an abyss (as a surging mass of water) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
calleth
ק֭וֹרֵאKo.re'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
deep
תְּה֣וֹםte.Hom
H8415
an abyss (as a surging mass of water) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
noise
לְק֣וֹלle.Kol
H6963
a voice or sound · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
waterspouts
צִנּוֹרֶ֑יךָtzi.no.Rei.kha
H6794
a culvert · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
waves
מִשְׁבָּרֶ֥יךָmish.ba.Rei.kha
H4867
a breaker (of the sea) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
billows
וְ֝גַלֶּ֗יךָve.ga.Lei.kha
H1530
something rolled · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
gone
עָבָֽרוּ'a.Va.ru
H5674
to cross over · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jonah 2:3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over…
Psalms 69:14-15 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
Psalms 88:7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
Lamentations 3:53-55 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.
Job 1:14-19 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Psalms 88:15-17 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Jeremiah 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
Ezekiel 7:26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish f…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 42:6–end
Complaints and comforts here, as before, take their turn, like day and night in the course of nature.
I. He complains of the dejections of his spirit, but comforts himself with the thoughts of God, Psa 42:6. 1. In his troubles. His soul was dejected, and he goes to God and tells him so: O my God! my soul is cast down within me. It is a great support to us, when upon any account we are distressed, that we have liberty of access to God, and liberty of speech before him, and may open to him the causes of our dejection. David had communed with his own heart about its own bitterness, and had not as yet found relief; and therefore he turns to God, and opens before him the trouble. Note, When we ca…
The roar of successive billows, responding to that of floods of rain, represented the heavy waves of sorrow which overwhelmed him.
John Gill on Psalms 42:7
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of the water spouts,.... By which are meant afflictions, comparable to the deep waters of the sea, for their multitude and overwhelming nature; see Psalm 69:1; these came pouring down, one after another, upon the psalmist: as soon as one affliction over, another came, as in the case of Job; which is signified by one calling to another, and were clamorous, troublesome, and very grievous and distressing;
all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me: with which he seemed to be covered and overwhelmed, as a ship is at sea. It may be observed, that the psalmist calls afflictions God's water spouts, and "his" waves and "his" billows; because they are appointe…
Psalm 42:7-8
7. Depth calleth unto depth [121] at the noise of thy waterspouts: [122] all thy waves and thy floods have passed over me. 8. Jehovah will command his loving-kindness by day: and by night his song shall be with me; and prayer to the God of my life.
7. Depth calleth unto depth These words express the grievousness, as well as the number and long continuance, of the miseries which he suffered; as if he had said, I am oppressed not only with one kind of misery, but various kinds of distress return one after another, so that there seems to be neither end nor measure to them. In the first place, by the term depth, he shows that the temptations by which he was assailed were such, tha…
The Church Fathers
Listen to this: "Deep calls on deep at the voice of your floodgates." Scripture of the Old Testament calls on Scripture of the New Testament for the consummation of holiness and the fullness of grace; it calls with the voice of grace and the outflowing of spiritual abundance.
When deep calls deep, the Son calls the Father from the depth of land and river, and you have opened the cataracts of heaven. As the Holy Spirit descends, the Father addresses the Son from the height of the heavens. When he calls from the deep to deep, the glory of the Lord comes to me.
