be no deeper truth than this—God is a faithful Creator; and where He makes men with longings, it is a prophecy that these longings are going to be supplied. "He knoweth our frame," and He remembereth what He has implanted within us. The perfecting of your character may be got in the Lamb of God, and without Him it can never be possessed. Christ is everything, and "out of His fulness all we receive grace for grace." Not only in Christ is there the perfect supply of all these necessities, but also the fulness becomes ours on the simple condition of desiring it. In the Divine region the principle of the giving is this—to desire is to have; to long is to possess.
III. Lastly, there is a perfect longing perfectly satisfied; and that is heaven. We shall not then be independent, of course, of constant supplies from the great central fulness, any more than we are here. Thirst as longing is eternal; thirst as aspiration after God is the glory of heaven; thirst as desire for more of Him is the very condition of the celestial world, and the element of all its blessedness.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 1863, p. 135.
References: Psa 42:2.—S. Macnaughton, Real Religion and Real Life, p. 13; T. G. Rose, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 261; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 36.
Psa 42:4
I. The literal reference is to the place at which the Jews were accustomed statedly to worship God, which had been selected by Divine appointment, and by whose institutions were mainly preserved the objects of the Jewish economy.
II. Notice the advantages of the sanctuary. It is the scene (1) of instruction; (2) of consolation; (3) of fellowship with God; (4) of preparation for heaven.
W. M. Punshon, Sermons, p. 101.
Psa 42:6
I. Man’s natural instinct, when his soul is cast down within him, is to forget God, and not to remember Him, to let God and the higher world slip out of his relaxing hand. Despair is reckless, and deep misery tends strongly to despair.
II. Consider the reason, nature, and fruit of David’s remembrance of God when "his soul was cast down within him." (1) The reason. I will remember Thee, for I am not my own, but Thine. Here is the fundamental principle of relief from crushing burdens of care. God cares more for me, for my present and my future, than I care for myself. Here is a fountain of inspiration, the kindling of an unconquerable hope. (2) The nature of the remembrance. What about God did he recall? (a) That the Lord was his portion, of which neither earth nor hell could rob him. (b) "God my rock" opens a new idea. Firmer than the granite mountains, more enduring than the everlasting hills, was this portion of his spirit. (c) He remembered that God was the health of his countenance, and the spring of his everlasting joy. (3) The fruit of his remembrance of God in the depths. "In the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."
J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 287.
Psa 42:7
I. Notice the force of the image which is here employed. Resistless power, impassive fixedness of purpose, and a certain solemn sadness make the ocean waves the grandest image of the calamities of life.
II. Let us try to estimate the experience which the image portrays. (1) There are two spheres of pain. The one comprehends the common experience of mankind. Every life has its toils, cares, burdens, perils. But (2) we mean something quite different from this when we speak of calamity, the anguish through which a soul may be called to pass, and the despair in which it may be lost. It is the "wave upon wave" which is so exhausting. One shock we can breast and master, but shock after shock is crushing.
III. There is one wave which a strong hand holds back, one last crushing blow which is spared. He hath not suffered your hope to be removed. A sure Pilot steers thy storm-tossed vessel through the billows. He will not leave the helm till He has landed thee on the blessed shore.
J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 252.
Reference: Psa 42:7.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 865.
Psa 42:8
I. The first thought we would draw from this verse is that there must be changes in every true life. (1) These changes give to life the most opposed conditions—light and darkness. There is day and there is night. These represent the shiftings of colour that pass across our history, from the broad, bright sunshine of prosperity to the darkest and heaviest of our trials. If our life is to be of any value, these must come in some form, outwardly or inwardly. (2) These changes are according to a fixed law. It is a law of alternation. It is day and night, and, let us thank God, it is also in due time night and day. Each has its time and use. (3) In the general, God sends us a portion of the day before the night. The Christian life is usually at first a simple, humble apprehension of God’s mercy which gives the love of youth, and knows not the pains of backsliding nor the chillness of decline. It is in kindness that God begins our life with such a daytime. It strengthens for the trial, and creates a memory within which can be nourished into a hope. (4) But after day it is God’s manner, sooner or later, to send night. It is night that lets us measure the day. At night we can tell our work, and count our gains, and resolve, if another day be granted, that to-morrow shall not be as this day, but much more abundant. (5) And yet we cannot wish that God should close our view of this life with night. We long to have the night break up before we die, to have some horizon streak of the coming day.
II. The second thought contained in this passage is that to suit these changes in life there are Divine provisions. For the day God commands His "loving-kindness;" for the night He gives "His song." The loving-kindness is God’s goodness on and around us, the song His goodness in and passing through us.
III. The third thought is that there is a constant duty on our part amid all. "And my prayer unto the God of my life." The day and the night call upon us to sanctify each, by its own form, to God; and some days and nights in their temptations and sorrows demand those wrestlings that have power with God to prevail.
J. Ker, Sermons, p. 213.
References: Psa 42:8.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 15. Psa 42:9.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 204.
Psa 42:10
An atheistic suggestion.
One of the greatest strains upon human faith when any disaster overtakes us is the thought, How can it be that God is omnipotent and infinitely tender, as we believe He is, and yet can allow such things to happen? It is the old question of the origin and allowance of evil, which philosophers have debated from ancient days without resolving; yet it is a question which comes home like a sword to the humblest and least cultivated. The strain is as old as the world, and David felt its force, and in this poem expresses it.
I. Some have answered this question by denying the omnipotence of God. Believing in a god or in gods, they also believed that the Divine powers were limited, that there were powers as great or greater than those of the gods; in other words, they recognised either gods which were equal and opposite, or one stern power to which even the gods themselves must ultimately submit. The latter was a Greek faith; the former was Oriental, appearing in different forms in different religions. Such systems are too remote from our ways of thinking to prove attractive to us.
