Exploring the Meaning of Psalms 42
By Julian Duckworth
Psalm 42 is a song of intense longing for the Lord, a deep yearning which carries the speaker through times of great distress. This longing is described in vivid words and images. The opening verse says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.” Later, words and phrases like ‘thirsts’, ‘my tears’, ‘I pour out my soul’, ‘my soul is cast down within me’ and ‘in the night His song shall be with me’.
The spiritual meaning of this psalm of longing is concerned with two needs in us: first our need always to be in a state of longing for the Lord as we go through our lives, because ‘longing’ keeps us mindful and in conjunction with the Lord. This kind of longing is a very positive and joyful one in which we maintain and feed our relationship with the Lord in whatever ways we do that, in prayer, through the Word, through good towards others and by holding the Lord in our mind in the right way. (Heaven and Hell 349 and Arcana Caelestia 5130)
The other longing is about our need to remember the Lord and to seek to return to the Lord as and when we feel we have become separated from him. This separation may be due to our own forgetfulness or indulgence in worldly things or it may just be because our physical senses tend to take us away from the sensation of feeling the Lord in our lives. (Arcana Caelestia 5089.2)
A ‘deer’ stands for an affection for truth (see Arcana Caelestia 6413). This is because the deer, especially the does, are more timid than other animals, and such timidity describes the sensitive nature of affection very well. The ‘water brooks’ represent the power of what is true, especially the truths of the Word which are from the Lord. This is because water itself corresponds to truth. In this vein, let us notice the use of water-related words in the expressions of longingness for God: thirsts, tears, pour out, and later in the psalm, waterfalls.
‘Remembering’ has an important part in this psalm, first, of going with the multitude to the house of God with joy and praise. The ‘multitude’ stands for the joy of being in concert with many in adoration of God. But it can also mean more spiritually, a remembering of the time when our whole being was in accord in feeling joy in the Lord. This looking back remembrance is important when we are in temptation in which we feel separated and with no joy. It offers us a reminder of having been in a different and better state. (Divine Providence 279.5)
Later, in verses 6 and 7, remembering is made, using geographical names. Biblical names always stand for spiritual qualities, and here, the Jordan, a low-lying river which was the boundary of the land, stands for our natural life whereas the heights of Hermon and the Hill Mizar, being higher, stand for our spiritual levels of life. In other words, our remembrance of the Lord is to come from all parts of our life. (Apocalypse Explained 375.26)
The fascinating phrase, ‘Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls’ may actually have two different meanings. The first one is that the ‘deeps’ stand for the intentions of hell to work against the Lord and His heaven. But they are thrown into confusion by the noise of God’s waterfalls, and cry out one to another in their despair. (Arcana Caelestia 756)
The other spiritual meaning is that one deep refers to the divine depths of the Lord which will always meet with the other depths in ourselves, the depths of devotion, the depths of despair or temptation, and will aim to speak to them and where needed, restore them to their true state. The ‘waterfalls’ of the Lord stand for the abundance of truth that the Lord is able to give us, which, when we are receptive and in need, he will bring to us. (see Apocalypse Revealed 889)
Next comes the day-time and the night-time. Spiritually, ‘day’ is when we feel the presence of the Lord, we see clearly, and we feel confident in our faith and purpose. ‘Night’, spiritually, is when we do not feel the nearness of the Lord, and we become confused by darkness in ourselves. In the psalm, the Lord assures us of his loving presence with us in both states, but differently; lovingkindness in the day, His song and our prayer to the God of my life during the night. (Arcana Caelestia 8106 7193.3)
From verse 9 through to the end of the psalm comes a restoration to faith and trust in the Lord, even though he is unfelt and seems absent. God is ‘my Rock’ even though he seems to have forgotten me, which is our own impression; God is ‘my Rock’ even when my enemies within and around ask ‘Where is your God?’ This assurance leads on to the twice-mentioned ‘Hope in God’ with the accompanying words which are confident of a coming renewed state where we will openly praise God who is the help of my countenance. The spiritual idea of ‘countenance’ that it describes the face which has on it all that goes to make our whole life and being. (Arcana Caelestia 4292.4)
Arcana Coelestia #8106
8106. 'During the daytime in a pillar of cloud' means that when there was a state of enlightenment, this was moderated by a dimming of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'during the daytime' or 'in the day' as in a state of enlightenment, for the times of day — morning, midday, evening, and night — correspond to degrees of enlightenment in the next life, that is, of intelligence and wisdom, 5672, 5962, 6110, so that 'the day' is a state of enlightenment or clear perception, and 'the night' a state of unenlightenment or dimmed perception, 7680; and from the meaning of 'cloud' as a dimming of truth, since a cloud takes away the brilliance of the light from the sun and also moderates it.
[2] Various places in the Word say that Jehovah appeared in a cloud, that He was clothed with a cloud, or that 'clouds were under His feet'. In those places 'cloud' is used to mean a dimming of truth; in particular the literal sense of the Word is meant, for in comparison with the internal sense the literal sense is a dimmed presentation of truth, see the Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752. This was meant by 'the cloud' when the Lord appeared in glory to Peter, James, and John, Luke 9:34; when He appeared to the people from Mount Sinai, and to Moses when he went in to Him there, Exodus 19:9; 20:21; 24:15-18; 34:5. The same was also meant by what the Lord declared so many times, that He would come in the clouds of heaven, Matthew 24:30; 26:63-64; Mark 13:26; 14:61-62; Luke 21:27.
[3] The literal sense of the Word is called 'a cloud' because the internal sense, which is called 'the glory', cannot be understood by anyone unless he has been regenerated and therefore enlightened. If the internal sense of the Word, or God's truth in its glory, were to appear in front of someone who has not been regenerated it would be like thick darkness in which he would see absolutely nothing, and also would leave him blind, that is, with no belief at all.
From all this one may see what the description 'a cloud during the daytime' means, namely a dimming of truth and, when it has reference to the Word, the literal sense.
[4] The expressions 'in a pillar of cloud' and 'in a pillar of fire' are used because 'a pillar' means a load-bearing support, as in Jeremiah 1:18; Psalms 75:3; Revelation 3:12; Job 9:6; and it is used to refer to the natural level, since the natural level is a kind of support or pedestal for the spiritual level. For the spiritual level terminates at the natural level and rests on it. This explains why the feet of an angel coming down from heaven looked like pillars of fire, Revelation 10:1; for the natural level is meant by 'feet', 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328.
