John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday." — Psalms 42:4 (ASV)
When I remember these [things]
Either the reproaches of his enemies; or rather his past enjoyments of God in his house, he after makes mention of;
I pour out my soul in me ,
that is, he had no life nor spirit in him, but was quite overwhelmed with distress and anguish; or he poured out his soul in prayer to God, that it might be with him as in times past;
for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of
God ;
the place of public worship, whither he had often gone, with great pleasure and delight; and, which added thereto, there were many that went along with him; or whom he had "caused to go" F7 , had brought along with him; which is the sense of the word, only used here and in (Isaiah 38:15) ; as Dr. Hammond from R. Tanchum and Aben Walid, has shown: a good man will not only attend divine worship himself, but will bring others with him: but now, he could neither go alone, nor in company, the remembrance of which greatly affected his mind; see (Psalms 137:1) ;
with the voice of joy and praise :
the people singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs;
with a multitude that kept holy day ;
as especially on the three great festivals in the year, the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, when all the males of Israel appeared before God together, and which was a large multitude; and a delightful sight it was to behold them, when they were all engaged in religious worship at once.