Ps. 42.6-7 (deep is calling to deep)

“My soul / is downcast / within me – therefore / I will / remember you - from the land / of Jordan / and the Hermon range – from the mountains of Mizar – deep / is calling / to deep – to the clamor / of your cataracts – all your breakers / and waves – have swept / over me.” This is a curious passage and I am not entirely sure what to do with it. The source of my confusion resides in the fact that previously memory was employed so as to strengthen the psalmist’s hope. Perhaps if we compare the images of water we can get some purchase on this. The first memory was prefaced with the image of thirsty deer; it was a place devoid of water, a dessert. Here, we have a place engulfed with water (the problem is not too little, but too much). In the first section, God was compared to ‘living water’. Here, God is manifest (?) through the “deep”, a term that has previously been used in the psalms to describe what God/Yhwh “rides upon”; these are, presumably, not “living waters” as well but include the salt waters of the ocean. Second, we should compare the content of the memories. At the conclusion of his previous memory he was entering into God’s presence, amid shouting, with the pilgrim crown. Here, the end of the memory is drowning beneath the flood of chaos waters (as if Noah’s arc was never built…). There, the focus was entirely Temple-centered. Here, the psalmist is recalling geographical locations of land and mountains. Likewise, there the focus was on God’s pilgrim people. Here, no person is present (except the drowning psalmist at the end). There, the focus was on a festival. Here, there does not seem to be any direct historical moment recalled. There, the focus was liturgical. Here, “deep is calling to deep” (perhaps this is a type of liturgy enacted by ‘the deep’?). Likewise, the noise there was “shouting and thanksgiving”. Here, it is “clamor”. There, he was ‘amid the pilgrim crowd’. Here, “your breakers and waves have swept over me”. All of these observations are important and highlight the profound differences between the two acts of memory. They do not, however, explain the difference. I have left until the end perhaps the most important difference—there, the focus of his memory was “these things”. Here, it is “you”.  It seems to me there are two possible interpretations, one ‘positive’ and one negative. As to the positive: this memory recalls the magnitude of God’s power within the created realm, much like other psalms that speak of God/Yhwh ‘stripping the trees’ bare and riding upon the waters of the deep. The emphasis is not on destruction, per se, but on the overpowering authority of God. This memory could then be seen as ‘positive’ in that the psalmist finds comfort in remembering and bringing to mind the fact that, even though he is in exile, his God’s authority is profound (and, hence, could deliver him). Negative: none of the previous really satisfies me as to the final line of being engulfed by God’s waves and breakers. Perhaps, then, the memory evokes the absence of God. That, whereas his previous memory was full of ‘joyful shouting’, now all we have is ‘clamor’ and whereas before the pilgrim crown gathered to worship, now all we have is “deep calling to deep”. It could seem as if this land is engulfed in the primal chaos waters much like they were in Noah’s time in an act of judgment. Along these lines there is an interesting similarity (to me) between this psalm and psalm 29. There, the ‘voice of Yhwh’ is “upon the waters” and he is “upon the mighty waters”. His voice is majestic, powerful and awe inspiring. With the swirling chaos displayed by his voice outside, there is “everyone” in his temple saying, “Glory!”. Are we to see a similar dynamic here in the two actions of memory? One focusing on the extreme power of God within the land, the other focusing on the liturgy offered in the temple? If so, that would support the first interpretation. But, perhaps we also find here the answer to the negative aspect: because the psalmist is not in the temple, he is ‘outside’ in the midst of this astonishing display of God’s power and, hence, is subjected to his ‘waves and breakers’. It is the temple that provides the ‘home’ of God and the ‘home of man’ wherein he can worship God safely. Hence, being in exile from the temple places him the maelstrom of God’s tremendous power within the created realm. This could make sense in another way: Noah’s arc clearly alludes to the temple (a type of place of safety); here, with the arc/Temple gone, there is only water.