Psalm 42

Psalm 42
This psalm begins the Second Book which ends with Psalm 72. In this section of the Psalms, the Jewish remnant Romans 9:2727Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: (Romans 9:27); Isaiah 10:20-2220And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. 22For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. (Isaiah 10:20‑22); Jeremiah 23:33And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. (Jeremiah 23:3)) of the latter day is seen historically as driven out of Jerusalem according to the word set forth in Matthew 24:15-3015When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:15‑30).
Psalm 45 brings in thee appearing of the Lord Jesus as their long awaited Messiah, and in Psalms 48-50 the glory is re-established in Zion, the city of David. The later psalms express the heart searchings, and the praise of the godly during this time.
For a right understanding of the Psalms it must be remembered that they are written, first of all for the Jews, for Israel, in the day when the believers of the present dispensation (who comprise the Church of God, the body of Christ, the heavenly people, a subject occupying the New Testament Epistles of the apostle Paul) shall have been called away to heavenly glory at the coming of the Lord, and when the Holy Spirit will, through the Word of God, begin a new work among the people of Israel.
Psalm 42, the first of this second section of the psalms, shows, in the unerring forecast of the Holy Spirit, the deep feelings of the Jews recovered to God, when separated from their ungodly brethren and the associated Gentiles: What longing after God is here!
But the Jewish hope is for His appearing to-Set up His earthly kingdom, a subsequent event. Jerusalem is the place from which His world-wide dominion will extend.
The living God (verse 2) suggests the contrast of the lifeless, vain idols of the apostate Jews, with Him with whom we have to do. Jewish thoughts of Him were and will be connected with the temple at Jerusalem; from it these believers of the last days are shut off; they remember (verse 4) their happiness when they could go there together. Adversaries are taunting them with, "Where is thy God?" (verses 3 and 10). This reminds us of the language of Judah in Matthew 27:43, 44, 47,43He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. (Matthew 27:43‑44)
47Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. (Matthew 27:47) 4f, (note Psalms 22, verses 1-8, for the same character of suffering, only far more intense).
Verse 6 seems to suggest where the remnant will be during the great tribulation (see Matthew 24:1616Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: (Matthew 24:16) and Revelation 12:66And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:6)). If so, "the land of the Jordan" would refer to the north; Hermon is the loftiest mountain (9,200 feet) in Palestine, situated west and south of Damascus in the far north; Mizar is not now known.
God will be the desire of these suffering saints, as this psalm shows, He occupies their hearts as "the living God" (verse 2), "the God of my life" (verse 8); "God my rock" (verse 9), and "my God" (verses 6 and 11); He will be praised for the health (literally "salvation") of His countenance (verse 5), and He is "the health of my countenance" in the last words of this psalm. These expressions bring Him before the heart in the circumstances of trial here seen.
Surely the Holy Spirit would have us who know God through Jesus Christ our Lord, at least equally occupied with Him for His grace and love.