II. But there is another system of religion, and there is also a form of Christianity, neither of which absolutely denies the infinite tenderness of God; but they explain everything by the bare assertion of Divine sovereignty. They say it is enough that God does a thing, and that man has no right to question the justice or propriety of it. Now, whether this creed be held by the Mussulman or the Calvinist, it lands us in terrible difficulties. There are deeds done in the world which all men see are evil, and are we to teach that God is the Author of evil? Arbitrary sovereignty will not explain the mysteries of life.
III. The truth is, the world is a great machine which moves according to definite and ascertainable laws. It was not the Maker’s will that the machinery should work destruction, but the constructive power becomes destructive when misapplied. The more we know of the world, the more we discover the working, constant and uninterfered with, of law—of law which brings happiness to those who act in accordance with it and disaster to those who transgress it.
IV. The Positivist triumphantly asks, Where is your God? I see nothing but law, and now you, a Christian, say that you see nothing but law. You are no better off with your God than I am without Him. Our answer is, (1) If there were no advantage in believing in God, we should still be obliged to believe in Him, because there is a God to believe in, because He is real, and we cannot help believing in Him. (2) There is a blessed mitigation of our sorrows which he who knows no God but law cannot share. The man who in his bitterest need can look up even dumbly to God becomes possessed (a) of a sense of sympathy, and comfort, and courage, and (b) of a Divine patience.
W. Page-Roberts, Law and God, p. 1.
Psa 42:11
There were two things under which at this time—probably the time of Absalom’s short-lived and wicked triumph—David’s soul was suffering. It was "cast down," and it was "disquieted." To be "cast down" is depression of spirit; to be "disquieted" is agitation—restlessness of mind.
I. When he was low and very "cast down," David reasoned with his own soul, for thus we are to take it, not as an impassioned ejaculation, but as a deliberate question and an investigation of the matter within himself. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" The worst part of almost every trouble is a certain vagueness which there is about it. It is the indefiniteness of an evil which constitutes the greatness of the evil. Whenever, therefore, you feel distress and a general sense of wretchedness coming over you, at once deal with the matter deliberately and searchingly, and ask yourself, What is the real nature and what is the root of this discomfort?
II. The next step which we note in David’s way of escape is that he finds refuge in God Himself. He looks away from what his circumstances are, from what he is, to what God is. "Hope thou in God." The great cure for all evil lies somewhere in the work and character of God, and he will reach his refuge the surest and the quickest who can most forget everything else, and concentrate himself and absorb himself in something that God says, or something that God does, or something that God is.
III. David’s hope saw at once the present darkness only as a passage which was leading out into a bright future. "I shall yet praise Him." He regarded and valued his joy, not for what that joy was in itself, but for the honour it should bring to God. Not "I shall be happy," but "I shall praise Him."
IV. There is yet one more lesson—a felt personal property in the love of God. "Who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Till you can say that, you must always be the slave of circumstances and the prey of every kind of temptation and distress; but when your faith is high enough to enable you to feel that all the sunshine that plays in your face is a reflection of the light of God’s countenance, and that not only the gifts, but the Giver, is yours, then that "my God" will carry you on, and bear you up, superior to all the vexations of life; and the possession of God will be the dispossession of care.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 4th series, p. 21.
References: Psa 42:11.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1226; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 111; J. P. Chown, Old Testament Outlines, p. no. xlii.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xx., p. 89.
Psalm 42
This Psalm contains a prescription for a downcast soul, consisting of three ingredients.
I. The first is inquiry: "Why art thou cast down?" Religious despondency must have a cause; and if we can discover it in any case, the old proverb holds good that a knowledge of the disease is half its cure.
II. The second ingredient of the prescription is remembrance: (1) the Psalmist’s remembrance of his own experience and (2) his remembrance of God’s gracious dealings with others.
III. The third ingredient is hope: "Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him." (1) The hope is to be in God. (2) The downcast soul must hope in God, and not in change of circumstance. (3) Hope is a different thing from faith, while the operations of the two are nevertheless closely allied.
M. R. Vincent, Gates into the Psalm Country, p. 145.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 God the one need of the soul.
God the one need of the soul.
To the chief musician, Maskil of the sons of Korah.
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This with the following psalm gives the cry of the solitary, -that in the deepest sense; as cut off from Jehovah’s presence. "The land of Jordan (the river of death) and of the Hermons" is here very significant. "Hermon" is a word which seems only capable of one meaning. Some would make it mean "prominent, high," which; of course; would suit well enough a mountain that is seen over nearly all the land of Israel. But spiritual meaning in this case would be difficult to find; and the derivation is also merely conjectural. On the other hand, the name seems evidently akin to "Hormah" and herem; the "ban", or dedication to God in the judgment of that which was evil. "For there can be no doubt;" says Keil, "that that which lay at the foundation of the ban was the compulsory dedication to God of something which resists or impedes sanctification; so that in all cases in which it was carried into execution by the community or the magistracy; it was an act of the judicial holiness of God; manifesting itself in righteousness and judgment." If this, then, be the meaning, how clear is the connection between Hermon; the ban upon evil, and Jordan, the river of death, which has in fact its highest source in Hermon! And how the two together characterize the psalm! Israel will indeed; in the day we are contemplating; be in the land of death; and the day of the Lord is just the time of the enforcement of the ban upon evil, so imperatively necessary that blessing may at last come for the distracted earth! And this white-capped mountain, clothed with the light of heaven reflected from her snows; may well represent both the dread and the promise of that day. For the blessing will be through and after judgment.
