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?"
-----------------------------------
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."
-------------------------------------------------
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;
I would lead a procession up to the house of God/Elohim with a sound/voice of joy and thanksgiving-- a crowd celebrating a festival.
If you wanted to cheer yourself up, spiritually, how would you do it? What would you look back to?
For the psalmist, there is one clear answer. The best moments of his life-- and in the life of basically every OT believer-- revolve around the yearly festivals, and the temple-- God's house.
Why? What makes the festivals so amazing? We maybe struggle to agree with the psalmist here for two reasons. First, we tend to think of the OT as legalistic. We think it's about the law, and duty, and works. We think it's drudgery. And if you told the psalmist this, I think he'd be confused. OT spirituality is a joyful, thankful, celebration of who God is, and what He's been for you, and for his people as a whole. If you said the word "legalistic," he'd say, "Do you not understand God at all, or any of the blessings we have (Philippians 2:1)?
The second thing that hinders us here, probably, is that we don't understand the festivals very well. But these festivals are celebrations of God's faithfulness to his people. They are a way to praise God, and thank God, for bringing them to where they are. They are living in the promised land, with a successful harvest. They live in houses, not tents. And they live free from enemies.
But even beyond this, there's something else in play here, and that has to do with the temple.
We tend to think that God is everywhere, uniformly. You can pray to, and worship, God, wherever you are. God is always there.
Which is true.
But God is more present in some places than others. He's closer; He's more available, in some places, than others.
And this is true, above all else, for the temple. The temple bridges the gap between the visible realm, and the unseen heavenly realm. God's glory is in the temple. And God put his Name in the temple (1 Kings 8). So the end result, is that if you want to get close to God in the OT, the logical place to go, is Jerusalem. The temple is God's earthly house.
So when we take all of this, and try to put it together, what marks the absolute peak of OT spirituality, and life?
It's that moment, when you're surrounded by fellow members of God's family, rejoicing together, as you go up to God's house to worship, and give thanks. When you are trying to encourage yourself spiritually, in the OT, that's what you'd remind yourself of.
Today, we would call that "church." "Sunday morning worship" (Matthew 18:19-20).
Verse 5-6:
(5) Why are you downcast/depressed, O my soul/inner being, and [why] are you disturbed within me?
Wait for God/Elohim,
because again I shall praise him-- the salvation of his face.
(6) My God/Elohim, within me, my soul/inner being is downcast/depressed.
For this reason, I shall remember/acknowledge you from the land of the Jordan and Hermon-- from Mount Mizar.
You can praise God anywhere, and worship him anywhere. This psalm, is an example of that. But relatively speaking, when you acknowledge God from the Jordan, or Mount Herman, you are acknowledging him from a distance. God is farther away there; He is less available.
But the psalmist here strikes a note of confidence. He tells himself, "Wait for God." God will help; his situation will be fixed. And the day is coming when the psalmist will praise God, in the temple. And at the temple, the psalmist will be able to praise God, before God's "face."
So there's no reason to be depressed, or discouraged. God's help is coming. And the day is coming, when you will again get to worship, in the community, before God.
With this, we come to verse 7, and my kid's question about "deep calling to deep." Unfortunately, it's a little tricky (which is maybe part of why people take it in all kinds of different directions).
There are two parallel lines here, and we are going to have an easier time of this if we read them together (David Tsumura has a helpful article, "Vertical Grammar of Parallelism in Hebrew Poetry" you can probably find online, if interested. Basically, with vertical parallellism, the two lines together form one thought. This verse is a good example of how this works):
(7) The deep, to the deep, it is calling-- to the sound/noise of your water supply;
all your waves and your surging waves, over me, they have passed.
In English Bibles, when you read that the "deep" calls to "deep," you maybe find yourself tempted to read this as some type of complicated metaphysical truth. God has depths, and we have depths, and we communicate at this deep Spiritual level.
But "the deep" has to do with waters. It's the word found in Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit hovers over "the deep." There, it means something like, "the primaeval ocean." It's also used to describe deep seas. Like at the Exodus, when God drowns the Egyptians, he drowns them in "the deep sea" (Exodus 15:5; Isaiah 63:3). [And the right dislocation at the end of line one of verse 7 points us in the right direction-- "the deep" has to do with God's water supply; a word found elsewhere only in 2 Samuel 5:8].
So what's going on back in Psalm 42? Picture the Pacific Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean. They call to each other, and work together, to dump oceans of water on you. It's like you have the weight of the world's water, drowning you.
It's a picture, obviously. A metaphor. But it's also one that we use. You can be drowning at work. When life gets hard, you feel like you're drowning. And that's where the psalmist is at. He thirsts for God, but God is drowning him, covering him in oceans.
--------------------------------------------
Luis Alonso Shokel, "The Poetic Structure of Psalm 42-43" (JSOT 1 (1976), 7; quoted in Goldingay, pg. 27-28:
"The poet who desperately seeks water finds it, but it is not life-giving water-- it is destructive. God sends water, overwhelming, destructive of life. God, who was to have been the life of the psalmist, has become his death."
--------------------------------------------------------
Verse 8-10:
(8) By day Yahweh commands his loyalty,
while by night his song [is] with me-- a prayer to the God/El of my life.
(9) I shall say to God/El-- my Rock--
"Why have you forgotten me?"
Why, [in] mourning clothes, do I walk in the oppression of the enemy?
(10) In/With a crushing/shattering in my bones, my foes mock me,
as they say to me every day, "Where is your God/Elohim?"
When we read these verses, there is a tension between verses 8 and 9. God is a loyal God, who commands his loyalty, maybe like you'd command your dog. And the psalmist knows that God has been faithful to him, day and night.
At the same time, we have verse 9-10. "Why have you, O God, my Rock, forgotten me? Why am I going through life, grieving, like I lost a loved one? Why am I being mocked, every day, because of my trust in you?"
The tension between these two, is the tension we all live with at times. God is loyal to me; He is the God of my life; his song is in my mouth every night, as He proved his faithfulness to me again.
I can say all of that in good times. And it's easy to pray and worship in good times. But it's also true in bad times. God is faithful. But where is He? He commands his loyalty. Where is it?
It's into this tension, that the psalmist speaks to himself. Maybe, we could say that he's strengthening himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6):
(11) Why are you downcast/depressed, my soul/inner being,
and why are you disturbed within me?
Wait for God/Elohim,
because again I will praise him-- the salvation of my face, and my God.
When you need God's help, there are two aspects to it. The first, is that you ask. You don't passively accept your circumstances. You don't passively assume this is God's will. You ask.
And the second aspect, usually, is that you "wait." There is often a gap between your asking, and your receiving. A gap in time. And when you find yourself in that gap, you have a choice to make, and that choice comes down a matter of hope, and faith. You prayed. You called out to God. And now what?
Now, you live in confidence that God has heard you. You live, in confidence that God has said "yes."
Here, in Psalm 42, that confidence has to do with you being able to praise God again at his house. God will save
you from your enemies; He will make it possible for you to worship him again, within the body of believers.
So why be depressed? Why be disturbed? You know God answered. You know this will end with your salvation. There's nothing to worry about, anymore.
And the psalmist tells himself this. He's actively strengthening himself in the Lord. He's telling himself, the truth about who God is for him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For an application today, I'd like to draw out two points. The second, is mostly what I want to talk about. But the first is maybe more important, if you were forced to pick and choose. And I'd feel like I'm messing it up, if I didn't talk about it.
Probably, the more important take-away this morning is based on verses 1-2. Let's reread them:
(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.
If you made these two verses your life verses, I think you'd have a great life. Wake up every day, thirsty for God. Wake up, wanting to be closer to God. Wanting more of Him, more from Him. Don't be content with the relationship you have. Don't assume you've maxed out your relationship. Decide that you will be like Jesus-- that you will live in a way, that you grow in favor with the Lord (Luke 2:52). You will become someone who God is more pleased with. And how does this happen? It happens as you seek him. It happens, as God increasingly becomes the consuming desire of your life.
And how do you do this?
Partly, it's through obedience. It's a matter of breaking free from sin, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and truly committing yourself to God.
Partly, it's through disciplined study of the Bible.
And partly, it's through prayer. You spend time by himself, calling out to him out loud, and telling him all of this. It's just like Psalm 42:1-2-- this is a prayer that the psalmist prays, to God. You let God know, that He is the consuming thirst in your life, and that you want more of Him.
So that's application #1.
But the thing I most want to talk about is church.
We understand that the Jerusalem temple is no longer a place where God is especially present. We don't itch to travel to Jerusalem, so that we can be thousands of miles closer to God. We know that the worship, and prayer, that God accepts, is the worship done in the Spirit, and in the truth (John 4:24). We know that we can worship him anywhere, and pray anywhere, and God hears.
Mind you, the psalmist also knows this. He sings this to God, 138 kilometers from Jerusalem (h/t google maps). He's happy to sing to God, and he knows God enjoys the worship. But he also knows that corporate worship, is better than private worship. When you get to sing with God's people, you find that you sing with far more joy, and thanksgiving. You sing better. And your worship is better. The whole thing, is a better experience. It's like everything else you sing in praise to God all week, is an anticipation of what we will get to do Sunday morning.
But it's the Sunday morning, that you can't wait for.
And if you find yourself in a situation like the psalmist, where you can't get to church, and you can't worship, you find yourself battling depression, and discouragement.
Maybe, you can't worship as a body because you live somewhere like Toronto, or some Muslim country, and it's illegal. Every time you worship secretly, as a body, you do so in defiance of the government. And when you do this, you're doing the right thing. You have to obey God rather than man, when it comes to public worship.
But when the spies are everywhere, and your neighbors call the cops on you when there's four cars in the driveway, what can you do?
You can pray Psalm 42. You can ask God to make it possible, for you to freely worship. You can strengthen yourself in the Lord, and tell yourself, God has heard. God wants your public, corporate worship, as badly as you want to give it. And God will make a way. God will clear out your enemies, and let you come worship him again, together. And in the meantime, while you wait, you strengthen yourself, and challenge yourself, that there is no reason to be discouraged, or depressed. You wait, in confidence. [And maybe you wonder if the truckers are an answer to prayer.]
Now, those of us who live in places where we can freely, publicly worship, maybe need to hear a different message.
Some Christians know that they can worship God wherever. They know that the worship God accepts, is the worship done in the Spirit and in the truth. And so they sing to God, by themselves, as individuals. And they tell themselves, they don't really need the church. They tell themselves, they aren't missing out on anything. If this is you, the verse you need to hear is verse 4:
(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;
I would lead a procession up to the house of God/Elohim with a sound/voice of joy and thanksgiving-- a crowd celebrating a festival.
It's a beautiful privilege, to be able to worship God as part of a multitude. To sing, shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters in Christ. To celebrate together, as a body, what God has done for you, as a body. And there is nothing you can find on youtube that compares with that. You can only have that kind of corporate joy, and thanksgiving, by being there.
The day may come when you find yourself tired of us. Tired of church. Tired of the same old, same old. Or maybe, the day may come when you are badly hurt by us, and you want to go off and lick your wounds, by yourself. If you do that, you'll probably tell yourself, you don't really need the church. You'll maybe tell yourself, you're not missing that much.
You are.
It's a depressing thing, to only ever worship by yourself. And you can't strengthen yourself in the Lord, by telling yourself that you don't need us. You strengthen yourself, by being confident in God, that the day is coming when you will again publicly worship. Sunday is never more than a week away.
And hopefully, when you look back at the happiest moments of your life, you'll find yourself thinking about Sunday morning worship. Worshipping God as a family, as a body, is as good as life gets on earth.
Translation:
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.
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?"
(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;
I would lead a procession up to the house of God/Elohim with a sound/voice of joy and thanksgiving-- a crowd celebrating a festival.
(5) Why are you downcast/depressed, O my soul/inner being, and [why] are you disturbed within me?
Wait for God/Elohim,
because again I shall praise him-- the salvation of his face.
(6) My God/Elohim, within me, my soul is downcast/depressed.
For this reason, I shall remember/acknowledge you from the land of the Jordan and Hermon-- from Mount Mizar.
(7) The deep/abyss to the deep/abyss , is calling to the sound/noise of your water supply;
all your waves and your surging waves, over me, they have passed.
(8) By day Yahweh commands his loyalty,
while by night his song [is] with me-- a prayer to the God/El of my life.
(9) I shall say to God/El-- my Rock--
"Why have you forgotten me?"
Why, [in] mourning clothes, do I walk in the oppression of the enemy?
(10) In/With a crushing/shattering in my bones, my foes mock me,
as they say to me all day, "Where is your God/Elohim?"
(11) Why are you downcast/depressed, my soul/inner being,
and why are you disturbed within me?
Wait for God/Elohim,
because again I will praise him-- the salvation of my face, and my God.
