{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Good morning, and welcome back to Mishkan Katan! It's a pleasure to have you with us again today as we continue to study the Book of Psalms. Now, but I'm just moving today. We're going to begin with Psalm 42. Grab your copy of the scriptures and turn to that Psalm and you'll notice right away that the Psalm is dedicated to. The conductor. A song by the Sons of Korach. What does that mean? The Jewish sages tell us that 10 men contributed songs in the book of Psalms. They are as follows. Adam Melchizedek. Abraham. Moses. Hymen, you too soon. Asaf and the three sons of Korak. Now some of these we have already talked about, and others we have not. But Psalm 42 begins the second book of Psalms. With a series of eight psalms (psalms 42-49) ascribed to the sons of Korac. In the third book of Psalms there are another 4 which appear in their name. The three sons of Korach, according to Exodus chapter 6, verse 24, were Assir, Elkanah and Aviassaf. So to be clear, we will spend the next two or three sessions looking at psalms that, were penned by someone other than King David.
What do we know about these three sons of Korak? Well, Rashi, the great Jewish sage, says that these three sons initially joined their father's infamous mutiny against Moses and Aaron. The sages say that before his tragic fall, Korach was the most distinguised of all the Levites. It’s a case study in “how the mighty art fallen”, sadly. Do you remember that story? Let's look at it briefly. We find it in Numbers 16. Turn there with me.
16 Now Korach the son of Yitz’har, the son of K’hat, the son of Levi, along with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av, and On, the son of Pelet, descendants of Re’uven, took men and 2 rebelled against Moshe. Siding with them were 250 men of Isra’el, leaders of the community, key members of the council, men of reputation. 3 They assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon and said to them, “You take too much on yourselves! After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Adonai is among them. So why do you lift yourselves up above Adonai’s assembly?”
4 When Moshe heard this he fell on his face. 5 Then he said to Korach and his whole group, “In the morning, Adonai will show who are his and who is the holy person he will allow to approach him. Yes, he will bring whomever he chooses near to himself. 6 Do this: take censers, Korach and all your group; 7 put fire in them; and put incense in them before Adonai tomorrow. The one whom Adonai chooses will be the one who is holy! It is you, you sons of Levi, who are taking too much on yourselves!”
8 Then Moshe said to Korach, “Listen here, you sons of Levi! 9 Is it for you a mere trifle that the God of Isra’el has separated you from the community of Isra’el to bring you close to himself, so that you can do the work in the tabernacle of Adonai and stand before the community serving them? 10 He has brought you close and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you. Now you want the office of cohen too! 11 That’s why you and your group have gathered together against Adonai! After all, what is Aharon that you complain against him?”
12 Then Moshe sent to summon Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av. But they replied, “We won’t come up! 13 Is it such a mere trifle, bringing us up from a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that now you arrogate to yourself the role of dictator over us? (ii) 14 You haven’t at all brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and you haven’t put us in possession of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can gouge out these men’s eyes and blind them? We won’t come up!”
15 Moshe was very angry and said to Adonai, “Don’t accept their grain offering! I haven’t taken one donkey from them, I’ve done nothing wrong to any of them.” 16 Moshe said to Korach, “You and your group, be there before Adonai tomorrow — you, they and Aharon. 17 Each of you take his fire pan and put incense in it; every one of you, bring before Adonai his fire pan, 250 fire pans, you too, and Aharon — each one his fire pan.”
18 Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon. 19 Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to the whole assembly.
(iii) 20 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 21 “Separate yourselves from this assembly; I’m going to destroy them right now!” 22 They fell on their faces and said, “Oh God, God of the spirits of all humankind, if one person sins, are you going to be angry with the entire assembly?” 23 Adonai answered Moshe, 24 “Tell the assembly to move away from the homes of Korach, Datan and Aviram.” 25 Moshe got up and went to Datan and Aviram, and the leaders of Isra’el followed him. 26 There he said to the assembly, “Leave the tents of these wicked men! Don’t touch anything that belongs to them, or you may be swept away in all their sins.” 27 So they moved away from all around the area where Korach, Datan and Aviram lived.
Then Datan and Aviram came out and stood at the entrance to their tents with their wives, sons and little ones. 28 Moshe said, “Here is how you will know that Adonai has sent me to do all these things and that I haven’t done them out of my own ambition: 29 if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then Adonai has not sent me. 30 But if Adonai does something new — if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh’ol — then you will understand that these men have had contempt for Adonai.”