Hermon might well be thus a prominent feature in the land in Israel’s past history; as well as in the future crisis before us now. The land the land of Canaan; -of nations sentenced to extermination for their iniquity; a sentence which Israel was to put into execution as a condition of their own blessing. It was a condition which, as we know, they failed to fulfill; and thus they came themselves under judgment; as having identified themselves with the objects of it. Hermon, as we may say; still dominated the land, the witness of a principle of government necessarily founded upon the holiness of the divine nature.
"The hill Mizar," which is associated with these, may speak of the condition to which; by this dealing of God with it; the soul is brought. It is literally "hill of littleness," which need not be the equivalent of "little hill." The hill may dwarf instead of being dwarfed; and in this way all would be in harmony. God brings down, that He may exalt, and thus the purport of His bringing into the place of judgment may be well expressed.
Hence, then; comes the cry of the soul; shut out from its place of refuge. God has become to it its one necessity; and here we may well find the second of those psalms of instruction, or Maskil psalms, of which we had the first in the memorable thirty-second; the song of grace which imputeth not iniquity. Yes it is grace itself which secures to us the deep and profitable lessons of God’s holiness. Israel’s covenant-God is acting here, though in disguise, and the sons of Korah are chosen with perfect suitability to give the instruction. Let us give heed none the less because the schoolmaster is one of ancient time.
1. "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God! My soul thirsteth for God; -for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" This is the effect which God has brought about by that withdrawal of Himself which is now to the awakened heart so intense a bitterness. God has become to it the One great Circumstance. And this is no exaggerated estimate, but the simplest reckoning that can be. The Living One is also the Life-giving One; and the very life itself of the soul. The water-brooks are the fit type, as we well know; of the Spirit of God, who both awakens these desires and satisfies them.
To the agony of such absence is added the presence of enemies, who; though they know not God themselves, realize the distress with which they taunt the object of their malice. Naturally; judging by outward signs largely; they even go beyond the truth, unable to understand the mystery of God’s dealings with the people that He loves. And the forsaken one, though he refuses the taunt; has yet no answer to it. With Israel the possession of the land and God;s dwelling-place in it were the necessary signs of divine favor toward them. Where else could the blood of atonement for their sins be sprinkled; or the intercessory priesthood appear for them before Him? No doubt; in the "many days" in which they have abode; according to Hosea’s prophecy, "without a sacrifice; and without an ephod" (Hos 3:4), they have got accustomed to such a condition; and hardened themselves against the accusation which it implies. Nay; they can go further, and look at themselves as suffering for the sins of others, rather than for their own. In the days to which we look forward here, and with the remnant in whom God is working; afresh cast out of the land of which they have had brief possession; such arguments will be impossible. Conviction of sin will be doing its bitter but salutary work among them; prophecy and promise emphasizing the contrast of their forlorn condition with the national hopes. Distance from the city with which these are all bound up will not be measured by the few miles which sum it up in space. No, it is moral -spiritual.
Past experiences throng in; to intensify the bitterness. We are made to realize the gladness with which some at least of this people; exiled for so many generations, will return to set up again; as in Ezra’s time, their altar to the God of their fathers; under the protection of that covenant with Gentile power (Dan 9:27) so soon to be broken; and the altar itself devoted to the "abomination" of worse than heathen idolatry. That gleam of sunshine has in this psalm been already swallowed up in the blackness of a tempestuous eclipse. It abides as a memory of distress; "how I passed along with the multitude; how I went on with them to the house of God; with the voice of singing and praise -a multitude keeping festival." And yet the soul cannot let it go as a mere transient vision: faith stirred by it lays hold with its resolute will of this past; to recall it, and make it abiding; the soul rebukes its own despondency: "Why art thou cast down? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God." Yes; here is what is permanent, what is eternal: hope in God, even though thou canst not find Him; though clouds are round about Him, and thou canst not come unto His seat; though His ways are in deepest mystery; though even thou couldst not find a promise that thou couldst claim undoubtedly. He Himself is promise! In His own all-pitying love -in the goodness of His nature, passing all that we can tell or think; -in Himself thou canst find refuge; a door wide open; and strong fortress walls that close around the one who has fled to Him. Can He say; you have trusted Me too much? Nay, He cannot. Here is His word at last that applies; if nothing else does: "Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him."
From this point the soul poises itself for a flight; and a song, "For I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God." You can see that the face has already brightened. There is no argument that a soul that knows not God can at all discern: "the secret of the Lord is" only "with them that fear Him; and His covenant, to show it to them."
{Verse 5. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate versions read here uniformly with verse twelve and Psa 43:5, which is found also in the Hebrew by a change in the division of the words and verses. As they commonly stand, the words produce no proper closing cadence; while one old Hebrew MS. points out the erroneousness of division here (comp. Delitzsch, Comm.).}
2. Would not one say, then; that the trouble would be over now? And how often we think it is; when in fact we have but been lifted up on the crest of a wave, which presently sinks deeper than before. Thus the second part of the psalm reveals worse perplexity than the first. The distance between the soul and God is more evident; there seems a more positive breach; though the eye is turned as ever imploringly toward Him. It is here that we can localize the place of distance as the land of Jordan and the Hermons, the hill Mizar." The significance of this we have already seen. "My soul is cast down;" says the speaker; and the voices of nature which surround him seem full of a might by which he is confounded and cast down: "deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy cataracts: all Thy breakers and billows are gone over me."
But again he rises with more assured confidence. "Jehovah" -and here for the first time the covenant-Name, the pledge of unchangeable faithfulness, is used -"Jehovah will command His loving-kindness in the daytime; and in the night shall His song be with me, -prayer to the God of my life."
