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42:1.
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As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks. The figure
is that of an eager thirsty animal in time of drought (cp. the figure in Joel
1:20; Jer. 14:1-6) somehow sensing water below ground and yet having no access
to it. How fitting to Hezekiah, prevented by his unclean illness from
participating in the temple worship of Yahweh. Compare also Psa. 63:1.
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2.
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With this verse compare Psa. 84:2 and Isa. 55:1.
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The living God usually means: The God of the living
creatures (the Cherubim): Deut. 5:26; Josh. 3:10; 1 Sam. 17:26; 2 Kings 19:4,16;
Hos. 1:10; 2 Cor. 3:3; 6:16; Heb. 3:12; 9:14; 12:22; Rev. 7:2. Compare the
prayer of Hezekiah in Isa. 37:16,17.
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Appear before God. Literally, behold the faces
(Cherubim) of God. The king’s leprosy seemed to forbid him this
privilege, for all time, of attending the festivals of the Lord.
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3.
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My tears. Hezekiah again, in Isa. 38:5.
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My meat (food) day and night. No peace offering
of fellowship with his God was possible. ‘Instead of eating, I
weep.’
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Where is thy God? The constant scornful reproach made
by Rabshakeh: e.g. Isa. 36:7,15.
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4.
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Every phrase here is a lovely echo of Hezekiah’s great
Passover (2 Chron. 30) and, of course, those which had followed
annually.
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I pour out my soul, like the blood of the Passover
lamb, at the base of the altar (Psa. 22:14). Nevertheless, “I shall yet
praise him” (v. 5).
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Gone with the multitude: s.w. Isa. 38:15: “to go
softly”. “I went in procession” (RV mg.). “I marched in
the ranks” (NEB).
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Holyday. A reference especially to Passover.
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5.
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I shall yet praise him. Faith in the promised recovery:
2 Kings 20:8.
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The help of his countenance. The high-priestly
blessing: Num. 6:26.
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6.
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Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and
the Hermonites (plural: the great Hermon, with its several mighty
peaks). The remote parts of the Land sending their representatives to join in
Hezekiah’s Passover.
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The hill Mizar is completely unknown today. The name
may signify ‘the mount of humiliation’: Samaria, which had been
captured and destroyed by the Assyrians at the beginning of Hezekiah’s
reign? Even this center of disloyalty was not without its devotees coming to
Jerusalem.
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7.
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Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts.
Commentators have indulged in all kinds of “spiritualizing”; but
initially the words had, as we might expect, a quite practical meaning.
Waterspouts is the same word as the gutter which Joab climbed (2
Sam. 5:8; 1 Chron. 11:6). It was the identical underground pool which became the
starting point of Hezekiah’s conduit (2 Chron. 32:30); but
“waterspouts” (plural) is used because the conduit was begun
simultaneously from both ends — from the Virgin’s Fountain and
(1,200 cubits to the southeast) from Siloam. The word deep is used by
poetic metonymy for the workmen deep underground. Hezekiah’s inscription,
now in Istanbul, has this detail:
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“This is the story of the piercing through. While (the
stone-cutters were swinging their) axes, each towards his fellow, and while
there were yet three cubits to be pierced through (there was heard) the voice of
a man calling to his fellow, for there was a crevice (or cleft, or
fissure) on the right... ”
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Thus deep calleth unto deep can be taken quite
literally. That conduit became, humanly speaking, the lifeline of Jerusalem at
the time of the siege by Sennacherib’s host.
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All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
Hezekiah felt himself swamped by adversity: his incurable sickness, the
remorseless Assyrian aggression, the futile politics of his statesmen, desertion
by his army... the list of troubles was endless (see especially Isa.
8:7,8).
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8.
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His lovingkindness in the daytime... his song in the night.
In the daytime there was the vision of the Glory of the Lord, causing the
shadow of the sun-dial to shift backwards (Isa. 38:7,8); here was the token of
renewal of life for the king. And in the night of Passover there was a song of
deliverance (Isa. 30:29, and entire context there).