31 The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart — 32 the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned. 33 So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh’ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased. 34 All Isra’el around them fled at their shrieks, shouting, “The earth might swallow us too!” 35 Then fire came out from Adonai and destroyed the 250 men who had offered the incense.
So, if you read this carefully, you are probably wondering about all this. The Scriptures say that the sons of Korach were swallowed up by the earth, right? How, then, did three of them survive to write these psalms. Again, referring to Rashi’s commentary in the Talmud, that sage says these three sons initially followed their father in the rebellion, but that in the midst of it, they realized the folly of their ways and repented of their sin. When the mouth of the earth opened up to swallow the entire clan down into the fiery depths, these three men experienced a miraculous deliverance. They ended up caught on a ledge within the earth from which they were able to climb out of the chasm and escape before the earth closed in over their heads. It was on this elevated niche that they composed these psalms we have in the Tanakh. After they emerged from their narrow escape, they were the recipients of a special measure of God’s holy spirit, which enabled them to prophesy about the exiles of israel, the future destruction of the Temple and the Davidic monarchy. This special anointing stayed with them and their descendants for generations, and they were advocates of the very work of Moses that their forebearer, Korach, had sought to destroy through mutiny.
Despite Korah’s soiled, stained life, which ended in sudden tragedy, he left a great legacy of faith behind him. The Jews kept for generation after generation excellent genealogical records. The sages tell us that the prophet, Samuel, was descended from Korach. Specifically his grandson was Heiman ben Yoel, referenced in 1 Chronicles 6:18. Heiman had 14 sons, who were the levites King David chose to be the backbone of the Levitical choir and orchestra, in the first Temple! (ref: 1 Chronicles 25:4-6). Ibn Ezra suggests that these 14 are the broader designation of “sons of Korach” referred to in these 8 psalms. So, that’s a difference of opinion, you see. Were these referenced the three sons from Moshe’s day? Or, were they the Levitical musicians from David’s day? Hard to say... There is yet a third opinion that David actually wrote these, and he commissioned the Levitical musicians, the “sons of Korach” to perform them in the Temple.
This psalm, #42, is used as the Song of the Day for the second day of Sukkot, in synagogue services on that day. It was on this day that the famous ritual of the Water Drawing began, the ceremony pre-figured in verse 7. In the New Testament, the Brit Chadasha, the Water Drawing Ceremony (Simchat Beit HaShoavah) is pictured in John 7:37-38.
Allright, let’s dig in. Verse 1 from CJB - - (oh, I love verse 1!)
(1) Just as a deer longs for running streams,
God, I long for you.
This translation does not fully capture the meaning in the Hebrew. First of all, the English word “deer” here could be either a male or a female. However, in the Hebrew, the better (but less-used) English word would be “hart”, which in older English means “male deer”. The older English counterpart for female deer is “hind”. However, the verb form used here is the feminine form of the verb תערג (tah-ah-ROGUE). This is an obvious and intentional “discrepancy”, meant to convey the longing of both the male and the female soul for Hashem (God). The verb here means more than “longs”; it means more like “begs” or “entreats”, again to use an older English word, as in “Entreat me not to leave thee, to return from following thee”, in the book of Ruth, ch 1, vs. 16.
Generally, in the Middle East, these deer exist in the rocky slopes of the arid wilderness. Their thirst becomes greater than other animals in more hospitable climates, making them more parched than others. Therefore, their longing for water becomes greater. The sages also say that these deer frequently will eat snakes, whose poison in the deer’s belly causes an intense heat. It will therefore desperately seek out springs of water in order to relieve its snake-induced “heartburn” and cool off.
Doesn’t this present to us an analogy of our life in a hostile world, where the snakes surrounding us often bite us, spreading venom throughout our souls? The best remedy is the cool and refreshing water of communion with the Lord, ingesting His Word as a spiritual antacid, a cure for our sour stomachs or souls. This also works as a type of Nexium. Nexium is a drug that can be taken to prevent excess stomach acid from becoming a problem in the first place. When we regularly ingest the Word of God, we are protecting our souls from the poisonous bites of the enemy, so prevalent in our world.