Still the conflict is real; experience is against experience. God is his Rock; and yet God has; as far as experience goes, forsaken him. He urges it to God Himself; and the bitterness of the oppression of the enemy; who with his unanswerable taunts reproaches him with this forsaking of God; -crushing his bones with it, as he says; making his strength collapse at the thought. Yet even while he says it; faith rallies and turns defeat into victory with its old self-rebuke, "Why art thou cast down?" and he reaffirms his former confidence.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v2
Psalms
THIRSTING FOR GOD
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Psa 42:2.
This whole psalm reads like the sob of a wounded heart. The writer of it is shut out from the Temple of his God, from the holy soil of his native land. One can see him sitting solitary yonder in the lonely wilderness {for the geographical details that occur in one part of the psalm point to his situation as being on the other side of the Jordan, in the mountains of Moab}-can see him sitting there with long wistful gaze yearning across the narrow valley and the rushing stream that lay between him and the land of God’s chosen people, and his eye resting perhaps on the mountaintop that looked down upon Jerusalem. He felt shut out from the presence of God. We need not suppose that he believed all the rest of the world to be profane and God-forsaken, except only the Temple. Nor need we wonder, on the other hand, that his faith did cling to form, and that he thought the sparrows beneath the eaves of the Temple blessed birds! He was depressed, because he was shut out from the tokens of God’s presence; and because he was depressed, he shut himself out from the reality of the presence. And so he cried with a cry which never is in vain, ‘My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God!’ Taken, then, in its original sense, the words of our text apply only to that strange phenomenon which we call religious depression. But I have ventured to take them in a wider sense than that. It is not only Christian men who are cast down, whose souls ‘thirst for God.’ It is not only men upon earth whose souls thirst for God. All men, everywhere, may take this text for theirs. Every human heart may breathe it out, if it understands itself. The longing for ‘the living God’ belongs to all men. Thwarted, stifled, it still survives. Unconscious, it is our deepest misery. Recognised, yielded to, accepted, it is the foundation of our highest blessings. Filled to the full, it still survives unsatiated and expectant. For all men upon earth, Christian or not Christian, for Christians here below, whether in times of depression or in times of gladness, and for the blessed and calm spirits that in ecstasy of longing, full of fruition, stand around God’s throne-it is equally true that their souls ‘thirst for God, for the living God.’ Only with this difference, that to some the desire is misery and death, and to some the desire is life and perfect blessedness. So that the first thought I would suggest to you now is, that there is an unconscious and unsatisfied longing after God, which is what we call the state of nature; secondly, that there is an imperfect longing after God, fully satisfied, which is what we call the state of grace; and lastly, that there is a perfect longing, perfectly satisfied, which is what we call the state of glory. Nature; religion upon earth; blessedness in heaven-my text is the expression, in divers senses, of them all.
I. In the first place, then, there is in every man an unconscious and unsatisfied longing after God, and that is the state of nature.
Experience is the test of that assertion. And the most superficial examination of the facts of daily life, as well as the questioning of our own souls, will tell us that this is the leading feature of them-a state of unrest. What is it that one of those deistic poets of our own land says, about ‘Man never is, but always to be blest’? What is the meaning of the fact that all round about us, and we partaking of it, there is ceaseless, gigantic activity going on? The very fact that men work, the very fact of activity in the mind and life, noble as it is, and root of all that is good, and beautiful as it is, is still the testimony of nature to this fact that I by myself am full of passionate longings, of earnest desires, of unsupplied wants. ‘I thirst,’ is the voice of the whole world.
No man is made to be satisfied from himself. For the stilling of our own hearts, for the satisfying of our own nature, for the strengthening and joy of our being, we need to go beyond ourselves, and to fix upon something external to ourselves. We are not independent. None of us can stand by himself. No man carries within him the fountain from which he can draw. If a heart is to be blessed, it must go out of the narrow circle of its own individuality; and if a man’s life is to be strong and happy, he must get the foundation of his strength somewhere else than in his own soul. And, my friends! especially you young men, all that modern doctrine of self-reliance, though it has a true side to it, has also a frightfully false side. Though it may he quite true that a man ought to be, in one sense, sufficient for himself, and that there is no real blessedness of which the root does not lie within the nature and heart of the man; though all that be quite true, yet, if the doctrine means {as on the lips of many a modern eloquent and powerful teacher of it, it does mean} that we can do without God, that we may be self-reliant and self-sufficient, and proudly neglectful of all the divine forces that come down into life to brighten and gladden it, it is a lie, false and fatal; and of all the falsehoods that are going about this world at present, I know not one that is varnished over with more apparent truth, that is smeared over with more of the honey that catches young, ardent, ingenuous hearts, than that half-truth, and therefore most deceptive error, which preaches independence, and self-reliance, and which means-a man’s soul does not ‘thirst for the living God.’ Take care of it! We are made not to be independent.
We are made, next, to need, not things, but living beings. ‘My soul thirsteth’-for what? An abstraction, a possession, riches, a thing? No! ‘my soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.’ Yes, hearts want hearts. The converse of Christ’s saying is equally true; He said, ‘God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit’; man has a spirit, and man must have Spirit to worship, to lean upon, to live by, or all will be inefficient and unsatisfactory. Oh, lay this to heart, my brother!-no things can satisfy a living soul. No accumulation of dead matter can become the life of an immortal being. The two classes are separated by the whole diameter of the universe-matter and spirit, thing and person; and you cannot feed yourself upon the dead husks that lie there round about you-wealth, position, honour. Books, thoughts, though they are nobler than these other, are still inefficient. Principles, ‘causes,’ emotions springing from truth, these are not enough. I want more than that, I want something to love, something to lay a hand upon, that shall return the grasp of the hand. A living man must have a living God, or his soul will perish in the midst of earthly plenty, and will thirst and die whilst the water of earthly delights is running all around him. We are made to need persons, not things.
