Psalms 42:4 - Exposition

When I remember these things ; rather, these things I remember — the things remembered being those touched on in the rest of the verse—his former free access to the house of God, and habit of frequenting it, especially on festival occasions, when the multitude "kept holy day." "Deep sorrow," as Hengstenberg remarks, "tries to lose itself in the recollection of the happier past." I pour out my soul in me. "The heart pours itself out , or melts in any one, who is in a manner dissolved by grief and pain." David does not alleviate his sorrow, but aggravates it, by thinking of the happy past. " Nessun muggier dolore che ricordarsi di tempo felice nella miseria " (Dante). For I had gone (rather, how I went ) with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day .