Verse 2 - - (2) I am thirsty for God, for the living God!
When can I come and appear before God?
Water is used here as a remedy because an animal can go without food longer than it can go without water. And, the righteous soul’s thirst for communion with Hashem is even stronger than physical thirst. Yeshua, in His Sermon on the Mount, commended those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) and in John 4: 13-14 Yeshua speaks of the thirst that only He can quench.
If you are not currently experiencing this deep and vital need for communion with Hashem, then my suggestion is that you pray for it. It goes beyond a mere emotion. So, you can have the deep desire for the things of God, yet not have the emotional desire to make time in your day for Him. Emotions aside, it is a pull that is from the Holy Spirit within you. Pray to have a deeper thirst for Him.
The latter phrase of this verse from the Hebrew is: “and be seen before the faces of God”. (In Hebrew, “face” {panim} is always plural.) The intent here is both to see Him and to be seen BY Him. The Hebrew people in the years of the Jerusalem Temples would journey to the capital city three times a year for the three regalim festivals. Those were Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. For these three, any Jewish male old enough to walk (hence: regalim - - feet in Hebrew) had a “command performance” - - to walk to Jerusalem and be in the Temple complex for these festivals. See and be seen. Perhaps this is another reason this psalm is recited during Sukkot.
At least one Jewish sage translates the latter half of this verse as “and cause the face of God to be seen through me”. If we seek to convey the image of our Mashiach, to follow in His footsteps, other people should be able to see His image in us, in our lives. This is actual righteousness, lived out, “worked out”, as the apostle Paul, the “grace apostle” puts it in Philippians 2:12. Let what is within rise to the surface. May we all aspire to walk so close to Hashem that, like Moshe, we fairly GLOW with His presence within us. May we all aspire to Gen. 33:10, which says, “I have seen your face as if it were the face of God.”
Verses 3 and 4 - -
(3) My tears are my food, day and night,
while all day people ask me, “Where is your God?”
(4) I recall, as my feelings well up within me,
how I’d go with the crowd to the house of God,
with sounds of joy and praise from the throngs
observing the festival.
Most of us have experienced this - - that our weeping is so intense we have no desire for food. We see Hannah, the mother of Samuel, experiencing this in 1 Samuel 1:7. “She cried and did not eat.”
The sages say these verses are directed prophetically to Israel in exile, when the writer is remembering the beautiful regalim festivals and trips with the community on foot to the holy city to meet with Hashem. There are certain psalms we will study later called “Psalms of Ascent”. This means that these psalms were sung as crowds made their way “up” to Jerusalem, which was built on several high hills. As one approaches Jerusalem, one does indeed go “up” in elevation. Again, the CJB is lacking here in intensity. The phrase, “my feelings well up in me” would be more accurately translated “and pour out my soul within me”.
Next we will read verses 5-11, a series of verses that describe the agony of soul that results from being exiled from the land of Israel. Notice as we read that verses 5 and 11 are almost like bookends. They say almost the same thing. And, the images of violent, rushing waters threatening to overwhelm the soul of the exile illustrate the depths of the Jewish person’s sorrow in a land of exile.
(5) My soul, why are you so downcast?
Why are you groaning inside me?
Hope in God, since I will praise him again
for the salvation that comes from his presence.
(6) My God, when I feel so downcast,
I remind myself of you
from the land of Yarden, from the peaks of Hermon,
from the hill Mizar.
(7) Deep is calling to deep
at the thunder of your waterfalls;
all your surging rapids and waves
are sweeping over me.
(8) By day Adonai commands his grace,
and at night his song is with me
as a prayer to the God of my life.
(9) I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
under pressure by the enemy?
(10) My adversaries’ taunts make me feel
as if my bones were crushed,
as they ask me all day long,
‘Where is your God?’ ”
(11) My soul, why are you so downcast?
Why are you groaning inside me?
Hope in God, since I will praise him again
for being my Savior and God.
A few notes about verse 7 here. We are going to now see the connection to the Water Pouring Ceremony of Sukkot. The sages say this verse refers to the upper (celestial) waters calling out to the lower (terrestrial) waters, that water cycle that governs all human existence. During the days of the Temple, at the festival of Sukkot, water was poured from a spout in the side of the Temple altar, descending to the depths of the Temple Mount to mingle with the lower, terrestrial waters at the base of the mount. The water poured from the spout represented the celestial waters, and this ceremony indicated the symbiotic relationship between these two systems.