Then again, we need one Being who shall be all-sufficient. There is no greater misery than that which may ensue from the attempt to satisfy our souls by the accumulation of objects, each of them imperfect and finite, which yet we fancy, woven together, will make an adequate whole. When a heart is diverted from its one central purpose, when a life is split up in a hundred different directions and into a hundred different emotions, it is like a beam of light passed through some broken surface where it is all refracted and shivered into fragments; there is no clear vision, there is no perfect light. If a man is to be blessed, he must have one source to which he can go. The merchantman that seeks for many goodly pearls, may find the many; but until he has bartered them all for the one, there is something lacking. Not only does the understanding require to pass through the manifold, up and up in ever higher generalisations, till it reaches the One from whom all things come; but the heart requires to soar, if it would be at rest, through all the diverse regions where its love may legitimately tarry for a while, until it reaches the sole and central throne of the universe, and there it may cease its flight, and fold its weary wings, and sleep like a bird within its nest. We want a Being, and we want one Being in whom shall be sphered all perfection, in whom shall abide all power and blessedness; beyond whom thought cannot pass, out of whose infinite circumference love does not need to wander; besides whose boundless treasures no other riches can be required; who is light for the understanding, power for the will, authority for the practical life, purpose for the efforts, motive for the doings, end and object for the feelings, home of the affections, light of our seeing, life of our life, the love of our heart, the one living God, infinite in wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth; who is all in all, and without whom everything else is misery. ‘My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.’
Brother! let me ask you the question, before I pass on-the question for the sake of which I am preaching this sermon: Do you know that Father? I know this much, that every heart here now answers an ‘Amen’ {if it will be honest} to what I have been saying. Unrest; panting, desperate thirst, deceiving itself as to where it should go; slaking itself ‘at the gilded puddles that the beasts would cough at,’ instead of coming to the water of life!-that is the state of man without God. That is nature. That is irreligion. The condition in which every man is that is not trusting in Jesus Christ, is this-thirsting for God, and not knowing whom he is thirsting for, and so not getting the supply that he wants.
II. There is a conscious longing, imperfect, but answered; and that is the state of grace-the beginning of religion in a man’s soul.
If it be true that there are, as part of the universal human experience, however overlaid and stifled, these necessities of which I have been speaking, the very existence of the necessities affords a presumption, before all evidence, that, somehow and somewhere, they shall be supplied. There can be no deeper truth-none, I think, that ought to have more power in shaping some parts of our Christian creed, than this, that God is a faithful Creator; and where He makes men with longings, it is a prophecy that those longings are going to be supplied. The same ground which avails to defend doctrines that cannot be so well defended by any other argument-the same ground on which we say that there is an immortality, because men long for it and believe in it; that there is a God because men cannot get rid of the instinctive conviction that there is; that there is a retribution, because men’s consciences do ask for it, and cry out for it-the very same process which may be applied to the buttressing and defending of all the grandest truths of the Gospel, applies also in this practical matter. If I, made by God who knew what He was doing when He made me, am formed with these deep necessities, with these passionate longings-then it cannot but be that it is intended that they should be to me a means of leading me to Him, and that there they should be satisfied. For He is ‘the faithful Creator,’ and He remembers the conditions under which His making of us has placed us. ‘He knoweth our frame,’ and He remembereth what He has implanted within us. And the presumption is, of course, turned into an actual certainty when we let in the light of the Gospel upon the thing. Then we can say to every man that thus is yearning after a goodness dimly perceived, and does not know what it is that he wants, and we say to you now, Brother! betake yourself to the cross of Christ go with those wants of yours to ‘the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world’: He will interpret them to you. He will explain to you, as you do not now know, what they mean; and, better than that, He will supply them all. Your souls are thirsting; and you look about, here and there, and everywhere, for springs of water. There is the fountain-go to Christ. Your souls are thirsting for God. The unfathomed ocean of the Godhead lies far beyond my lip; but here is the channel through which there flows that river of water of life. Here is the manifested God, here is the granted God, here is the Godhead coming into connection and union with man, his wants and his sins-the ‘living God’ and His living Son, His everlasting Word. ‘He that believeth upon Him shall never hunger, and he that cometh unto Him shall never thirst.’ God is the divine and unfathomable ocean; Christ the Son is the stream that brings salvation to every man’s lips. All wants are supplied there. Take it as a piece of the simplest prose, with no rhetorical exaggeration about it, that Christ is everything, everything that a man can want. We are made to require, and to be restless until we possess, perfect truth-there it is! We are made to want, and to be restless until we get, perfect, infinite unchangeable love-there it is! We must have, or the burden of our own self-will will be a misery to us, a hand laid upon the springs of our conduct, authoritative and purifying, and have the blessedness of some voice to say to us, ‘I bid thee, and that is enough’-there it is! We must have rest, purity, hope, gladness, life in our souls-there they all are! Whatever form of human nature and character be yours, my brother!-whatever exigencies of life you may be lying under the pressure of-man or woman, adult or child, father or son, man of business or man of thought, struggling with difficulties or bright with joy-Oh! believe us, the perfecting of your character may be got in the Lamb of God, and without Him it never can be possessed. Christ is everything, and ‘out of His fulness all we receive grace for grace.’
Not only in Christ is there the perfect supply of all these necessities, but also that fulness becomes ours on the simple condition of desiring it. The thirst for the living God in a man who has faith in Christ Jesus, is not a thirst which amounts to pain, or arises from a sense of non-possession. But in this divine region the principle of the giving is this-to desire is to have; to long for is to possess. There is no wide interval between the sense of thirst and the trickling of the stream over the parched lip; but ever it is flowing, flowing past us, and the desire is but the opening of the lips to receive the limpid and life-giving waters. No one ever desired the grace of God, really and truly desired it; but just in proportion as he desired it, he got it-just in proportion as he thirsted, he was satisfied. Therefore we have to preach that grand gospel that faith, simple, conscious longing, turned to Christ, avails to bring down the full and perfect supply.
