Psalms 42

2. To me to live is Christ, that is, Christ is the end of my life; I live not to myself, but to Christ. So Grotius and Causabon, Christo Servio, To me to live is Christ; all my living is to do service to Christ (Romans 14:8). Whether we live we live to the Lord. When we lay out…

Enjoying spiritual communion with God is a riddle and mystery to most people: everyone that hangs about the court does not speak with the king. We may approach to God in ordinances, and as it were hang about the court of Heaven, yet not enjoy communion with God; we may have the…

Resp. 1. If we love God, then our desire is after him (Isaiah 26:8): The desire of our soul is to your name. He who loves God breathes after communion with him (Psalm 42:2): My soul thirsts for the living God. Persons in love desire to be oft conferring together: He who loves Go…

Who should rejoice, if not they, who have an infinite, all-sufficient eternal God to be their portion, who are as rich as Heaven can make them? What though I want health, I have God, who is the health of my countenance and my God (Psalm 42:11). What though I am low in the world,…

God has mercy, first, of all dimensions; he has depth of mercy, it reaches as low as sinners; and height of mercy, it reaches above the clouds. Secondly, God has mercies of all seasons; mercies for the night, he gives sleep, indeed sometimes he gives a song in the night (Psalm 4…

The vial of wrath does but drop, but the fountain of mercy runs. The sun is not so full of light, as God is of mercy: God has morning mercies (Lamentations 3:23): His mercies are new every morning; and night mercies (Psalm 42:8): In the night his song shall be with me. God has m…

Or in Job's, or David's? If in those shallows of outward troubles which are common to man his faith could not find footing, but he was well-nigh carried away with the common stream and error of wicked men to have condemned himself and the generation of the righteous (verse 15) —…

As the apostle bids us give a reason for our faith (1 Peter 3:15), so ask of your soul the reason for its doubting. Thus David in Psalm 42:5: 'Why are you cast down, O my soul?' And because doubts arise again and again, therefore he asks the reason again in verse 11: 'Why are yo…

And so did the Disciples of our Saviour Christ; when they prayed, Lord increase our faith, Luke 17:5. And David, being oppressed with deadness of heart, stirs up his faith, saying; Why art thou cast down, my soul? etc. wait on God, Psalm 42 verse 11. For, he that has faith, is t…

And they are those which on their straights, difficulties and temptations, the world reflects upon, as if their profession of faith in God were vain, false and hypocritical. When men said to David, Where is now your God? or what is become of your religion and profession, your pr…

Lord, I believe, Lord help my unbelief (Matthew 9:11). Why are you cast down, my soul, and why are you disquieted in me? (Psalm 42:11). Wait on God.

5. Bewail the relics of unbelief (Mark 9:24). 6. Chide your hearts for your dejection and distrust of God's providence, as (Psalm 42:5) Why are you so disquieted O my soul, &c. and (Psalm 77:10) this is my infirmity; 'tis the duty of a gracious man to rebuke his fears, to chide…

If the People of God should be extinct, and the cause of Religion trampled under foot, this would reflect upon the glory of God, and his Name would suffer. The wicked seldom prevail, but they blaspheme, they say, Where is your God? Psalm 42. 10. Now, Gods glory is dear to him, i…

Mark 9:11: Lord, I believe, Lord help my unbelief. Psalm 42:11: Why are you cast down my soul? and why are you [illegible] within me: wait on God. Many there are, that will stand upon the strength of their faith, and plead for themselves, that they never doubted, but they are fa…

Nay, the jealousy, and unbelief of some serious souls, will sometimes talk it this rate, I may give it over, this work will never go with me; beware, I beseech you of this; for the language of it is, That Our Lord is not a righteous Servant; Let therefore your spirits be calmed,…

We often find more fault, and first blame in Christ, if not only, before we see our own provocations. Hence the complaints of Job (chapters 6, 13, 16, 19) and of Jeremiah (chapters 20, 15) of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38) of Asaph (Psalm 77) of Heman (Psalm 88) of the Church (Isaiah 49:1…

The former was an act of the judgment and understanding; this belongs to the heart, will, and affections. [reconstructed: Psalm] 73:25. Whom have I in heaven but you, or in earth in comparison of you, and (Psalm 42:1) my soul pants or breathes after you my God. He was then a ban…

Thirdly, there is a certain kind of warmth, by which the soul does not only affect the ordinances of God, but by which it does in some measure digest them; there is no living man wanting some such measure of heat as makes him able to digest some kind of diet, though not always s…

God hears us, and understands what we say, and observes us well, and offers to be a shelter to us from the storm, when we begin solemnly to abandon such evils, then he hears us, and answers us according to the desire of our hearts; you have many a soul that cries to God, "Take a…

Let it therefore be a word of direction and exhortation, to every soul that desires to have that truth of life, and peace, and grace wrought in his heart that will never die; have you respect chiefly to the Lord Jesus Christ, and long and seek more after him, than after all spir…

Hence we gather a very sweet consolation, to wit, that the Lord joins his own glory with our salvation, as we have often showed you before. I will not give.] That is to say, I will not endure that any should rob me of my glory: but this had fallen out if the people had been utte…

One Thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the House of the Lord, all the Days of my Life, to behold the Beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his Temple. Psalm 42. 1, 2. As the Heart panteth after the Water-brooks, so panteth my Soul a…

Was there never such a time with you before, when in the like case you cried to the Lord and he answered you, and strengthened you with strength in your soul (Psalm 138)? Say within yourself, Why are you cast down, O my soul, hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the h…

The snares of death compassed us, and the floods of ungodly men made us afraid (Psalm 18:4) but the Lord thundered from heaven, the highest gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire: yea he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightning and discomfited them…

Labor to strengthen your comforts, and reason thus: "Why should I not believe in Christ?" Thus David did (Psalm 42): "Why are you troubled, O my soul, and why are you cast down within me?" Is not the mercy of God more than sin in the creature?