Verse 8 compares dwelling in the promised Land with “the day”, when Hashem’s grace is abundant, his chesed easily seen resting upon the righteous. Exile is compared to the night hours. But, the psalmist says that even in the dark hours He is with His own beloved ones. The Hebrew literally says, “May His resting place be with me”, according to Rashi. The word he translates as “resting place” though, can also be translated as “song”, and is commonly translated as such.
Many orthodox and non-orthodox Jews living in Israel today are begging Jews living in America and in Europe and elsewhere to “come home”. However, while many have made aliyah (immigrated to Israel), many have not. All are alarmed at the anti-Semitism that is rapidly increasing all over our world. But, the Jews outside Israel, in The Diaspora, so-called, the Dispersion, are not convinced it is the time for them to return. It occurred to me in studying this psalm that they have never experienced the worship of the one, true God in The Promised Land. Maybe this is because they are secular Jews, not observant of the Word of God. Maybe the reason they are reluctant is that they are afraid they will not be able to survive financially in Israel. Perhaps their spouse is not on board with the idea. There are many reasons why more Jews don’t immigrate, don’t “come home”.
As a worshipper of the Divine, Majestic Mystery, The One, I immediately felt the pull to live in the Land of Israel, the first time I visited. I have stood at the base of Hermon, that mountain that is part of the range the spans the Israel-Syria border. The reference to Mizor is to Mount Sinai, in the southern desert below the promised Land. So, the psalmist is spanning the land north to south in his poem/song. I have prayed on the top of the Temple Mount. I have watched the sun set over the horizon of the Mediterranean and seen the beautiful orchards of the Trans Jordan. But, it’s not about geography. It’s about kedusha. The land of Israel has a higher level of holiness than any other country on earth. I did not say the government is more holy, or that the morals of the people are more holy. By and large, they are not. It is the land that is holy.
Immigrating to Israel is nearly impossible for a follower of Yeshua HaMashiach, even Torah-observant ones. But, I feel the pull. Having been in the Land, I understand the longing of Psalm 42 and others, written in the same vein.
Remember that, although David was exiled from the Land for a time, the nation had not yet gone into exile during his reign. So, whether he wrote it or did the sons of Korach, inclusion of this psalm in David’s collection is prophetic.
A more literal translation of verse 10 is:
“Like a murder weapon (sword) in my bones are the taunts of my tormentors when they revile me all day long: Where is your God?”
I doubt many of you listeners and later readers will have had to endure this type of torment, baruch Hashem! However, the Jews and Christians today around the world have never endured such awful persecution as they are enduring today, mostly from the Muslim world.
History tells us that on the 20th of Tammuz, 1941, the Jewish residents of the town of Telshe, Lithuania, were ordered by the Nazis to dig their own graves.. They did, and as each stood in his own grave, the chief rabbi of Telshe led the soon-to-be martyrs in The Shema “Hear, O Israel, Heshem is our God, Hashem is One!” The Nazis gleefully taunted the Jews saying “Where is your God now?” The rabbi replied with great courage, “Not only is He MY God, He is also YOUR God, and the day will come when you too will realize it!”
This terrible tale of Jewish persecution reminds me of a recent news story and photo that flew around the world. It was a photo of one of the Jewish hostages from Oct. 7th, 2023. He was painfully thin, and his Hamas captors gleefully proclaimed to the world that he was being forced to dig his own grave. We must continue to pray for the liberation of all the hostages, especially those who are still living.
Hirsch explains that the nations of this world are full of people who are worse than wicked, because they are hypocrites. They claim to be followers of God, but in reality their true colors are exposed when they torment and commit violent depravity against God’s people. We’ll read Psalm 43 in just a moment which speaks of these hypocrites and their relevance today. But first one more comment about Psalm 42.
As Ibn Ezra has said, the climax of God’s redemption of His people will be when Mashiach comes (in our belief system - - returns) and all the godless nations are there to witness it. Of course, we believe that also in that moment, all who worship The One will realize that Yeshua was and is the true Mashiach, as He will, as conquering Son of David, unite His people as one and will trample down His enemies.
