Corporate Worship Is The Best Worship (Psalm 42:1-11) Series

One of my kids asked me this week what it means, when "deep calls to deep." I told her, "I have no idea." But I promised her I'd study that next. And after using google, I found out that what we are going to work through this week, apparently, is Psalm 42.

Let's start by reading verses 1-2:

Of/for the director. A maskil of/for the sons of Korah.

(1) Like a young buck/deer panting for streams of water, thus my inner being/soul longs for you, God/Elohim.

(2) It has thirsted-- my soul/inner being-- for God/Elohim-- for the Living El/God.

Thirst is the most powerful desire in the world. When you are truly thirsty, you will think about nothing else. The psalmist starts by looking up, and telling God, that he thirsts for God.

The word he uses is often translated as "soul." His "soul" thirsts for God.

All talk about soul, spirit, and body, has always struck me as confusing, to be honest. And when we read the

Bible, the way the Bible uses the Hebrew and Greek words connected to this, is incredibly messy. Our theology is cleaner than the Bible.

When we look at lexicons, what we see is that the word "soul" can refer to people or animals as a whole ("living souls" for animals, see Genesis 1:20; for people, see Exodus 16:16, "according to the number of souls"). It can refer to someone's "neck" (Psalm 105:18). Closer to the point here, I think, are two ideas:

First, it can also refer to someone's appetite, hunger, desire, or wish (DCH #3; Ecclesiastes 6:7; Exodus 15:9; Jeremiah 59:19; Psalm 63:6). A good example of this is found in Proverbs 16:26:

"The soul/appetite of a worker, works for him,

because it urges on him his hunger."

And second, it can refer to someone's inner self, or inner being. A good example of this is Genesis 34:3 (even though it turns into a gross example). "And his soul/inner being clung/adhered to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl."

When you have feelings for someone, you feel for them with your "soul," or "inner being." There's a part, somewhere inside of you, that you feel for them with. You can almost reach inside of yourself, and tell where it is. But not quite. That's your "soul." Also, when you are hungry for lunch, that desire comes from your "soul," or "inner being."

I think if we combine these two ideas (or even just take one or the other), that's basically how we should understand Psalm 42:2-3. The longing that a deer has for water, is like the way you long for God. You've thirsted for him, and this thirst comes from deep inside of you. It's the thing that motivates you, and drives you. It consumes you.

And when we read the two verses together, in parallel (like we are supposed to), we see that this desire is not new to the psalmist. He "has thirsted," past tense (qatal), and he continues to long for God, now (yiqtol).

And so the psalmist starts his prayer/song, by telling God, this is how he's lived. This is who he is, fundamentally, as a human. He is someone who thirsts, and longs, for God.

Picking up again, last line of verse 2, and let's read through verse 3:

When will I go, that I may appear before the face of God/Elohim?

(3) They have been to me-- my tears-- as bread day and night,

as they ask me every day, "Where is your God/Elohim?"

Sometimes, life completely falls apart for you, in a very obvious way. Maybe you lose your job, or your spouse, or a close friend. Maybe you pick up a powerful enemy-- a bad boss, or coworker, or neighbor-- who makes life impossible. You go through life, crying. In Psalm 42, if what you're thirsty for, is God, then what you eat, are your tears.

And everyone who sees you, knows your life is brutal. And they ask you, every single day, "Where is your God?"

I read this, and I wonder what these people's tone is. Are people sympathetic here? Or are they mocking? I don't know. But these words are a constant reminder of the core issue here. "Where is my God? Why isn't He helping?"

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Goldingay, Psalm 42-89, page 24:

"Although formally the suppliant is involved in reflection and is not addressing God, the suppliant knows that God will overhear this reflection, and it is meant for God's ears."

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In verse 4, the psalmist digs into his past, to find a reason to be optimistic. The psalmist is a glass half-full kind of guy:

(4) These [things] I shall remember,

and I shall pour out within me my soul/inner being:

when I would pass through in the multitude;