But some Christian people here may reply, ‘Ah! I wish it were so: what was that you were saying at the beginning of your sermon, about men having religious depression, about Christians longing and not possessing?’ Well, I have only this to say about that matter. Wherever in a heart that really believes on God in Christ, there is a thirst that amounts to pain, and that has with it a sense of non-possession, that is not because Christ’s fulness has become shrunken; that is not because there is a change in God’s law, that the measure of the desire is the measure of the reception; but it is only because, for some reason or other that belongs to the man alone, the desire is not deep, genuine, simple, but is troubled and darkened. What we ask, we get. If I am a Christian, however feeble I may be, the feebleness of my faith and the feebleness of my desire may make my supplies of grace feeble; but if I am a Christian, there is no such thing as an earnest longing unsatisfied, no such thing as a thirst accompanied with a pain and sense of want, except in consequence of my own transgression.
And thus there is a longing imperfect in this life, but fully supplied according to the measure of its intensity, a longing after ‘the living God’; and that is the state of a Christian man. And O my friend! that is a widely different desire from the other that I have been speaking about. It is blessed thus to say, ‘My soul thirsteth for God.’ It is blessed to feel the passionate wish for more light, more grace, more peace, more wisdom, more of God. That is joy, that is peace! Is that your experience in this present life?
III. Lastly, there is a perfect longing perfectly satisfied; and that is heaven.
We shall not there be independent, of course, of constant supplies from the great central Fulness, any more than we are here. One may see in one aspect, that just as the Christian life here on earth is in a very true sense a state of never thirsting any more, because we have Christ, and yet in another sense is a state of continual longing and desire-so the Christian and glorified life in heaven, in one view of it, is the removal of all that thirst which marked the condition of man upon earth, and in another is the perfecting of all those aspirations and desires. Thirst, as longing, is eternal; thirst, as aspiration after God, is the glory of heaven; thirst, as desire for more of Him, is the very condition of the celestial world, and the element of all its blessedness.
That future life gives us two elements, an infinite God, and an indefinitely expansible human spirit: an infinite God to fill, and a soul to be filled, the measure and the capacity of which has no limit set to it that we can see. What will be the consequence of the contact of these two? Why this, for the first thing, that always, at every moment of that blessed life, there shall be a perpetual fruition, a perpetual satisfaction, a deep and full fountain filling the whole soul with the refreshment of its waves and the music of its flow. And yet, and yet-though at every moment in heaven we shall be satisfied, filled full of God, full to overflowing in all our powers-yet the very fact that the God who dwells in us, and fills our whole natures with unsullied and perfect blessedness, is an infinite God; and that we in whom the infinite Father dwells, are men with souls that can grow, and can grow for ever-will result in this, that at every moment our capacities will expand; that at every moment, therefore, the desire will grow and spring afresh; that at every moment God will be seen unveiling undreamed-of beauties, and revealing hitherto unknown heights of blessedness before us; and that the sight of that transcendent, unapproached, unapproachable, and yet attracting and transforming glory, will draw us onward as by an impulse from above, and the possession of some portion of it will bear us upward as by a power from within; and so, nearer, nearer, ever nearer to the throne of light, the centre of blessedness, the growing, and glorifying, and greatening souls of the perfectly and increasingly blessed shall ‘mount up with wings as eagles.’ Heaven is endless longing, accompanied with an endless fruition-a longing which is blessedness, a longing which is life!
My brother! let me put two sayings of Scripture side by side, ‘My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God,’-’Father Abraham! send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue.’ There be two thirsts, one, the longing for God, which, satisfied, is heaven; one, the longing for quenching of self-lit fires, and for one drop of the lost delights of earth to cool the thirsty throat, which, unsatisfied, is hell. Then hearken to the final vision on the page of Scripture, ‘He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.’ To us it is showed, and to us the whole revelation of God converges to that last mighty call, ‘Let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely!’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Book 2
Book 2
The second and third Books of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72, 73-89) are but the two parts of a whole, the largest section of which (Psalms 42-83) is called the Elohistic Psalter, because the name Elohim (God) is used almost exclusively instead of the name Jehovah (the Lord), which is predominant in the rest of the Psalms. It is evident from the contents of these two books that the Elohistic compiler gathered them from at least three earlier collections, for Psalms 42-49 are Psalms of the Korahites (43 is part of 42), as are also Psalms 84-89 (except 86); Psalms 50, 73-83 are Psalms of Asaph; while Psalms 51-72, 86, are Psalms of David. Psalms 72 originally ended a collection of Psalms attributed to David; and it is a plausible conjecture that Psalms 42-50 once stood after Psalms 72, the Davidic Psalms being thus together and the subscription (Psa_72:20) appropriate.
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Taking Book 2 by itself, we may notice that in the Davidic collection Psalms 66, 67 did not originally belong to it, while Psalms 72 is called 'a psalm of Solomon.' The great majority of these Pss. have the rendering in AY 'To the chief musician'; indicating (see Intro.) that they had been included in the collection of the Chief Musician as well as in that of the Elohistic collector, both of these editors working on previously existing collections. Psalms 53 is an Elohistic form of Psalms 14, and Psalms 70 of Psa_40:13-17 while Psa_57:7-11 and Psa_60:5-12 are combined in Psalms 108. Several of the Davidic Psalms in this book are referred by their titles to incidents in David's life; these are of varying degrees of probability, and are discussed in their places.
