Psalms 42:1

As the hart panteth after the water brooks,.... Either through a natural thirst that creature is said to have; or through the heat of the summer season; and especially when hunted by dogs, it betakes

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Psalms 42:1-11; Psalms 43:1-5 form one pair, and therefore have but one title, as Psalms 1:1-6; Psalms 2:1-12.

Psalms 42 THE The penman of this Psalm is uncertain. as not being named in the title. It was composed either, 1. By David, when he was banished from the house of God, either by Saul’ s tyranny, or by Absalom’ s rebellion; or, 2. 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. But this is not usual in this book, to name the author of a Psalm so obscurely and indefinitely; for the sons of Korah were a numerous company. and it is not likely that either all or divers of them did join in the inditing of this and the following Psalms so called. Nor is there any one Psalm where the author is named. but he is one certain and single person. 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. Who were an eminent order of. singers in the house of God; of whom see 9:19 26:1. The psalmist being deprived of God’ s service, ardently desires to be in his house again, ; rouseth up his soul unto a firm hope and confidence in God, . His enemies reproach him, . His faith in God, . The hart is naturally hot and thirsty. 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. After thee; after the enjoyment of thee in thy sanctuary, as it appears from .

Psalms 42:1 « 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, 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. Now, to him and his brethren was this and some other of David’ s psalms committed, both to be kept as a treasure, and to be sung in the sanctuary, for comfort and instruction under affliction, according to the signification of the word Maschil; whereof see Psalms 32:1, title, παθηματαγαρμαθηματα. Nocumenta documenta. Ver. 1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks] Heb. As the hind. Greek, ηελαφος, for in females the passions are stronger, saith an interpreter here, quicquid volunt, valde volunt. This creature is naturally hot and dry, about autumn especially (as Aristotle testifieth), but when hunted extremely thirsty. Chrysostom and Basil say, that she eateth serpents, and so is further inflamed by their poison. Now, as the hunted and heated hind glocitat, breatheth and brayeth after the water brooks, 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. Amo te Domine plus quam mea, meos, me (Bern.). After that God’ s Holy Spirit hath once touched a soul it will never be quiet until it stands pointed Godward.

(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).

PSALM XLII The psalmist earnestly longs for the ordinances of the Lord's house, 1-4; describes his deep distress, 5-7; endeavours to take comfort from the consideration that the Lord would appear in his behalf, 8, 9; speaks of the insults of his enemies, 10; and again takes encouragement, 11. NOTES ON PSALM XLII The title, To the chief Musician giving instruction to the sons of Korah. This is the first of the Psalms that has this title prefixed, and it is probable that such Psalms were composed by the descendants of Korah during the Babylonish captivity, or by some eminent person among those descendants, and that they were used by the Israelites during their long captivity, as means of consolation: and, indeed, most of the Psalms which bear this inscription are of the consoling kind and the sentiments appear to belong to that period of the Jewish history, and to none other. The word משכיל maskil, from שכל sakal, signifies to make wise, to direct wisely, to give instruction; and here is so understood by our translators, who have left this signification in the margin; and so the Versions in general. The Syriac says, "It is a Psalm which David sung when he was an exile, and desired to return to Jerusalem." The Arabic says: "A Psalm for the backsliding Jews." Verse 1. 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. Understand that when a hart is spent and sore run, his last refuge is to the water; and he will commonly descend down the streame and swimme in the very middest thereof; for he will take as good heede as he can to touch no boughes or twygges that grow upon the sides of the river, for feare lest the hounds should there take sent of him. 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." - Tuberville's Art of Venerie, chap. xl. Lond. 4to., 1611. The above extracts will give a fine illustration of this passage. The hart feels himself almost entirely spent; he is nearly hunted down; the dogs are in full pursuit; he is parched with thirst; and in a burning heat pants after the water, and when he comes to the river, plunges in as his last refuge. Thus pursued, spent, and nearly ready to give up the ghost, the psalmist pants for God, for the living God! for him who can give life, and save from death.

1, 2. The yearning of the Psalmist’s soul for communion with God.

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks - Margin, brayeth. The word rendered hart - איל 'ayâl - means commonly a stag, hart, male deer: Deuteronomy 12:15; Deuteronomy 14:5; Isaiah 35:6.

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.