John Calvin Commentary Psalms 42:1

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God." — Psalms 42:1 (ASV)

As the hart cries for the fountains of water, etc. The meaning of these two verses simply is that David preferred, above all the enjoyments, riches, pleasures, and honors of this world, the opportunity of access to the sanctuary, so 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. Instead, we should remember how God allures us to Himself and by what means He raises our minds upward.

He does not instruct us to ascend immediately into heaven; rather, considering our weakness, He descends to us. David, then, realizing 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 communion with God.

I do not mean to say that the observance of external ceremonies can, by itself, bring us into favor with God. However, they are religious exercises that we cannot endure being without because of our weakness. David, therefore, being excluded from the sanctuary, is no less grieved than if he had been separated from God Himself.

It is true that he did not, in the meantime, cease to direct his prayers towards heaven, and even to the sanctuary itself. However, conscious of his own weakness, he was especially grieved that the way by which the faithful obtained access to God was shut against him.

This is an example that may well suffice to put to shame the arrogance of those who, without concern, can tolerate being deprived of these means—or rather, who proudly despise them, as if it were in their power to ascend to heaven in a moment’s flight, indeed, as if they surpassed David in zeal and eagerness of mind.

We must not, however, imagine that the prophet allowed himself to rest in earthly elements. Instead, he only used them as a ladder by which he might ascend to God, finding that he did not have wings with which to fly there.

The analogy he draws from a hart is designed to express the extreme intensity of his desire. Some explain this by saying that harts eagerly seek water to recover from fatigue, but this interpretation is perhaps too limited. I admit that if a hunter pursues a stag, and dogs also closely follow it, when it comes to a river, it gathers new strength by plunging into it. However, we also know that at certain times of the year, harts seek water with an almost incredible desire, one more intense than could arise from mere thirst. Although I would not argue strongly for it, I think this is what the prophet refers to here.

The second verse illustrates more clearly what I have already said: David does not simply speak of the presence of God, but of God’s presence in connection with certain symbols. For he sets before himself the tabernacle, the altar, the sacrifices, and other ceremonies by which God had testified that He would be near His people, and that it was necessary for the faithful, in seeking to approach God, to begin with these things.

This does not mean that they should remain attached to them, but rather that, with the help of these signs and outward means, they should seek to behold the glory of God, which in itself is hidden from sight. Accordingly, when we see the marks of the divine presence engraved on the Word or on external symbols, we can say with David that there is the face of God, provided we come with pure hearts to seek Him in a spiritual manner.

But when we imagine God to be present in any way other than how He has revealed Himself in His Word and the sacred institutions of His worship, or when we form any gross or earthly conception of His heavenly majesty, we are only inventing for ourselves visionary representations that disfigure the glory of God and turn His truth into a lie.