Psalm 41

The fervent desire of the just after God : hope in

1 As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters: so my soul panteth after thee, O God.

2 My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come, and appear before the face of God?

3 My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?

4 These things I remembered, and poured out my soulin me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting.

5 Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance,

6 And my God. My soul is troubled within myself: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little hill.

7 Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me.

8 In the day time the Lord hath commanded his mercy; and a canticle to him in the night. With me és prayer to the God of my life,

9 I will say to God: Thou art my support. Why hast thou forgotten me? and why go I mourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me?

10 Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me have reproached me. Whilst they say to me day by day: Where is thy God?

11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God. -

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM.

1 “ As. the hart panteth after the fountains of waters : so my soul panteth after thee, O God,”

Love is a fiery affection, and, therefore, cannot be restrained, but breaks forth in words and sighs. To express his love somehow, David compares himself to a thirsty stag, saying, ‘ As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters; a most happy and expressive simile. The stag is noted for four peculiarities, It is a deadly enemy to serpents, and constantly at war with them. When it is pursued by the hunters, it betakes itself to the highest mountains as quickly as possible. By some natural instinct, they singularly carry out the advice of the Apostle, ‘ Bear ye each others burdens; for, according to St. Augustine, when they move in a body, or swim across a lake, the weaker ones rest their heads on the stronger, and are thus helped along. Finally, when they are tired after a combat with serpents, or a flight to the mountain, or from he] ping each other along, they seek to refresh themselves by copious draughts of water, from which they cannot be tempted or deterred. Such is a most perfect idea of the true lover of God. He has to wage a continued war against the serpents of his evil desires. When he is nigh overcome by temptation, or by persecutions, he flies away to the mount of contemplation, bears his neighbour’s infirmities with the greatest patience, and, above all, thirsts ardently for God, from whom he will not be held back by any earthly happiness or trouble. Such was David, though a soldier; so was Paul, Peter, and the other Apostles and martyrs ; such were all who felt they were, while here below, in exile, and, through good and evil days, never lost sight of that country, the supreme object of their wishes.

2“ My soul hath thirsted after the strong living

ee ; when shall I come, and appear before the face of od 2”

He explains the meaning of “‘ panting after God,” and why he should be so sought after. St. Chrysostom observes, that three things usually excite our love, and through it our thirst and desires ; and these are the beauty of the object, favours conferred on us, and love itself, for beautiful objects almost compel one to love them ; favours conferred, lead us to love the giver; and love on their part provokes mutual love. Should these three things be united in one person, that is, could there be found or imagined any one of surpassing beauty, conferring boundless favours daily on another, for whom they feel the most intense and ardent love, how could the latter possibly stand by not ardently loving the former in return? David shews here that these three things are united in God, in regard of himself ; and, therefore, states that “he thirsts after him;” that is, he is inflamed by love and desire towards him. “ My soul hath thirstéd after the strong living God,’ as the most beautiful, most noble, most excellent o? all things ; comprising all good, “ strong,” not transitory

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

or perishable, but permanent, everlasting. ‘ Living,” active, intelligent, loving, pouring down continual favours on us, having great regard for us, boundless love for us. Such thirst after what is so good, so kind, so loving of me, forces me, from my whole heart, to exclaim, ‘ When shall I come and appear before the face of the Lord?” When will there be an end to my pilgrimage, when the commencement of my joys? :

3 “* My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God ?”

He that will reflect attentively on the three points already alluded to, namely, the incomprehensible beauty of God, the multitude of his favours, and the extent of his love that caused him to deliver up his only begotten Son for us, cannot but burst into tears in his desire for getting the full possession of so great a good. David seriously reflected on these points, and, he, therefore, adds, ‘* My tears have been my bread day and night.” My tears were my only food, I lived on them day and night; that is, during the whole term of my pilgrimage, whether in the days of prosperity, or the nights of adversity, my soul not only refused to be gladdened by any earthly consolation, or to be saddened by any temporal mishap ; but, at all times, my tears have been my meat and my drink. ‘Whilst it 1s said to me daily,” by the wicked and the incredulous, “ Where is thy God?” that means, while I wander about daily, ‘ seeking whom my soul loveth,” my thoughts and my spirit said to me, “‘ Where is thy God?” all those things you have seen in your search for him are beautiful, to be sure, bat not like thy God. Where, then, is your God? Where will you look for him? When will you come and see the face of your God?

