King James Version
Psalms 42
11 verses with commentary
As a Deer Pants for Water
To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Maschil: or, A Psalm giving instruction of the sons, etc panteth: Heb. brayeth
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.</strong> This opening verse introduces one of Scripture's most beautiful metaphors for spiritual longing. The psalm begins Book II of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) and is attributed to "the sons of Korah," Levitical musicians who served in temple worship. The imagery is vivid, visceral, and deeply emotional—depi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **As the hart panteth.**—“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” (Thomson, *Land and Book, *p. 172).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5-6. Such is his confidence in the permanence of his way or course of life, that he disregards God's providential government (out of sight, because he will not look, Is 26:11), sneers at his enemies, and boasts perpetual freedom from evil.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 42
Chapter Outline
Job humbly submits unto God.(1-6)
Job intercedes for his friends.(7-9)
His renewed prosperity.(10-17)
**Verses 1-6**
Job was now sensible of his guilt; he would no longer speak in his own excuse; he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life, especially for murmuring against God, and took shame to himself. When the understanding is enlightened b...
Read full commentary →My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?</strong> This verse intensifies the longing of verse 1, shifting metaphor from panting deer to parched soul while adding temporal urgency: "When shall I come?" The progression moves from describing the desire to questioning when it will be fulfilled. The Hebrew poetry employs synonymous parallelism—rest...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Thirsteth.**—The metaphor occurs exactly in the same form (Psalm 63:1), and only calls for notice since “God” Himself is here made the subject of the thirst, instead of righteousness, or knowledge, or power, as in the familiar and frequent use of the metaphor in other parts of the Bible, and in other literature.
**The living God.**—Evidently, from the metaphor, regarded as the fountain or so...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-10. The malignity and deceit (Psa 140:3) of such are followed by acts combining cunning, fraud, and violence (compare Pr 1:11, 18), aptly illustrated by the habits of the lion, and of hunters taking their prey. "Poor," in Psa 10:8, 10, 14, represents a word peculiar to this Psalm, meaning the sad or sorrowful; in Psa 10:9, as usual, it means the pious or meek sufferer.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 42
Chapter Outline
Job humbly submits unto God.(1-6)
Job intercedes for his friends.(7-9)
His renewed prosperity.(10-17)
**Verses 1-6**
Job was now sensible of his guilt; he would no longer speak in his own excuse; he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life, especially for murmuring against God, and took shame to himself. When the understanding is enlightened b...
Read full commentary →My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
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KJV Study Commentary
Tears have become David's 'meat day and night' while enemies continually ask 'Where is thy God?' This mocking question attacks the foundation of faith--if God is real and good, why does He allow such suffering? The image of tears as food suggests grief so overwhelming that it displaces normal sustenance; sorrow consumes everything.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **My tears.**—Comp. Psalm 80:5; Psalm 102:9; and Ovid Metam. x. 75, “*Cura dolorque animi lacrimæque alimenta fuere.”*
**Where is thy God?**—For this bitter taunt comp. Psalm 79:10; Psalm 115:2; Joel 2:17, etc.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-10. The malignity and deceit (Psa 140:3) of such are followed by acts combining cunning, fraud, and violence (compare Pr 1:11, 18), aptly illustrated by the habits of the lion, and of hunters taking their prey. "Poor," in Psa 10:8, 10, 14, represents a word peculiar to this Psalm, meaning the sad or sorrowful; in Psa 10:9, as usual, it means the pious or meek sufferer.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 42
Chapter Outline
Job humbly submits unto God.(1-6)
Job intercedes for his friends.(7-9)
His renewed prosperity.(10-17)
**Verses 1-6**
Job was now sensible of his guilt; he would no longer speak in his own excuse; he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life, especially for murmuring against God, and took shame to himself. When the understanding is enlightened b...
Read full commentary →When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalmist remembers going 'with the multitude' to 'the house of God' with 'the voice of joy and praise.' This memory intensifies present sorrow through contrast. The Hebrew <em>hamon</em> (multitude, crowd) suggests the joyful noise of pilgrim festivals. Exile from corporate worship compounds the suffering of physical distress.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **When I.**—The conjunction “when” is not expressed, but may be implied from the next clause. Others render, “let me recall these days (*i.e., *what follows), let me pour out my soul within me” (literally, *upon me. *Comp. Psalm 142:3). But the Authorised Version is better, “when I think of it, my heart must overflow.” The expression, “I pour out my soul upon me,” may, however, mean, “I weep f...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-10. The malignity and deceit (Psa 140:3) of such are followed by acts combining cunning, fraud, and violence (compare Pr 1:11, 18), aptly illustrated by the habits of the lion, and of hunters taking their prey. "Poor," in Psa 10:8, 10, 14, represents a word peculiar to this Psalm, meaning the sad or sorrowful; in Psa 10:9, as usual, it means the pious or meek sufferer.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-6**
The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition. The ungodly are not so, ver. 4; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The righteous are like useful, fruitful trees: the ungodly are like the chaff which the win...
