Psalms 42-43
Dear RTB’ers,
Back to the Psalms for a bit. It was around Thanksgiving last year when we last read the Psalms, when we closed Book 1 with Psalm 41. Today we begin Book 2 with two psalms that apparently (according to my Study Bible) are actually one psalm, somehow split into two along the way. There is repetition between the two psalms. We see verses 5 and 11 in Psalm 42 repeated in verse 5 in Psalm 43. We also see the phrase, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” twice in Psalm 42, in verses 3 and 10.
It seems to me like the author has been captured by an enemy and is far from home, far from the Promised Land. In Psalm 42 he speaks of “the oppression of the enemy” (v. 9) and “my adversaries” (v. 10). Then Psalm 43 mentions “an ungodly people” (v. 1) and, again, “the oppression of the enemy” (v. 2). These phrases seem like more than just the taunts from a group of people in his hometown. He also misses the temple worship, where he was one of the leaders: These things I remember … how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. (v. 42:4) Finally he mentions one location, Hermon (presumably, Mt. Hermon), which is in a mountain range far north from Israel, even further north than Caesarea Philippi.
Beyond geography we have the psalmist’s words, clearly a lament over his current situation. Like Job, he feels almost abandoned by God: I say to God, my rock: “Why have You forgotten me?” (v. 42:9) Yet he has hope for deliverance, as cited in those three identical verses mentioned above: Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.
Finally a personal note – one verse stuck out for me: Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy… (v. 43:4a). When I was in Boy Scouts years ago, one of the merit badges that a Catholic boy could earn was the Ad Altare Dei badge, referring back to this exact verse, I will go to the altar of God. Sweet!
Blessings!
See also: