Psalm 42: I Will Remember Thee!

David was a fugitive from Saul when the words of Psalm 42 were penned.

As he hid in the mountain depths, his greatest lament was that he could no longer worship with others in the house of the Lord. In two sections of Psalm 42, each concluding with a similar chorus (vv. 5, 11), David expresses his heartfelt need to commune with God.

Having spent a good deal of time in the arid portions of Israel, David knew water could be scarce during the summer. His graphic comparison of a deer panting from thirst to his need to connect with God is powerful (vv. 1, 2). He longs to meet God in the sanctuary, but as a fugitive, it is impossible (v. 2). His enemies taunt him, claiming God has forsaken him (v. 3). When he remembers the joy of worshiping together with the congregation of the Lord, his troubles seem even worse (v. 4). Yet why should he be depressed? Has God not protected him? Is there not hope he might once again worship in the house of the Lord (v. 5)? Verse 6 begins the second stanza of the psalm. Though driven from communal worship, David vows to remember God (v. 6). Here among the mountains of the north (v. 6), where snows melt into rushing streams flowing down in cataracts to the Jordan, he feels as if the waters mirror his sinking feelings (v. 7). “David sinks down in momentary disappointment and discouragement, like a drowning man (see Ps. 88:7), but rises immediately in faith and confidence that God will do all things well.”1 God will help David overcome whatever affliction comes (v. 8). Because of his trust in the Lord, David plans to continue asking God to explain why he is suffering (v. 9).

Why does there seem to be some truth to the words of his enemies? They ask, “Where is thy God?” (v. 10). David vows, “I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (v. 11; see also Psalm 43:5). “I will follow Thee, my Savior, / Wheresoe’er my lot may be. / Where Thou goest I will follow; / Yes, my Lord, I’ll follow Thee.”