... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the Sons of Korah.
As the deer pants after the water brooks,
so my soul pants after You, O God. My
soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while
they continually say to me, “Where [is] Your God?”
When I remember these [things], I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the crowd, I
went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a crowd
that kept holyday.
Why are you cast down, O my soul? [Why]
are you restless inside me? Hope in God:
for I shall yet praise Him [for] the salvation
of His countenance.
O my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore, I will remember You from the land
of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the noise of Your
waterspouts. All Your waves and Your
billows are gone over me.
[Yet]
the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the day, In the night His song [is] with me, My prayer [is] to the God of my life. I will say to God my rock, “Why have You
forgotten Me? Why go I mourning because
of the oppression of the enemy?” [As] with a sword in my bones, my enemies
reproach me, while they say daily to me, “Where [is] Your God?”
Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you restless within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, the salvation
of my countenance, and my God.[2]
[1] Psalms
42 and 43 seem to belong together because they have the same refrain, “Why are you cast down, O my soul….”
If the Sons of Korah sang around 516 BC, their singing mixes the emotions
of a rebuilt temple (the second temple) with the reality that the Glory of God
never returned to bless it. When the Glory
does return it is to Herod’s temple.
The Presence of the Glory, the Shekinah is central to
Israelite worship and the now forming Judaism.
How poignant that this should be expressed in the poetic picture of a
thirsting deer.
These rending emotions are experienced in the
midst of a festal celebration and are contrary to the situation. The Sons of Korah find themselves weeping in
the middle of a part filled with laughter.
Everyone is dancing. The Torah
scroll is brought out and the priests dance with it. Amid shouts of L'chaim, L'chaim, L'chaim, the
Sons of Korah are groaning Ichabod, Ichabod, Ichabod.
The oppressive feelings cannot be
shaken. All is not right. All is not restored.
The Sons of Korah have a memory of the Living God buried deep
inside of them. Perhaps it is the memory
of the history of Israel learned on their mother’s laps. This deep memory resides in all of us, and we
cannot be fulfilled until this longing for God is quenched by His Presence in
our hearts. This longing is now likened
to drowning.
Even though such intense longing grips the soul, the Sons of
Korah have rational evidence of the goodness of Yahweh all around them; but
even these do not dispel the gloom of His missing presence. The pain is likened to stabbing.
The oppressive feelings cannot be
shaken. All is not right. All is not restored. Nevertheless, someday all will be
restored. “They will know we are
Christians….”
[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in
Psalms, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by
Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND. They are designed and intended for your free
participation. They were freely
received, and are freely given. No other
permission is required for their use.
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