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The God of my life. How eloquent this phrase now
becomes!
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9.
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God my rock refers to the solid rock (still to be seen
in the temple area) which was the core and foundation of the altar of
burnt-offering (see Introduction: Chapter 7 and H.A. Whittaker, Bible
Studies, pp. 111-116).
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The oppression of the enemy. This is very explicit: the
Assyrian enemy, of course.
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10.
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My enemies reproach me... Where is thy God? This was
the shouted propaganda campaign by Rabshakeh, on behalf of his royal master,
before the walls of Jerusalem; and the letter direct from Sennacherib: 2 Kings
18:17-19:19.
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11.
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Hope thou in God. This word hope often has the
idiomatic meaning: hope of having children (see Psa. 16:9, references). One of
Hezekiah’s great griefs was that at this time he had no son. It seemed
that the perpetual promise to David would come to nought (132:11,17; Isa.
38:19).
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Note here, also, how the help of thy countenance
(v. 5) becomes the health of my countenance. (Modernist
commentators say that the refrain should be the same in all three places, having
been distorted in v. 5. But for more examples of this kind of variation, see
49:12,20; 59:6,14.)
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43:1.
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An ungodly nation. Hebrew goi identifies
a Gentile nation — the Assyrian invader.
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The deceitful and unjust man is Sennacherib, who
accepted tribute and signed a treaty, and then pressed his invasion as hard as
ever.
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3.
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Thy light and thy truth. This may be a plea for God to
give a clear directive by means of Urim (= lights) and
Thummim (= perfection). For a full discussion of this possibility,
see Whittaker, Samuel, Saul and David, pp. 305-310. But another
possibility is that “light” refers to the Shekinah Glory,
God’s sign of the king’s imminent recovery (v. 3b), and
“truth” is an allusion to the great Promise to David which Hezekiah
hoped to see continued through himself.
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4.
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Then will I go unto the altar of God: 2 Kings 20:8;
Isa. 37:14-20.
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Upon the harp: Isa. 38:20: “my songs to
the stringed instruments”.
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42:1.
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As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks. “With
desire have I desired to eat this Passover [and to drink
this cup!] with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15,17,18).
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3.
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Where is thy God? The Lord’s adversaries were
persistent in their demands for a sign from heaven: Matt. 16:1.
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4.
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Because of the hostility shown him, the time came when Jesus
could no longer find satisfaction in worship in the temple along with his people
(John 7:1-7).
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6.
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From the land of Jordan. First he withdrew beyond
Jordan, and there he abode (John 10:39,40). But from thence he returned to the
vicinity of Jerusalem upon hearing of the illness of Lazarus (John
11:6,7,16).
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The Hermonites. The most northern limits of the Land,
where Jesus spent considerable time: e.g. Matt. 16:13. But from thence he also
returned.
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The hill Mizar. Golgotha, the place of his
humiliation?
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7.
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All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. A
“baptism” of suffering (Matt. 20:22; Mark 10:38). Compare the
language of Psa. 69:1,2; 124:4.
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9.
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Why hast thou forgotten me? Compare
22:1.
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Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Others rejoiced at God’s blessings in his ministry, but he faced the
prospect of being swamped by evil (Luke 12:50).
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11.
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The health of my countenance. The help of God’s
countenance — the angel of the Lord strengthening him: Luke 22:43 —
became the health of his own countenance. This might explain John 18:6: his
enemies falling backward before the brightness of his countenance in
Gethsemane.
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43:1.
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An ungodly nation (goi) can be read as hinting
that, by rejecting him, Israel would become a cast-off people — like the
Gentiles!
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The deceitful and unjust man = Caiaphas.
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3-5.
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The ultimate vindication and triumph over the forces of evil:
thy light, thy truth... let them lead me... God my exceeding joy... I shall
yet praise him... my God.
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