It is difficult to classify the Pss. according to their subjects or references, but a rough division may be attempted. Thus, (a) Psalms 42, 43, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 64, 69, 70, 71 are prayers for personal help and deliverance; (b) Psalms 44, 46, 47, 48, 62 are thanksgivings, and breathe the spirit of confidence and triumph; (c) Psalms 45 is a marriage ode; (d) Psalms 49 is a didactic piece akin to the book of Proverbs; (e) Psalms 65 is a thanksgiving in time of harvest. References to the Temple as the centre of worship are found in Psalms 42, 43, 48, 50, 65. The following are quoted in the NT.: 44, 45, 48, 50, 55, 82, 67, 68, and 69. The writers of the Pss. in this Book evince the same perfect trust in God and confidence in His power to relieve them from their troubles, as are exhibited in the first Book.
Several of the Pss., such as the 51st, have an unmistakable personal tone; and there are not wanting indications of a highly spiritual view of religious worship and ritual. The desire of the true Israelite is not only for the Temple (Psa_42:4), but 'for God, for the living God.' Burnt offerings are of small account in the sight of Him to whom belongs 'the world and the fulness thereof' (Psa_50:7-14). 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit' (Psa_51:17).
In this Book the 45th and 72nd Pss. are usually classed as Messianic. They both describe the character of the ideal king, ruling in righteousness, watching over the poor and punishing the oppressor, having dominion over subject nations 'from sea to sea,' and being blessed by all nations, because they have been blessed by him. Probably they were written in connexion with definite historical events—in the one case the marriage of a king, in the other a king's accession to the throne; still they unite themselves with that Messianic hope which gradually took shape among the Jews, and came to fill a large place in their religious thought.
This Ps. and the following one are closely connected, and it is practically certain that they were originally one. Psalms 43 has no separate title, and its closing refrain occurs twice in Psalms 42 (Psa_42:5, Psa_42:11). Both Pss. belong to a time when the Temple worship was in full activity, and the writer is a Levite who is detained in the N. of Palestine (Psa_42:6), and beset by enemies, apparently heathen (Psa_42:9; Psa_43:1-2), who taunt him about his God (Psa_42:3, Psa_42:10). He longs to return and take his part in the Temple service, and is confident that God will yet fulfil his desire.
Title.—Maschil] see on Psalms 32. For (RV 'of') the sons of Korah] i.e. from a collection compiled by the Levitical guild bearing that name.
2. Appear before God] in the Temple at Jerusalem. 4. Read, 'These things would I remember as I pour out my soul within me.' AV and RV suggest that the Psalmist's memories of better days add to his sorrow; but the meaning is rather that they give him hope. For I had gone, etc.] RV 'how I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God.' Holyday] a sacred festival, the original meaning of 'holiday.'
5. For the help of his countenance] We should probably read, 'who is the health of my countenance and my God,' as in Psa_42:11, Psa_43:5.
6. Land of Jordan.. Hermonites] RV 'land of Jordan and the Hermons,' the sources of the Jordan in the NE. of Palestine. The plural 'Hermons' refers to the separate peaks of the mountain. The hill Mizar] the 'little mountain,' some lower hill in the same locality.
7. At the noise of thy waterspouts] better, 'in the roar of thy cataracts,' the cascades that rush down Hermon when the snow melts in spring. Thy waves and.. billows] a figure for trouble, probably in this case suggested by the appearance of the Jordan in flood.
8. And my prayer] RV 'even a prayer.'
10. As with a sword in my bones] better, 'as though they would crush my bones,' the whole framework of my being.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 Maschil, "instruction."
Maschil
Maschil, "instruction."
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The second division of the book of Psalms corresponds…
II. THE EXODUS SECTION: BOOK TWO:PSALM 42-72
The second division of the book of Psalms corresponds to the book of Exodus, the second book of the Pentateuch. That book begins with the groans and moans of a suffering people in Egypt and after redemption by blood and by power, ends with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle when the work was finished. Ruin, oppression, suffering and sorrow, ending in deliverance and redemption, is the order in which the Psalms in this section are arranged. It is a most interesting study and we regret that we cannot enter into all the details, to explore these mines of prophecy. The oppressed, persecuted people, who suffer surrounded by the ungodly, is that same godly remnant of Israelites. Their deliverance comes by the visible manifestation of the Lord, the second coming of our Lord. The Psalm which concludes this Exodus of the Psalms is 72, the great Kingdom Psalm, when His Kingdom has come and the King reigns in righteousness.
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Psalm 42-49
The first eight Psalms form the first section. Here the remnant is seen in great distress, having fled from Jerusalem on account of wickedness during the time of the great tribulation (Dan 12:1), longing for deliverance. Then we learn how that deliverance comes by the manifestation of the King and the results which follow that deliverance.
Psalm 42
Longing after God in the Midst of Distress
1. Longing after God and His sanctuary (Psa 42:1-6)
2. Distress and the comfort of hope (Psa 42:7-11)
This is the second Maschil Psalm, for instruction of the godly of that day. The remnant looks towards the sanctuary, the house of God, from which they are separated and driven away. They are panting after God, as the hart panteth after the water brooks. Their cry comes from “the land of Jordan”--Jordan, the type of death--and from the Hermons (which means “ban”), from the hill Mizar (littleness). The enemy taunts, “Where is thy God?” For them deep calleth unto deep and they cry out “all Thy waves and billows are gone over me.” They suffer with Him, bearing His reproach, over whose blessed head the waves and billows also passed. “Why hast Thou forgotten me?” they cry to God and remind Him of the oppression of the enemy. Yet hope and trust fills their soul.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 An Exile’s Longing for Zion.
An Exile’s Longing for Zion.