"Deep calleth unto deep with the voice of thy water-spouts." I may perhaps finish the Psalm, aided as I am by your attention, whose fervour I perceive. As for your fatigue in hearing, I am not greatly solicitous, since you see me also, who speak, toiling in the heat of these exertions. Assuredly it is from your seeing me labouring, that you labour with me: for I am labouring not for myself, but for you. "Deep calleth unto deep with the voice of thy water-spouts." It was God whom he addressed, who "remembered him from the land of Jordan and Hermon." It was in wonder and admiration he spake this: "Abyss calleth unto abyss with the voice of Thy water-spouts." What abyss is this that calls, and to what other abyss? Justly, because the "understanding" spoken of is an "abyss." For an "abyss" is a depth that cannot be reached or comprehended; and it is principally applied to a great body of water. For there is a "depth," a "profound," the bottom of which cannot be reached by sounding. Furthermore, it is said in a certain passage, "Thy judgments are a mighty abyss," Scripture meaning to suggest that the judgments of God are incomprehensible. What then is the "abyss" that calls, and to what other "abyss" does it call? If by "abyss" we understand a great depth, is not man's heart, do you not suppose, "an abyss"? For what is there more profound than that "abyss"? Men may speak, may be seen by the operations of their members, may be heard speaking in conversation: but whose thought is penetrated, whose heart seen into? What he is inwardly engaged on, what he is inwardly capable of, what he is inwardly doing or what purposing, what he is inwardly wishing to happen, or not to happen, who shall comprehend? I think an "abyss" may not unreasonably be understood of man, of whom it is said elsewhere, "Man shall come to a deep heart, and God shall be exalted." If man then is an "abyss," in what way doth "abyss" call on "abyss"? Does man "call on" man as God is called upon? No, but "calls on" is equivalent to "calls to him." For it was said of a certain person, he calls on death; that is, lives in such a way as to be inviting death; for there is no man at all who puts up a prayer, and calls expressly on death: but men by evil-living invite death. "Deep calls on deep," then, is, "man calls to man." Thus is it wisdom is learnt, and thus faith, when "man calls to man." The holy…
Dictionary and topics
Gutter — Heb. tsinnor, (2 Sam. 5:8). This Hebrew word occurs only elsewhere in Ps. 42:7 in the plural, where it is rendered “waterspouts.” It denotes some passage through which water passed; a water-course.…
Hermonites, the — (Ps. 42:6, 7) = “the Hermons”, i.e., the three peaks or summits of Hermon, which are about a quarter of a mile apart.
Korahite — (1 Chronicles 9:19,31) Kor’-hite, or Kor’athite, that portion of the Kohathites who were descended from Korah. They were an important branch of the singers, (2 Chronicles 20:19) hence we find eleven…
Mizar — Smallness, a summit on the eastern ridge of Lebanon, near which David lay after escaping from Absalom (Ps. 42:6). It may, perhaps, be the present Jebel Ajlun, thus named, “the little”, in contrast…
Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Psalms — The psalms are the production of various authors. “Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Waterspouts — (Ps. 42:7; marg. R.V., “cataracts”). If we regard this psalm as descriptive of David’s feelings when banished from Jerusalem by the revolt of Absalom, this word may denote “waterfalls,” inasmuch as…
Afflictions · Often severe — Often severe
Afflictions And Adversities · .Often severe — .Often severe
(Heb.: 42:7-12) The poet here continues to console himself with God's help. God Himself is indeed dishonoured in him; He will not suffer the trust he has reposed in Him to go unjustified. True, עלי seems at the beginning of the line to be tame, but from עלי and אזכּרך, the beginning and end of the line, standing in contrast, עלי is made emphatic, and it is at the same time clear that על־כּן is not equivalent to אשׁר על־כּן - which Gesenius asserts in his Lexicon, erroneously referring to Psa 1:5; Psa 45:3, is a poetical usage of the language; an assertion for which, however, there is as little support as that כּי על־כּן in Num 14:43 and other passages is equivalent to על־כּן כּי. In all such…
The raging seas, waves, and surging tides conjure images of God’s wrath (see 88:7).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 42:7
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. Thy severe dealings with me seem to excite all creation to attack me; heaven, and earth, and hell, call to each other, stirring each other up in dreadful conspiracy against my peace. As in a waterspout, the deeps above and below clasp hands, so it seemed to David that heaven and earth united to create a tempest around him. His woes were incessant and overwhelming. Billow followed billow, one sea echoed the roaring of another; bodily pain aroused mental fear, Satanic suggestions chimed in with mistrustful forebodings, outward tribulat…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· SPIRITUAL
— SPIRITUAL
Loving-Kindness Of God, The · Saints: Should expect, in affliction — Saints: Should expect, in affliction
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