4 ‘+ These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go into the place of the. wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise ; the noise of one feasting.”

He goes on with the expression of his desires, “he poured out his soul,” which may be interpreted in three ways. First, when about to enter the wonderful tabernacle, the very house of God. Icleared, banished all earthly delights out of my soul, that I may fill it with the delights of my Lord. Second, I extended, expanded my soul to be able to contain the immense good to be had in that wonderful tabernacle ; where there is the “ never-fazling plenty of the house of the Lord.” Third, “ I poured out my soul ;” rose above it in contemplation, as it is expressed in Lam. iii., ‘‘ He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace ; because he hath taken it upon himself.” And, in fact, in this our exile there is no more ready way of getting up to the ‘ wonderful tabernacle,” and the actual house of God, than through our own soul, which is the image of God. It is more sublime than the heavens, and deeper than the abyss ; and he who can steady his own soul and rise above it, will rise to him whose image it is, and he ‘‘ will go over to the place of the wonderful tabernacle and the house

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

of God.” To touch briefly on this ascent, let us consider: the soul is a spirit, and, therefore, far exceeds all things corporeal; and thus, God being a spirit, and the Creator, not only of bodies but of spirits, therefore, far exceeds not only bodies, but even spirits. Again. The soul, however simple and in-

divisible, is yet entire in the body and in all its parts ;

filling all the members, yet occupying none exclusively ; thus, God, while he is one, and indivisible, still fills the whole world and all created things, every where entire, present everywhere, confined no where. Thirdly. The soul does not move about in the body, still carries it, guides it, governs it, quickens and enlivens it, as we see from the death of any one; for, the moment the soul departs, the body falls down at once, and in one moment loses all power of motion, sense, beauty, every thing. Now, what the soul is to the body, God is to the universe ; not that God is the soul of the universe, as some philosophers vainly imagined ; but, because he seems to have a certain resemblance to the soul in these respects ; for, while he remains fixed and unmoved in himself, ‘* upholding all things by the word of his power,” and, ‘in hin we live, move, and have our being.” Fourthly. The soul is intelligent, and our intellect has cognizance of all the senses, and knows many things beside, which no corporal sense can comprehend. So God is all intellect pre-eminently, replete with the knowledge of all men and Angels, and of infinitely more matters, far beyond our understanding. Fifthly. The soul knows many things not only in theory but-even practically ; hence, the endless productions of human ingenuity, in the various arts, trades, and manufactures ; so exquisitely wrought as nearly to vie with nature ; so also with the understanding of God, both in theory and practice, who without tools, without troub‘e, in a moment. by his sole word, from nothing made the universe, Sixthly.. The soul is endowed with free-will, and, therefore, moves the members of the body at its pleasure. Thus God, at his pleasure, governs all created things; and, therefore, David, in Psalm exviil, says, “for all thinys serve thee.” And, not only is the soul, in its essence, the image of God, but ina remote sense it is the image of the Trinity; for there is in the soul intelligence representing the F'ather ; knowledge derived therefrom, representing the Word of the Father ; and love,springing from such in- ‘tellience, and knowledge, representing the Holy Ghost. There is also in the soul memory, intellect, and will, which, to some extent, represent the three divine Persons. ‘‘ Zhe soul then is poured in itself,” and rises over itself in contemplation, that it may be enabled to pass over to the “ wonderful tabernacle ;” and, therefore, the prophet adds, “for J shall go over to the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God.” By the place of the wonderful taber- ‘nacle is meant, the heavenly Jerusalem, the taber- ‘nacle in heayen not made by human hands, where

the house of God is, of which he said in Psalm xxvi. * One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life.” —* With the voice of joy and praise, the noise of one feasting.” He tells us now, that in that ecstasy in which “he poured out his soul,” and in contemplation arrived at the site of “the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God,” that he did not do so in silence, but in loud acclamations, in admiration, and praise, in such joy and jubilee, as those enjoying a banquet cheerful and glad, such as is meet for the soul wrapt up the in contemplation of the joys of the heavenly Jerusalem.

