Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 42

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - Margin, brayeth. The word rendered "hart" – איל 'ayâl – commonly means a stag, hart, or male deer (Deuteronomy 12:15; Deuteronomy 14:5; Isaiah 35:6). The word is masculine, but in this place, it is joined with a feminine verb, as words of 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 Joel 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 for water in the heat of the day, or, as 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, or desiring that is expressed there. By ‘water-brooks’ are meant the streams that run in valleys.

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 – a female deer, or gazelle – which would not strike us if the reference had been to any other animal.

These creatures are so timid, so gentle, so delicate in their structure, and so much the natural objects of love and compassion, that our feelings are drawn toward them as they are to 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, or when they are in want. The following engraving will help us to appreciate more fully the comparison employed by the psalmist. Nothing could more beautifully or appropriately describe the earnest longing of a soul after God, in the psalmist's circumstances, than this image.

So panteth my soul after thee, O God - So earnest a desire have I to come before You and to enjoy Your presence and Your 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 driven into exile, far from the place where he had been accustomed to unite with others in that service (Psalms 42:4). However, it also expresses 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 experienced when one who loves God is cut off by any cause from communion with Him.

My soul thirsteth for God – that is, as the hind thirsts for the running stream.

For the living God – God, not merely as God, without anything more definitely specified, but God considered as living, as himself possessing life, and as having the power of imparting that life to the soul.

When shall I come and appear before God? – That is, as I have been accustomed to do in the sanctuary. When will I be restored to the privilege of again uniting with his people in public prayer and praise? The psalmist evidently expected that this would be; but to one who loves public worship, the time seems long when he is prevented from enjoying that privilege.

My tears have been my meat - The word translated 'tears' in this place is in the singular number and literally means weeping. . The word 'meat' here literally means bread and is used in the general meaning of food, as the word 'meat' is always used in the English version of the Bible. The English word 'meat,' which originally signified food, has gradually changed in its meaning until it now denotes in common usage animal food or flesh.

The idea here is that, instead of eating, he had wept. The state described is that which occurs so often when excessive sorrow takes away the appetite, or destroys the relish for food, and occasions fasting. This was the foundation of the whole idea of fasting: that sorrow, and especially sorrow for sin, takes away the desire for food for the time and leads to involuntary abstinence. Hence arose the related idea of abstaining from food to promote that deep sense of sin, or to produce a bodily condition favorable to a proper recollection of guilt.

Day and night - Constantly; without intermission. (See the notes at Psalms 1:2). “While they continually say unto me.” While it is constantly said to me; that is, by my enemies. .

Where is thy God? - (Psalms 22:8). The meaning here is, “He seems to be utterly forsaken or abandoned by God. He trusted in God. He professed to be his friend. He looked to him as his protector. But he is now forsaken, as if he had no God; and God is treating him as if he did not belong to him, as if he had no love for him, and no concern for his welfare.”

When I remember these things - These sorrows; this banishment from the house of God; these reproaches of my enemies. The verb used here is in the future tense, and would be appropriately rendered, “I will remember these things, and I will pour out my soul within me.” That is, it is not a mere recollection of the past, but it indicates a state or purpose of mind—a solemn resolution to bear these things always in remembrance, and to allow them to produce a proper impression on his mind and heart that would not be erased by time. Though the future tense is used as indicating what the state of his mind would be, the immediate reference is to the past. The sorrows and afflictions which had overwhelmed him were the things he would remember.

I pour out my soul in me - Hebrew, upon me. See the notes at Job 30:16. The idea is derived from the fact that the soul in grief seems to be dissolved, or to lose all firmness, consistency, or power, and to be like water. We speak now of the soul as being melted, tender, dissolved, with sympathy or grief, or as overflowing with joy.

For I had gone with the multitude - The word here rendered “multitude”—סך sâk—occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. It is supposed to denote properly a thicket of trees, a thick wood, and then, a crowd of men. The Septuagint renders it, “I will pass on to the place of the wonderful tabernacle,” σκηνῆς θαυμαστῆς skēnēs thaumastēs. So the Latin Vulgate. Luther translates it, “multitude,” Haufen.

The Hebrew verb is in the future—“I shall pass,” or “when I pass.” This tense indicates a confident expectation of a favorable outcome to his present trials. It refers not to the fact that he had gone with the multitude in the past, but rather to the fact that he would be permitted to go with them in solemn procession to the house of God. At that time, he would recall these things and pour out his soul in the fullness of his emotions. The Septuagint also renders this verb in the future, as do the Latin Vulgate, DeWette, and Prof. Alexander.

Luther renders it, “For I would gladly go from here with the multitude.” It seems clear, therefore, that this does not refer to what had been in the past, but to what he confidently hoped and expected would be in the future. He expected again to go with the multitude to the house of God. Even in his exile, and in his sorrows, he confidently anticipated this, and he says that he would then pour forth the full expression of gratitude—his whole soul—in view of all these things which had occurred. He was now in exile: his heart was overwhelmed with sorrow; he was away from the place of worship—the house of God; he no longer went with others with solemn steps to the sanctuary, but he hoped and expected again to be permitted to do so; and, in view of this, he calls on his soul (Psalms 42:5) not to be cast down.