Psalm 42, verse 5. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, for the help of his countenance.

He was not wise to promote his own ends, unless he did ply him with temptations to blasphemy. Now Job being most sensible of these temptations, it being to him (as afterwards to holy David, Psalm 42:10) as a sword in his bowels, while the enemy said to him, where is now your God…

By night, is ordinarily understood darkness, and affliction, opposite to light of day and joy; and here her exercise being spiritual, it must imply some spiritual affliction, or soul-sad spiritual exercise. So night is taken, (Psalm 42:8) He will command his loving kindness in t…

4. Christ's familiar presence, or, his being as a brother owning his Bride, is the great thing that guards off, and prevents despising, and procures freedom from reproach, or at least is a bulwark to the soul against reproaches: it's no little advantage that familiarity with Chr…

Now this love of God has in it three acts or degrees — desire, joy, and zeal. First, an earnest and panting desire after God (Psalm 42:1-2): "As the hart pants after the water-brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: oh when shall I…

The will proceeds upon reason; the judgment being informed of the excellency of a state of glory, and the will being resolved upon a voyage to that holy land, now the affections follow, and they are on fire in passionate longings after Heaven. The affections are violent things (…

Should not every drop of sweat which I see trickle from their brows, fetch (as it were) a drop of blood from my heart? who am thus convinced and reproved of shameful laziness, by their indefatigable diligence. Do they pant after the dust of the earth (Amos 2:7), and shall not I…

2. As also the speaking of it to God, O God my heart is fixed, declares the sincerity of it. 3. The speaking to his tongue to awake it, his calling it his glory, as (Psalm 16:9) My glory rejoyceth, that is, my tongue expresseth joy, is an elegant fiction of a person, as speaking…

So there is panting, as is in sick men, or chased wild beasts dying a thirst; the flesh and the sensible soul crying out for the living God. Psalm 42:1, 2. My soul longs, yea even faints for the courts of the Lord. In this love-sickness fainting and swooning are near to dying: t…

Psalm 79:5. How long Lord, will you be angry, for ever? And especially a gracious heart is saddened most at the outgoings of wrath against prayer (Psalm 80:4), in which the Mediator, and the precious name of God, in a manner, seem to suffer (Psalm 42:3, 10; Psalm 83:1, 2, 3; Isa…

The Lord is Master of his own love-visits, and is neither debtor to the man Christ, nor to the elect angels; yes, the Lord's saving influences go along with his free decree of Election; and look as the Lord of nature preserves the species of roses, of vine-trees, though this or…

12. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of water, &c. And there must be strong love within, when such high expressions came out (Psalm 42:1). As the Hart pants after the water-brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God.

Yes, 3. Suppose the habit of grace were not kindled, or in any near disposition to flame, but there were deadness on the soul, and the habit of grace lying deadened and covered with ashes; yet is there warrant to blow aside the ashes, to stir the fire, and to smite upon the flin…

Worshippers of God never miss gracious influences: when the soul is sick after Christ, influences of God, for the high praise of Christ, abound (Canticles 5:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, &c. and Psalm 63:1). When the soul thirsts for God, and the heart and flesh cry out for the living God…

Verse 28: My soul drops away for heaviness. Verse 83: I am become like a bottle in the smoke (Psalm 42:1, 2; Psalm 6:1, 2, 3), prays and complains in a holy way to God; Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter, I did mourn as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord…

Jonah 2:2: Out of the belly of Hell I cried, says Jonah; and waves of wrath, all the waves, all the waves of your wrath are gone over me, says David (Psalms 45:8): Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my p…

Yet no husbandman, no vinedresser, can be Lord of the influences of heaven: so has the Lord commanded us to plow up the fallow-ground of our hearts, and not to sow among thorns; to lie under the husbandry of ministers sent of God; to frequent ordinances; to yield up our hearts b…

Hence these Propositions concerning enlargedness of heart. Prop. 1. When the soul is widened and stretched out in its actings, we are ready to say, I shall never be moved (Psalm 30), I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psalm 23:6), which though true, when he was ban…

David was here in his banishment; we do not finde him complaining, O my Kingdom that I am like to lose! my brave Palaces, and my brave Chambers, Gardens and attendance that I am like to lose; but the house of God. And in Psalm 42. As the Hart panteth after the water-brooks, so p…

There is also a communion or fellowship in actions, whether good or evil. In good is that communion and fellowship in the Gospel, or in the performance and celebration of that worship of God, which in the Gospel is instituted, which the saints do enjoy (Philippians 1:5), which a…

Whatever contentment he took in any other persons, it was nothing in comparison of the delight he took in them. For the ordinances, consider the same person: Psalms 42, 84, and 48 are such plentiful testimonies throughout that no further discourse is needed on this particular. T…

It were no hard condition to have a trial now and then, and long ease and prosperity between; but to be plied with one affliction at the heels of another, to have them come thronging in by multitudes, and of different kinds, uncouth, unaccustomed evils, such as a man has not bee…

If we consider both the nature of the thing, and the strain of the Scriptures we will find, that reproaches, are among the sharpest sort of sufferings, and are indeed fiery trials, the tongue is a fire, says St. James, and reproaches are the flashes of that fire, they are a subt…

God comes in with a sovereign powerful act upon the soul. Otherwise one grief or sad thought does but awaken another: Till he command loving kindness (Psalm 42:8), we are still followed with temptations. As the rain swells the rivers, and rivers the sea, and in the sea one wave…

So it is the same, as to our interest in God; it is an excellent encouragement. (Psalm 42:11) "Hope in God," says David to his soul; why? For he is my God.