This brings us to the end of Psalm 42. Now, let’s move on to Psalm 43, as this short, 5-verse psalm is a direct continuation of the previous one. One of the clues to that is we have no superscription at the top of this psalm. We don’t have a lot of time left this morning, and accordingly, we won’t be spending a great deal of time in psalm 43.
Returning to Hirsh’s remarks about hypocrites, now. He says that they do charitable acts, yet at the same time they don’t consider Jews to be worthy of even the most basic decency. We see this today in our world, more than ever since the days of Hitler. It is people like these who are referred to in verse 1 of Psalm 43 as “a people without kindness”, or as the CJB puts it a “faithless nation” and “deceivers”. Hypocrites have no genuine faith. They instead have “situational faith”. They practice it when they want, when it suits their purposes. When it does not, they ignore the ways of Hashem and follow the wicked intentions of their hearts. They have hearts which have never been transformed by the grace of God, revealed in His Son.
Nebuchadnezzar was such a hypocrite. Esau was such a hypocrite, as have been his descendants, the Romans, who were the most direct gentile witnesses to the ministry of Yeshua HaMashiach. Yet ... many of them despised the Jewish people from which He sprang and went on to ostracize them, creating a “new” religion that sought to separate The One into disparate “persons” and to alienate “the Jew from the Greek”, something the very Jewish Yeshua would have never intended.
In verse 3 of Psalm 43 the psalmist prays earnestly for God’s light and His truth, as these are antidotes to deceit and falsehood. Today, we see a tremendous amount of slander in the news reporting about the nation of Israel. There are so many lies flying around that it is extremely difficult to discern which sources are actually trustworthy and which ones are not. The deception is extremely deep. The lies told about the nation of Israel fuel the anti-Semitism afoot in the world. And, of course, these lies spring from the Father of Lies, HaSatan himself.
Light and truth are also prophetic references to Mashiach, who, as mentioned in verses 3 and 4 will bring the righteous ones to the mount of God’s sanctuary and to His dwelling place. “How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!” (Psalm 84)
Oh God, my God - - Elohim Elohai - - the God of the Universe and my personal God.
In verse 5, we see the same refrain from the preceding psalm, showing us their connectedness. They have the same theme.
Let’s close out our session today by reading aloud psalms 42 and 43 as one reading, from the CJB.
For the leader. A maskil of the descendants of Korach:
2 (1) Just as a deer longs for running streams,
God, I long for you.
3 (2) I am thirsty for God, for the living God!
When can I come and appear before God?
4 (3) My tears are my food, day and night,
while all day people ask me, “Where is your God?”
5 (4) I recall, as my feelings well up within me,
how I’d go with the crowd to the house of God,
with sounds of joy and praise from the throngs
observing the festival.
6 (5) My soul, why are you so downcast?
Why are you groaning inside me?
Hope in God, since I will praise him again
for the salvation that comes from his presence.
7 (6) My God, when I feel so downcast,
I remind myself of you
from the land of Yarden, from the peaks of Hermon,
from the hill Mizar.
8 (7) Deep is calling to deep
at the thunder of your waterfalls;
all your surging rapids and waves
are sweeping over me.
9 (8) By day Adonai commands his grace,
and at night his song is with me
as a prayer to the God of my life.
10 (9) I say to God my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
under pressure by the enemy?
11 (10) My adversaries’ taunts make me feel
as if my bones were crushed,
as they ask me all day long,
‘Where is your God?’ ”
12 (11) My soul, why are you so downcast?
Why are you groaning inside me?
Hope in God, since I will praise him again
for being my Savior and God.
1 Judge me, God, and plead my cause
against a faithless nation.
Rescue me from those who deceive
and from those who are unjust.
2 For you are the God of my strength;
why have you thrust me aside?
Why must I go about mourning,
under pressure by the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them be my guide;
let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to the places where you live.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and delight;
I will praise you on the lyre,
God, my God.
5 My soul, why are you so downcast?
Why are you groaning inside me?
Hope in God, since I will praise him again
for being my Savior and God.
When we resume next week, with Psalm 44, we will have a history lesson, of sorts, because that psalm, the third one of the sons of Korach, is an ode to Israel, their deeply beloved land, as they praise Hashem for His marvelous deeds done on their behalf. So, we will take up there next week.
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