5 ‘* Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance,”

With such spirits and mental consolation he seeks to dry up his tears, saying, “* Why art thou sad, O my soul?” Why should tears be your bread day and night ? Why will you by such incessant tears so “trouble me?” “ Hope in God,” though you don’t see him, you so ardently long for, yet hope in him, “for I will still give praise to him;” that means, though the time has not yet come, it will come when before his face I will praise God, and declare his mercies, and say to him, “ the salvation of my countenance ;” that is, you are my salvation, for you brighten up my countenance by your light, and my face to behold yours, “and I will know as I am known; and from a clear knowledge I will say, ‘thou art my God.” :

6 ‘+ And my God. My soul is troubled within my -

self: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little hill.”

He now tells the alternations of sadness and conso‘ation that were wont to seize him; sadness, in fear of the dangers of this life ; consolation, from the hope and promise of the future. ‘* AZy soul ts troubled within myself.” Though I told my soul “to hope in God,” yet, when I looked in upon my weakness, and the little light and strength I possess, I was seized with great fear, and “* my soul was troubled;” to cure which fear and terror I said, ‘¢ Z will remember thee Srom the land of Jordan and Hermontim, from the little hill.” I will take my eyes off myself, and fix them on you, instead of fixing my eyes on the Jordan before me; I will think of the river ‘ that gladdens your city,” and the torrent of thy pleasure,” enjoyed by those who are there with you; and from this little hill Hermoniim, before me, I will remember your holy mountain, in which you dwell with your holy Angels ; and with such recollections I will console my soul and my desires. Whether.Hermoniim be a different mountain from Mount Hermon is not very clear ; most probably it is, for Hermoniim is here spoken of as a small, whereas Hermon was a very large mountain.

7 ‘‘ Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-

gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me,”

He goes ou with an account of the dangers and temptations of this life, comparing them to an inundation, alluding to that of Noe. ‘ Deep calleth on deep.” An immense mass of water came rolling over me, and the moment it passed, another came in succession, as if called by the first. And those vast inundations poured in “at the noise of thy floodgates ;” with such a noise and such a clamour, a3 if the flood-gates of heaven were opened. “ All thy heights,” all the lofty breakers, “and thy bilows have passed over me;” the whole inundation, the universal deluge, passed over me. He alludes, as we said before, to the general deluge, when “the cataracts of heaven were opened,” that is, the quantity of rain that fell was such that would lead one to think some cataracts in heaven were opened, and that all the water burst forth with an unheard of force and violence, from which inundation arose the great abyss, an immense depth and quantity of water. This metaphor is used here to give an idea of the great dangers and temptations to which God will sometimes expose his elect. Men such as David, truly spiritual, alone are aware of the extent and magnitude of these temptations; for it is such people only know the boundless machinations of the enemy, and how grievous a matter it is to fall away from the grace of God.

8 ‘¢ In the day time the Lord hath commanded his mercy ; and a canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life,”

After having described the extraordinary amount of temptation endured by him, he now tells us how he was in turn relieved by the consolations he got. “In the day time the Lord hath commanded his mercy,’ which means, after those inundations of waters, and those dreadful abysses had cleared away, “in the day time” of prosperity, “the Lord hath commanded his mercy” to visit and console me ; “and a canticle to him in the night,” in the night of tribulation and temptation; even “‘ his canticle” will not cease, for I will, even in the night, sing his praises, thank and glorify him. “ With me is prayer to the God of my life.” My song at night shall be in the secret of my heart, speaking with it rather than with my lips, looking upon him as the source of my salvation and my life, I will say to him,

9 “Twill say to God: Thou art my support. Why hast thou forgotten me? and why go [ mourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me 2”

He now admires the vicissitudes of the divine providence in governing us. If, O God, thou art really “my support, why hast thou forgotten me 2?’ How does it come to pass that I should be overwhelmed by so many temptations and tribulations, that so pour down upon me, that, though you are my hope and my strength, you seem to have forsaken me? How does it happen again, that “ZI go mourning whilst my enemy ajflicteth me?” while you are my helper and my protector.

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

10 “* Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who’ trouble me have reproached me. Whilst they say to me day by day: Where is thy God ?