To the chief musician, for performance in the liturgical part of the Temple-services, Maschil, a didactic poem, for the sons of Korah, written by some member of this Levitical family, or organization, 1Ch 6:22-32, belonging to the Kohathite division of the tribe of Levi. Korah himself had perished in the punishment which followed his revolt, Numbers 16, but his sons had not been included in the judgment, Num 26:11. Their descendants were afterward distinguished for their poetical and musical ability, eleven hymns of the psalter being credited to their authorship. They wrote altogether in the style of David, with a fervent love for the Sanctuary of the Lord.
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v. 1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, with an intense desire, with an overwhelming sense of want, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God, who is often set forth as a spring of living water for the refreshment of the exhausted.
v. 2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, the Source of all true life, who alone is able to restore the soul which finds itself in the depths of persecution, misery, and sorrow on account of sin. When shall I come and appear before God? in the regular acts of worship, at the times when all the faithful of Israel were required to come to the central Sanctuary, before the Lord, Exo 23:17; Exo 34:23.
v. 3. My tears have been my meat, his substitute for food, his daily portion, day and night, while they, the sneering enemies, continually say unto me, Where is thy God? a question which, of course, implied that God had forsaken him, that he was foolish for placing his confidence in Jehovah.
v. 4. When I remember these things, recalling the festive processions in which he has taken part, I pour out my soul in me, permitting it to dissolve in the pain which was filling him with misery; for I had gone with the multitude, it had been his custom to take his place in the procession, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, singing psalms of thanksgiving, with a multitude that kept holy-day. This detailed picturing of the happiness of the past increased both his pain at being deprived of its pleasures and his longing to experience it once more. But in the midst of his complaint the inspired poet stops to admonish his fainting soul.
v. 5. Why art thou cast down, bowed to the ground, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted, full of unrest and despondency, in me? No matter, however, what the affliction may be, there is one certain comfort. Hope thou in God, waiting steadfastly and confidently for His help; for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, the believer’s faith trusting in a complete deliverance, holding the firm conviction that God’s face would again be turned to Him in mercy. But a reaction once more sets in; there is an ebb, as well as a flow, of the tide of his joyful spirits.
v. 6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me, in utter dejection; therefore, namely, to find new comfort in spite of this feeling of hopelessness, will I remember Thee, his thoughts going back to the Sanctuary of Jehovah, from the land of Jordan, from the country east of Jordan, where the exiled poet was sojourning, and of the Hermonites, the hills connected with Mount Hermon of the Antilebanon range, from the hill Mizar, in whose neighborhood he was making his temporary home.
v. 7. Deep calleth unto deep, with the confused noise of deep waters in mighty agitation, at the noise of Thy waterspouts, when floods or cataracts of water come like a deluge; all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me, the floods of his sorrow, as sent by God, overwhelmed him. But even while the poet voices his complaint, he once more gains the proper trust in Jehovah.
v. 8. Yet the Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, a morning of salvation following the night of sorrow, and in the night His song shall be with me, the excitement of his joy keeping him awake to intone psalms of praise to Jehovah, his state of mind being one of constant happiness, and my prayer unto the God of my life, who does not deliver him to the pains of death.
v. 9. I will say unto God, my Rock, a specimen of his prayer being given here, Why hast Thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning, in deep grief and sorrow, because of the oppression of the enemy, with its excruciating pain?
v. 10. As with a sword in my bones mine enemies reproach me, with cruel taunts; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Their mockery is blasphemous, for they not only decry the hope of the believer as foolish, but deny the very existence of a God who would help the afflicted in his troubles. And so, for the second time, the psalmist chides his despondent soul,
v. 11. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted, tossed and agitated like an angry sea, within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him, who is the Health of my countenance, his Help and Deliverance, who cheers him and drives away the clouds of sorrow from his face, and my God, to whom he clings despite the enemies’ mockery, refusing to have doubt take the place of faith. Temptations caused by times of trouble can be overcome only by the believer’s laying hold of God’s grace as his one hope of salvation.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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For the chief musician
"This is for the director of music to use in worship."
A maschil
This may refer to a style of music. See how you translated this in Psalms 32:1.
As the deer pants after streams of water, so I thirst for you, God
The author compares his desire for God to the desire of a thirsty deer for water.
pants
heavy breathing from an animal or person that is very tired or thirsty
I thirst for you, God ... thirst for God
The author speaks of his strong desire for God as if it were a strong thirst for water. (See: Metaphor)
when will I come and appear before God?
The author does not ask this question to get an answer but to show his strong desire to be before God. (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
chief
Korah
God
life
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Pss 42–43 These psalms, like Pss 9 and 10,…
Pss 42–43 These psalms, like Pss 9 and 10, form a unit comprising a lament with a bittersweet refrain of hope (42:5, 11; 43:5). In many Hebrew manuscripts these two psalms are combined as one. The historical context is uncertain; these psalms might be the voice of God’s people in exile, confessing their loyalty to God as he punishes them for their prevailing apostasy. The psalmist longs for fellowship with God such as he enjoyed in Jerusalem (42:4); his memories only make him more discouraged. As the psalmist cries out to God, he recalls God’s love and faithfulness (42:8), which moves him to plead for vindication (43:1-4).
42:title The descendants of Korah were members of a Levitical choir appointed by David to serve as Temple singers (see 1 Chr 6:22-38; 9:19-34; 2 Chr 20:19). Their ancestor Korah was the apostate who had rebelled against Moses and whom the earth swallowed up (Exod 6:24; Num 16).
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42:1-4 The psalmist’s longing for God comes from being geographically distant from the Temple as he remembers the past. • The verb translated longs is found only here and in Joel 1:20 (“cry out”); in both cases it refers to extreme thirst in a waterless desert (see Pss 63:1; 143:6; see also 84:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.