This interpretation, referring it to the future, also brings this part of the psalm into harmony with the subsequent part (Psalms 42:8), where the author of the psalm confidently expresses the same hope.

I went with them to the house of God - The tabernacle; the place of public worship. See the notes at Psalms 23:6. The Hebrew verb here is also in the future tense, and, in accordance with the interpretation above, the meaning is, “I will go,” etc. The word occurs only here, and in Isaiah 38:15, “I shall go softly all my years.” See the word explained in the notes at that passage. It seems here to be used with reference to a movement in a slow and solemn procession, as in the usual processions connected with public worship among the Hebrews. The meaning is, that he would go with the multitude with seriousness and solemnity, as they went up to the house of God to worship.

With the voice of joy and praise - Chanting hymns to God.

With a multitude that kept holyday - The word here rendered “multitude”—המון hâmôn—is different from that which is employed in the former part of the verse. This is the usual word to denote a multitude. It literally means a noise or sound, as of rain (1 Kings 18:41); then, a multitude or crowd making a noise, as of nations, or of an army (Isaiah 13:4; Judges 4:7; Daniel 11:11–13).

The word rendered “that kept holyday”—חוגג chogēg—from חגג châgag—to dance—means literally dancing; dancing in a circle; and then, keeping a festival, celebrating a holiday, as this was done formerly by leaping and dancing (Exodus 5:1; Leviticus 23:41). The meaning is, that he would join with the multitude in the joyful celebrations of public worship. This was the bright anticipation before him in exile; this cheered and sustained his heart when sinking in despair.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? - Margin, bowed down. The Hebrew word means to bow down, to incline oneself; then, usually, to prostrate oneself as in public worship; and then, to sink down under the weight of sorrow; to be depressed and sad. The Septuagint renders it, “Why art thou grieved?” - περίλυπος perilupos. So the Vulgate.

This is an earnest remonstrance addressed by himself to his own soul, as if there were really no occasion for this excessive depression, as if he cherished his grief improperly. There was a brighter side, and he ought to turn to that, and take a more cheerful view of the matter.

He had allowed his mind to rest on the dark side, to look at the discouraging things in his condition. He now felt that this was in some measure voluntary, or had been indulged too freely, and that it was wrong: that it was proper for a man like him to seek for comfort in brighter views; that it was a duty which he owed to himself and to the cause of religion to take brighter views. We may remark,

1. That there are two sides to the events which occur, and which seem so discouraging to us—a dark side and a bright side.
2. That in certain states of mind, connected often with a diseased nervous system, we are prone to look only on the dark side, to see only what is gloomy and discouraging.
3. That this often becomes in a sense voluntary, and that we find a melancholy satisfaction in being miserable, and in making ourselves more unhappy, as if we had been wronged, and as if there were a kind of virtue in dejection and gloom—in refusing, like Rachel, to be comforted (Jeremiah 31:15); perhaps also feeling as if by this we were deserving of the divine approbation, and laying the foundation for some claim to favor on the score of merit.
4. That in this we are often eminently guilty, as putting away those consolations which God has provided for us; as if a man, under the influence of some morbid feeling, should find a kind of melancholy pleasure in starving himself to death in the midst of a garden full of fruit, or dying of thirst by the side of a running fountain.
5. That it is the duty of the people of God to look at the bright side of things; to think of the past mercies of God; to survey the blessings which surround us still; to look to the future, in this world and the next, with hope; and to come to God, and cast the burden on him. It is a part of religious duty to be cheerful; and a man may often do more real good by a cheerful and submissive mind in times of affliction, than he could by much active effort in the days of health, plenty, and prosperity. Every sad and desponding Christian ought to say to his soul, Why art thou thus cast down?

And why art thou disquieted in me? - Troubled, sad. The word means literally,

1. to growl as a bear;
2. to sound, or make a noise, as a harp, rain, waves;
3. to be agitated, troubled, or anxious in mind: to moan internally. See the notes at (Isaiah 16:11); compare (Jeremiah 48:36).

Hope thou in God - That is, trust in him, with the hope that he will interpose and restore you to the privileges and comforts previously enjoyed. The soul turns to God when all other hope fails, and finds comfort in the belief that he can and will aid us.

For I shall yet praise him - Margin, give thanks. The idea is, that he would yet have occasion to give him thanks for his merciful interposition. This implies a strong assurance that these troubles would not last always.

For the help of his countenance - literally, “the salvations of his face,” or his presence. The original word rendered help is in the plural number, meaning salvations; and the idea in the use of the plural is, that his deliverance would be completed or entire—as if double or manifold.

The meaning of the phrase “help of his countenance” or “face,” is that God would look favorably or benignly upon him. Favor is expressed in the Scriptures by lifting up the light of the countenance on one. See the notes at (Psalms 4:6); compare (Psalms 11:7); (Psalms 21:6); (Psalms 44:3); (Psalms 89:15).

This closes the first part of the psalm, expressing the confident belief of the psalmist that God would yet interpose, and that his troubles would have an end; reposing entire confidence in God as the only ground of hope; and expressing the feeling that when that confidence exists the soul should not be dejected or cast down.