Psalm 42

Psalms 42:1

“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.”

Psalms 42:1

“THERE is something to be lamented in this state of mind, for if the Psalmist had maintained unbroken communion with his God, he would not have been so much panting after Him as enjoying Him. It is deeply to be deplored that we, who sometimes bask in the sunshine of God's Countenance, cannot live so as always to enjoy it. Why do we wander? Why do we grieve His Holy Spirit? Why do we turn aside from God, our exceeding joy?”

Psalms 42:1

“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.”

Psalms 42:1-2

“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.”

Psalms 42:2

First, therefore, he is sought without being found, so that afterward, when found, he may be held more tightly. For holy desires, as we have said, grow by delay. But if they fail by delay, they were not desires. With this love burned whoever was able to reach the truth. Hence David says: "My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" Hence he admonishes us, saying: "Seek his face always."

Psalms 42:2

“My soul. All my nature, my inmost self. Thirsteth. Which is more than hungering; hunger you can palliate, but thirst is awful, insatiable, clamorous, deadly. O to have the most intense craving after the highest good! this is no questionable mark of grace. For God. Not merely for the temple and the ordinances, but for fellowship with God himself. None but spiritual men can sympathise with this thirst. For the living God. Because he lives, and gives to men the living water; therefore we, with greater eagerness, desire him.”

Psalms 42:3

“There is a weeping that springs from contemplating eternal good and longing for future light, and tears of joy and desire cannot help but break out as the soul is athirst for the mighty living God.”

Psalms 42:3

“My tears have been my meat day and night. Salt meats, but healthful to the soul. When a man comes to tears, constant tears, plenteous tears, tears that fill his cup and trencher, he is in earnest indeed. As the big tears stand in the stag's eyes in her distress, so did the salt drops glitter in the eyes of David. His appetite was gone, his tears not only seasoned his meat, but became his only meat, he had no mind for other diet.”

Psalms 42:4

“After the sad events, therefore, he proclaims pleasant ones and ahead of time teaches that they will quickly secure their recall, and with the guidance of God's grace, they will return to the land of their desire and will rebuild God's house, will celebrate the …”

Psalms 42:4

“When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. When he harped upon his woes his heart melted into water and was poured out upon itself. God hidden, and foes raging, a pair of evils enough to bring down the stoutest heart! Yet why let reflections so gloomy engross us, since the result is of no value: merely to turn the soul on itself, to empty it from itself into itself is useless, how much better to pour out the heart before the Lord!”

Psalms 42:4

“The verbs are properly rendered as futures, "I will remember," &c.,--that is, the recollection of this season of distress will give greater zest to the privileges of God's worship, when obtained.”

Psalms 42:5

Troubled by the hazardous turnings of this world, David says, "Why are you sad, O soul, why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I will give praise to him, the salvation of my countenance and my God." Therefore, when we are distressed and apprehensive, let hope strengthen us with the expectation of things that are to come. Look to each phrase individually. "Hope, for I will give praise," he says; not "I give praise," but "I will give praise."

Psalms 42:5

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? As though he were two men, the psalmist talks to himself. His faith reasons with his fears, his hope argues with his sorrows. These present troubles, are they to last forever? The rejoicings of my foes, are they more than empty talk? My absence from the solemn feasts, is that a perpetual exile? Why this deep depression, this faithless fainting, this chicken hearted melancholy? As Trapp says, "David chides David out of the dumps; "and herein he is an example for all desponding ones.”

Psalms 42:5

“For - Hebrew. for the salvations of his face, for those supports, deliverances and comforts which I doubt not I shall enjoy both in his presence and sanctuary, and from his presence, and the light of his countenance.”

Psalms 42:6

“Next he applies the remedy, namely of divine help. Where first he proposes the remedy. Second he explains it. He says therefore, "Within myself." Another reading has, "From myself my soul was disturbed." The first is better; as if to say: what is the reason, …”

Psalms 42:6

“O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Here the song begins again upon the bass. So sweet an ending deserves that for the sake of a second hopeful close the Psalm should even begin again. Perhaps the psalmist's dejection continued, the spasm of despondency returned; well, then, he will down with his harp again, and try again its power upon himself, as in his younger days, he saw its influence upon Saul when the evil spirit came upon him. With God the song begins a second time more nearly than at first.”

Psalms 42:6

“Therefore - Therefore that I may revive my drooping spirits. Remember - I will consider thy infinite mercy and power, and faithfulness. Mizar - From all the parts of the land, to which I shall be driven; whether from the parts beyond Jordan on the east: or mount Hermon, which was in the northern parts.”