Read full commentary →Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. cast: Heb. bowed praise: or, give thanks for the: or, his presence is salvation
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.</strong> This verse introduces the psalm's refrain (repeated in 42:11 and 43:5), revealing internal dialogue—the psalmist addressing his own soul. This models spiritual self-exhortation, refusing to let emotions dictate faith. The structure mov...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Why art thou.**—The refrain here breaks in on the song like a sigh, the spirit of dejection struggling against the spirit of faith.
**Cast down.**—Better, as in margin, *bowed down, *and in the original with a middle sense, “why bowest thou down thyself?”
**Disquieted.**—From root kindred to and with the meaning of our word “hum.” The idea of “internal emotion” is easily derivable from its u...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-10. The malignity and deceit (Psa 140:3) of such are followed by acts combining cunning, fraud, and violence (compare Pr 1:11, 18), aptly illustrated by the habits of the lion, and of hunters taking their prey. "Poor," in Psa 10:8, 10, 14, represents a word peculiar to this Psalm, meaning the sad or sorrowful; in Psa 10:9, as usual, it means the pious or meek sufferer.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-6**
The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition. The ungodly are not so, ver. 4; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The righteous are like useful, fruitful trees: the ungodly are like the chaff which the win...
Read full commentary →O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. the hill: or, the little hill
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalmist's soul is 'cast down' within him, but he responds by remembering God 'from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.' These geographical references suggest physical exile far from Jerusalem, possibly in the region near Mount Hermon. Memory of God replaces memory of temple when physical access is denied.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Cast down.**—The poet, though faith condemns his dejection, still feels it, and cannot help expressing it. The heart will not be tranquil all at once, and the utterance of its trouble, so natural, so pathetic, long after served, in the very words of the LXX., to express a deeper grief, and mark a more tremendous crisis (John 12:27; Matthew 26:38).
**Therefore will I.**—Better, *therefore do ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. As before, such conduct implies disbelief or disregard of God's government.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Savi...
Read full commentary →Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
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KJV Study Commentary
The powerful imagery of 'deep calleth unto deep' at the noise of God's 'waterspouts' depicts overwhelming floods of trouble. 'All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me' suggests complete submersion in suffering. Yet notably, these are God's waves and billows, suggesting even suffering lies within divine sovereignty.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts.**—Better, *Flood calleth unto flood at the noise of thy cataracts. *The exile is describing what was before his eyes, and in his ears. There can, therefore, be little doubt that, as Dean Stanley observed, this image was furnished by the windings and rapids of the Jordan, each hurrying to dash itself with yet fiercer vehemence of soundin...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. (Compare Psa 9:19; 3:7).
**the humble--**(Compare Psa 10:17, and Margin.)
**lift up thine hand--**exert thy power.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Savi...
Read full commentary →Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.</strong> This verse provides theological anchor amid the psalmist's distress, declaring God's faithful love that operates continuously—by day and by night. The verse stands in tension with surrounding lament, creating beautiful paradox: the psalmis...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Yet the Lord.**—Better, *By day Jehovah shall command *(or, literally, *Jehovah command*)* his grace.*
**And in the night his song**—*i.e.*, a song to Him; but the emendation *shîrah, “*song,” for *shîrôh, *“his song,” commends itself. The parallelism of this verse seems to confirm the conclusion drawn from the sentence at end of Book II., that the title “prayer,” and “song” were used indisc...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13-14. It is in vain to suppose God will overlook sin, however forbearing; for He carefully examines or beholds all wickedness, and will mark it by His providential (Thine hand) punishment.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Savi...
Read full commentary →I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalmist addresses God directly: 'Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?' This is not doubt but dialogue, the honest complaint of faith that refuses to pretend. The questions assume God should act, evidence of underlying trust even amid apparent abandonment.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) Apparently we have now the very words of the prayer just mentioned.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13-14. It is in vain to suppose God will overlook sin, however forbearing; for He carefully examines or beholds all wickedness, and will mark it by His providential (Thine hand) punishment.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Savi...
Read full commentary →As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? sword: or, killing
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KJV Study Commentary
The enemy's reproach is 'as with a sword in my bones'--the taunt 'Where is thy God?' inflicts wounds as deep as physical attack. The repetition of this mocking question (from verse 3) emphasizes its continual, piercing nature. Spiritual mockery wounds more deeply than physical assault.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **As with a sword.**—Margin, *killing; *better, *crushing. *The insertion of the conjunction is erroneous. Render, *with a shattering of my bones. *This, no doubt, refers to actual ill-treatment of the exile by his conductors, who heaped blows, as well as insults, on their captives. We may even suppose this violence especially directed at this particular sufferer, who could not refrain from l...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. arm--**power.
**till thou find none--**So far from not requiting (Psa 10:11, 13), God will utterly destroy the wicked and his deeds (Psa 9:5, 6; 34:16; 37:36).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Savi...
Read full commentary →Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.</strong> This verse repeats the refrain from verse 5 with one significant addition: "who is the health of my countenance, and my God." The repetition emphasizes the psalm's cyclical nature—returning to despair yet repeatedl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16-18. God reigns. The wicked, if for a time successful, shall be cut off. He hears and confirms the hearts of His suffering people (Psa 112:7), executes justice for the feeble, and represses the pride and violence of conceited, though frail, men (compare Psa 9:16).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-11**
The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Savi...
Read full commentary →