Ps. 42.5-6a (exile and monologue)

“O my soul / why are you downcast – and so disturbed / within me? – Wait patiently / for God / for I will / praise him / again, - the victories / of my God’s presence. – My soul / in downcast / within me – therefore / I will / remember you.” As alluded to before, the psalmist exists in a state of dislocation and division. He is not unified. This is clear by the fact that he is not only in dialogue with himself but that he must cajole himself; he is, in other words, in strife with himself, unable to reach unity and agreement. We have said that this duality results from the duality expressed by the “plea” and the “taunt” in verses 1-3. Perhaps more clearly, this verse immediately follows the psalmist’s joyful memory of his time with the multitude and their entering into God’s temple. From that rejoicing we now descend into an individual in dialogue with himself and who is “downcast”. In every sense, this verse stands in contrast to his memory—here: isolated and individual; there: in the multitude—here: talking to himself; there: in praise with others—here: removed from God’s face; there: entering into the temple—here: downcast and disturbed; there: full of shouting and thanksgiving. Into this contrast comes the only means by which the psalmist can maintain himself—patience in the victory of God’s presence, and remembrance (in other words, assurance in the future based on a remembrance of the past). Within these two directives (of patience and memory) we find how the present is to be healed. The future will not be simply a “victory” but a “praising” of the “victory of God’s presence” indicating a reunion with God’s presence in the temple. The past memory will maintain his desire for God, but importantly, as we saw, this will also bring him back into communion with the “pilgrim crowd” (he will no longer be isolated).