Psalms 42:7

“Listen to this: "Deep calls on deep at the voice of your floodgates." Scripture of the Old Testament calls on Scripture of the New Testament for the consummation of holiness and the fullness of grace; it calls with the voice of grace and the outflowing of spiritual abundance.”

Psalms 42:7

“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of the water spouts,.... By which are meant afflictions, comparable to the deep waters of the sea, for their multitude and overwhelming nature; see Psa 69:1; these came pouring down, one after another, upon the psalmist: as soon as one affliction over, another came, as in the case of Job; which is signified by one calling to another, and were clamorous, troublesome, and very grievous and distressing; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me: with which he seemed to be covered and overwhelmed, as a ship is at sea.”

Psalms 42:7

“IN the grandeur of Nature there are awful harmonies. When the storm agitates the ocean below, the heavens above hear the tumult and answer to the clamor. Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail or swift-descending rain, attended with peals of thunder and flashes of flame. Frequently the waterspout, of which David speaks in the next sentence, evidences the sympathy of the two great waters above and beneath the firmament—the great deep above stretches out its hands to the great deep below and in voice of thunder their old relationship is recognized.”

Psalms 42:7

“God knows what he does, and so shall they shortly. Jonah, in the whale's belly, made use of these words of David, Jonah ii. 3 (they are exactly the same in the original), and of him they were literally true, All thy waves and thy billows have gone over me; for the book of psalms is contrived so as to reach every one's case.”

Psalms 42:8

“I considered further that though the impending troubles are so numerous, it is very easy for you to provide a solution; if by day you bid lovingkindness to be shown us—in other words, relief from the troubles to occur—it happens so quickly that immediately those …”

Psalms 42:8

“Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime. Come what may there shall be "a certain secret something" to sweeten all. Lovingkindness is a noble life belt in a rough sea. The day may darken into a strange and untimely midnight, but the love of God ordained of old to be the portion of the elect, shall be by sovereign decree meted out to them.”

Psalms 42:8

“Still he relies on as constant a flow of divine mercy which will elicit his praise and encourage his prayer to God. 9, 10. in view of which [Ps 42:8], he dictates to himself a prayer based on his distress, aggravated as it was by the cruel taunts and infidel suggestions of his foes.”

Psalms 42:9

“I will say unto God my rock,.... A name frequently given to the eternal God, Father, Son, and Spirit, Deu 32:4; See Gill on Psa 18:2; why hast thou forgotten me? See Gill on Psa 13:1; why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? meaning perhaps Saul; though it may be applied to any spiritual enemy, sin, Satan, and the world; who are very oppressive and afflicting, and occasion continual mourning to the children of God.”

Psalms 42:9

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Faith is allowed to enquire of her God the causes of his displeasure, and she is even permitted to expostulate with him and put him in mind of his promises, and ask why apparently they are not fulfilled. If the Lord be indeed our refuge, when we find no refuge, it is time to be raising the question, "Why is this?"

Psalms 42:10

“The cause of the sorrow or its effect is "while my bones are broken." The bones of the Church are the strong ones, such as prelates and perfect men. And sometimes through temporal adversaries, sometimes through temptations, they are afflicted. Ps. 22: "They have numbered …”

Psalms 42:10

“As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me. Cruel mockeries cut deeper than the flesh, they reach the soul as though a rapier were introduced between the ribs to prick the heart. If reproaches kill not, yet they are killing, the pain caused is excruciating. The tongue cuts to the bone, and its wounds are hard to cure. While they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? This is the most unkind cut of all, reflecting as it does both upon the Lord's faithfulness and his servant's character.”

Psalms 42:10

“He had mentioned before what the reproach was that touched him thus to the quick, and here he repeats it: They say daily unto me, Where is thy God? --a reproach which was very grievous to him, both because it reflected dishonour upon God and was intended to discourage his hope in God, which he had enough to do to keep up in any measure, and which was but too apt to fail of itself.”

Psalms 42:11

“When the inner person shows signs for a time of wavering between vice and virtue, say, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God." You must never let suggestions of evil grow on you or a babel of disorder win strength in your breast. Kill the enemy while he is small, and, that you may not have a crop of tares, nip the evil in the bud.”

Psalms 42:11

“ANOTHER verse in this Psalm so attracts me that, though it is not my text, I cannot pass it by without a moment's notice. In the 5th verse the Psalmist says, "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His Countenance," and then follows the expression of the text, "who is the health of my countenance and my God." God's Countenance is our help and He, Himself is the health of our countenance! The best help a man can have in time of trouble is the Countenance of God!”

Psalms 42:11

“This brings on a renewed self-chiding, and excites hopes of relief. health--or help. of my countenance--(compare Ps 42:5) who cheers me, driving away clouds of sorrow from my face. my God--It is He of whose existence and favor my foes would have me doubt.”