11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him; the salvation of my countenance, and my God,”

Not only has my enemy “ afflicted me” before your face, you who are “ my support,” but even “ whilst my bones are broken,” come to such a pitch of debility and infirmity, that I can scarce resist temptation. ‘* My enemies who trouble me have reproached me,” asking me incessantly, “ Where is thy God ?” The very enemies who persecute and harass me, reproach me with the confidence I have ia you, as if the confidence were of no avail, for they constantly ask, ‘* Where is thy God?” who you boasted was “your helper and protector.” So Tobias was reproached, ‘‘ where ts thy hope for which thou gavest alms and buriedst the dead ?” and again, ‘‘ [t is evident thy hope ts come to nothing, and thy alms now appear.” So the Jews upbraided Christ on the cross, ‘ He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he will.” Thus algo, his incredulous enemies insulted David in his troubles, but though he was for the moment “* saddened and disquieted,” he only reproved himself, saying, ““ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thow disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to hum ;” words we haye already explained in verses 5 and 6 of this Psalm.

PSALM XLII. The prophet aspireth after the temple and altar of God.

1 Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is net holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.

2 For thou art God, my strength: why hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy aftlicteth me?

3 Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.

4 And I will go in to the altar of God: to God, who giveth joy to my youth.

5 To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why art thou sad, O my soul? and why. dost thou disquiet me?

6 Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and

my God.

EXPLANATION OF THE PSALM.

1 “* Judge me, O Lord, and distinguish my cause Srom the nation that ts not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.” eat

COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS.

David, severely pressed by Saul, or tempted by demons, and having no human succour to fall back upon, appeals to God as a judge: “Judge me, O God,” for I have no one else to seek justice of but of you; “and distinguish my cause from the nation that ts not holy;” and take cognizance of the charge brought against me by an unholy people. The Hebrew and the Greek imply, that he asks God not only to judge him, but to pronounce in his favour; and he further asks, ‘Deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man; so judge my cause, that you will thereby deliver me from such men.

2“ For thou art God, my strength: why hast thou cast me off 2. and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me 2”

This verse is almost the same as the ninth verse of the last chapter. The meaning is, as you, “ O my God, art my strength,’ and in you alone I trust, why do you seem “ to have cast me off;” and I, thus cast off, “ go sorrowful,” ** whilst the enemy afflicteth me?” a friendly mode of expostulation, arising from his thorough confidence in God, in which he complains of God’s allowing him to be so punished as if

3 ‘ Send forth thy light and thy truth : they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.”

This verse proves what a spiritual man was David, and that he was more concerned for his delivery from mortal sin and the loss of eternal life, than from any temporal troubles. For he says, ‘ Send forth thy light and thy truth;” grant me the light of thy grace and thy mercy, thy truth, and thy faithfulness, ‘‘ for they will conduct me” in my perilous pilgrimage, and “bring me unto thy holy hill,” the heavenly Jerusalem, ‘‘and into thytabernacles,” into thine own house, where there are “ many mansions” and many tabernacles for thy elect.

4 “And [ will go in to the altar of God: to God, who giveth joy to my youth.”

He tells us what he will do when he gets to the “holy hill,” just what all the others in possession of God’s house are doing, offering God their sacrifice of praise, as David says in Psalm Ixxxiii., “* Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord, they will praise thee for ever and ever.” ‘I will go i to the altar of God” to offer up the sacrifice of praise ; for the moment any one enters that house he becomes a priest, as we can infer from Apoc. v., “ Dhow hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests.” And I will not only go to thy altar, but I will go in to “¢ God himself;’ I willappear before him as if I were brought into his most private apartment; “to God who giveth joy to my youth,” to the youth just acquired by me. For in heaven “ owr youth, like that of the eagle, shall be renewed ;” and the Apostle says, Ephes. iv., ‘‘Zill we all meet unto a perfect man unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ.”

5 “ To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon

the harp: why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me ?

6 “ Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.”

• He tells more clearly what sacrifice he means to offer at the altar of God, when he shall have come into the tabernacle not made by hands, the eternal one in heaven. “JZ will give praise to thee on the harp ;” I will praise thee by acknowledging thy mercies, thy justice, and all thy wonderful works, which praise shall not be confined to my lips, for my harp shall join them. The harp is figuratively introduced as an instrument in recording God’s praises, as in Apoc. v., ‘Having each of them harps in their hands,” and in chap. xiv., ‘And the voice [heard was that of harpers playing on their harps.” The remaining part of these has been explained in the latter end of the previous Psalm,