V. INVOCATION. "O God." LONGING FOR THE LIGHT-BRINGER (r-4). ·r. Entreaty for Deliverance (r). Supplication. 2. Echo of Perplexity (2 ). Expostulation. 3. Entreaty for Guidance (3). Supplication. 4. Expectation of Praise (4). Anticipation. VI. INTROSPECTION. LANGUAGE OF THE LOYAL HEART (5). Self-rebuke. Refrain. SUPERSCRIPT.-Maschil for the Sons of Korah. SUBSCRIPT.-For the Chief Musician. PRIMARY A_ssocIATION.-Written by one in exile and in great distress. He was ·evidently a Levite accustomed to conduct com panies of pilgrims up to Jerusalem for the great festivals (4). Obviously belongs to the period of the monarchy and may best be referred to the time of Absalom' s rebellion at a point in David's flight later than that of Ps. lxiii. The poet may have been with David's company of loyal ones who crossed the Jordan (6). This is the second "Maschil" psalm, see note to xxxii. Compare Ixiii. and lxxxiv. which are. also "wilderness" psalms, all expressing a thirst after God, though the circumstances differ. PROPHETIC ANncIPATION.-Voices the deep yearning of the godly remnant in exile, cast out of the land of which they had enjoyed but brief possession. The title "Maschil" confirms the interpretation as belonging to the great tribulation period. Significantly ''Jordan'' is the river of death (separation), while Hermon is connected with a Hebrew root denoting the ban or banishment.
II8 PERSONAL APPLICATION.-Every saved sinner should become a servant of the sanctuary. We are preserved from perishing to be promoters of praise (title). Note (a) Past Experience of Worship (4); (b) Present Exclusion from Worship (6); (c) Positive Expectation of Worship, xliii. 3-4. "Christ is the answer to the cry of the human heart for God. Without Him God is invisible and incomprehensible." Note "Why?" ten times; four times addressed to God, six times to sel£ Do we not sometimes experience conflicting emotions such as find expression in these psalms? Fears and faith, doubt and devotion, sorrow and song may intermingle. Even when men do not, the tempter taunts with "Where is thy God?" (3, ro). The loyal saint ever longs to join the assembly in worship, xliii. 3; cf. Heb. x. 25. God is not only "El Chay"-the Living God, He is "El Chayyay"-God of my life (2, 8). First the billows then the blessings, first the sigh then the song, first the mou.rnmg then the morning (7-9). Keep hoping in God for you shall yet praise Him (5, II, 5). Is God my exceeding joy? xliii. 4. They who begin by "panting" (r) will surely end by "praising" (rr), xliii. 5. Facts often appear to contradict faith. "The darkest night has its star, the longest night, its morning. VERSE NOTES I. "hart," hr. hind; "panteth," i.e. suffering in a period of prolonged drought; "waterbrooks," typical of the Spirit of God who both awakens and satisfies these holy desires. · 2. "the Living God," Heb. El Chay, elsewh§re only Josh. iii. ro; Hosea i. ro and Ps. lxxxiv. 2; (b) i.e. at the three great festivals. 3. (b) These taunts were the bitterest ingredient in his cup of sorrow. 4. (b) Tense of the verb indicates that it was his custom to conduct pilgrims up to Jerusalem for the feasts. 5. (c) The psalmist immediately acts upon his own advice; (d) probably reading "Who is the help of my countenance and my God," as in II and xliii. 5; "help," lit. salvations; plur. indicates manifold character of salvation. 7. "roar of thy cataracts," one trouble following another until he feels utterly overwhelmed; br. "all thy breakers and rollers have ... ," the swiftly flowing waters of the nearby Jordan probably supplied the figure. 8. Kirkpatrick and others render the verbs in this verse in the past tense, "used d" "D · h " · . uall fc b th 1 to comman , etc.; ay ... mg t, 1.e. contm y; re ers to o causes (c) Prayer often denotes any form of communion with God; "God"= El. 9. "God"= El; hr. to use capital "R" in Rock; (b) an expression of perplexity, not a complaint demanding explanation.
Ps. xliii. r. "Judge," i.e. vindicate; lit. "from a nation without loving-kindness." 2. Lit. "my stronghold God." 3. E.g. as at the exodus from Egypt; (c) "tabernacles"= Heb.,lur. of majesty. 4- Or, "That I may come . .. " (b) God is Himself the goal o the pilgrimage; (c) "praise" = give thanks; "God, my God," Heb. Elohim Elohay.
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