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. O to have the most intense craving after the highest good! "Commentary on Psalms 42:1". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/psalms-42.html. It weakens the sense of responsibility by destroying its basis in fact; it lowers the estimate of goodness by destroying its reality; it definitely stimulates self-indulgence by withdrawing from conscience its authority and reminder of the promise of judgment to come. Alas, how many appear before the minister, or their fellow men, and think that enough! 1. He corrects himself with a recollection of God's powerful providence, Psalms 42:6. » As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. BibliographyBarnes, Albert. How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, With the voice of my joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.". 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 philosopherF3Aristot. In our view, during any of this period from 722 B.C. "Commentary on Psalms 42:1". As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. The similitude which he takes froma hart is designed to express the extreme ardor of his desire. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/psalms-42.html. (The fall of Samaria) till Cyrus authorized the end of the Captivity in Babylon, could have been the time when some devoted psalmist composed these remarkable psalms. All other rights reserved. And that work will ever be a copy in full or in miniature, a complete or reduced photograph, of the work of grace described in the Scripture as carried on by the Spirit in the hearts of God"s saints of old. Only the knowledge and assurance of God and the maintenance of our human relationship with Him can save an intelligent soul from insanity. He roundly asserted that David was a bloody man, and that God was punishing him for supplanting Saul and his house; his wish was father to his thought. v. 21. (Title.) It is an exquisite performance; in which David gives us in his own example a lively and natural image of a great and good man in affliction; and this is worked up with as much art and address as perhaps is to be found in any writing of the same kind. The form אדּדּם is Hithpa., as in Isaiah 38:15, after the form הדּמּה from the verb דּדה, "to pass lightly and swiftly along," derived by reduplication from the root דא (cf. Then, what are the positive reasons why we understand the psalms to be identified with the times of the captivity of Israel either in Assyria or in Babylon? Not merely for the temple and the ordinances, but for fellowship with God himself. Title. 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. By the sons of Korah, in the time of the captivity of Babylon; whence some read the words of the title of this Psalm, Maschil of the sons of Korah. (Ps 42:1-5) (Psalm )" /> Psalms 42:1-5. 42:3,10; 79:10; 115:2) See Contextual Insights, B. BibliographyNisbet, James. (4) One other reason for our assignment of these psalms to the period of Israel's captivity is the reasonableness of Clarke's comment. That it must here be taken as a designation of the hind, appears from the verb being in the fem. I. Probably he falls in with the literature of materialism—often interesting and able, sometimes even brilliant—which is offered on the bookstalls by the missionaries of unbelief for a few pence; he buys and reads and reads again. Animal. Maybe they all have such excellent noses that, like Spurgeon, they can smell it! 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. Shimei may here be alluded to who after this fashion mocked David as he fled from Absalom. The men of Numbers 16:32 did not include the "sons". Gently proceeding with holy ease, in comely procession, with frequent strains of song, he and the people of Jehovah had marched in reverent ranks up to the shrine of sacrifice, the dear abode of peace and holiness. (c) Aristot. "aphikim. When he composed this Psalm, it is manifest that his mind was fluctuating with despondence and hope: what the particular occasion was, is not expressed; but it is generally believed, that it was upon the rebellion of Absalom, when he was driven away from the house and service of God. Psalm 42:1-2 Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul? God hidden, and foes raging, a pair of evils enough to bring down the stoutest heart! Nocumenta documenta. Another reason for placing these psalms in the times of David was cited by Dummelow, who pointed out that, "The Psalms belong to a time when the Temple worship was in full activity. It would not have been worth any mention whatever that a man could remember seeing Hermon from one of the foothills; but if he remembered seeing it from Jerusalem, that would have been worthy of inclusion in the psalm. I. If Song of Solomon , take encouragement, for the Lord despises not the day of small things. Which is more than hungering; hunger you can palliate, but thirst is awful, insatiable, clamorous, deadly. Perhaps it was well for him that the heart could open the safety valves; there is a dry grief far more terrible than showery sorrows. A. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/psalms-42.html. Mental and moral aspiration.—What does the Psalmist mean by using the language of bodily appetite to describe the needs of the soul? See note on Psalm 32, Title, and App-65. Ver. Psalms 40:11-17 David’s Plea With The Lord For Mercy. The futures, as expressing the object of the remembrance, state what was a habit in the time past. All of the suppositions of many writers that it might have been in the vicinity of Hermon, or one of the lesser peaks in that region, would make the passage meaningless. "Commentary on Psalms 42:1". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". Pentaglott. Clarke's Psalms 42:1 Bible Commentary 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. SchindlerF4Lexic. Maschil, for the sons of Korah] Korah and his compilers were swallowed up quick by the earth in the wilderness for their gainsaying, Numbers 16:1-50, but some of his sons, disliking his practice, escaped, and of them came Heman (the nephew of Samuel), a chief singer, 1 Chronicles 6:23. When he harped upon his woes his heart melted into water and was poured out upon itself. BibliographyPhilpot, Joseph Charles. Painful reflections were awakened by the memory of past joys; he had mingled in the pious throng, their numbers had helped to give him exhilaration and to awaken holy delight, their company had been a charm to him as with them he ascended the hill of Zion. And this thirst is increased, partly by its dwelling in desert and dry places, to which it retireth for fear of men and wild beasts; and partly by its long and violent running, when it is pursued by the hunters; and some add, by eating of serpents. All my nature, my inmost self. So David had found treachery where he looked for fidelity, and nothing could revive him but the everliving waters of divine grace. "Commentary on Psalms 42:1". PSALM 42 * Longing for God’s Presence in the Temple. With these psalms we have the beginning of Book II of the Psalter. "Commentary on Psalms 42:1". Remember this when you discuss religion or read the books made upon it. this is no questionable mark of grace. 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. 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." In Psalm 42:6 the poet seeks to solace and encourage himself at this contrast of the present with the past: Why art thou thus cast down... (lxx ἵνα τί περίλυπος εἶ, κ. τ. λ., cf. Note how incessant was their jeer, and how artfully they framed it! Hebrew. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. The outward nearness was the medium of securing the inward, (in this respect Calvin remarks, that as the godly of the Old Testament knew, that wings for flying failed them, they availed themselves of ladders wherewith to mount up to God; and we heed these helps to weakness no longer, simply because they have been furnished us in Christ in a far more real form,) and then the Israelitish church-life concentrated itself there, and contemplation and love were in the individual mightily roused and called forth by the public fellowship. These to satisfy must be perfect and harmonious. המון חוגג is the apposition to the personal suffix of this אדדם: with them, a multitude keeping holy-day. Pop(ular) Song. The second of thirteen so named. 1 Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. The original word ערג arag, 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. A contemplative psalm. Commentary on Psalm 42:1-5 (Read Psalm 42:1-5) The psalmist looked to the Lord as his chief good, and set his heart upon him accordingly; casting anchor thus at first, he rides out the storm. The panting of the thirsty stag for the water brook is indeed a very eloquent description of mental and moral aspiration. (e) Sept. & Symmachus apud Drusium. Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 are linked together, because (1) Psalm 43 has no title; (2) the Structure shows the correspondence of the repeated appeal. S. 152; tr. Grant if you will that under the name of religion much has been gathered that is neither true nor useful. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks" (Psalms 42:1). Copyright StatementThese files are considered public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available in the Online Bible Software Library. singers in the house of God; of whom see 1 Chronicles 6:33 9:19 26:1. It is the symbol of fleetness, of surefootedness, of timidity and innocence, Psalms 18:33; Habakkuk 3:18-19; Song of Solomon 2:8-9; and is here represented as hotly pursued, faint, and thirsty—an emblem of the fugitive and weary king. For the sons of Korah. Psalms 42:6 is understood to teach that David's place of exile was somewhere east of the Jordan headwaters in the vicinity of Mount Hermon. "Commentary on Psalms 42:1". And therefore it seems more probable that David penned this, as it is confessed he did some other Psalms which have not his name in the title. It were well if all our resortings to public worship were viewed as appearances before God, it would then be a sure mark of grace to delight in them. 2. 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, (113) 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. he inclined to me and v heard my cry.. 2 He drew me up from w the pit of destruction,. The psalmist being deprived of God’s service, ardently desires to be in his house again, Psalms 42:1-4; rouseth up his soul unto a firm hope and confidence in God, Psalms 42:5-9. "Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament". A depth of urgency and deep pathos is captured in these verses as the metaphor of a weary hind, parched from the blistering heat of the day, is exhausted from the pounding pursuit of howling hounds, who are relentlessly hot on her trail and baying for her blood. Nor is there any one Psalm where the author is named. 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