On the one hand, the psalmist was panting after God. On the other hand, he was recalling the glorious and pleasant past in the leading of the festal multitude to enjoy God in His house with His people. Psalm 42:4 says, "These things I remember,/And I pour out my soul within me:/That I passed through with the throng;/I led them to the house of God/With the voice of a joyous shout and praise,/The festal multitude."
This is a very pleasant recounting of the past. But I would like us to consider whether or not this was the right thing to do. In the psalmist's captivity, he was panting after God. But at least in his thought, in his consideration, he left the panting after God and went to something else—the recounting of his past. How good that was, how glorious that was, and how pleasant that was! He remembered how wonderful it was when he was leading a multitude to ascend to the peak of Zion to enjoy God with God's people by feasting together with God.
This was a pleasant picture from the past, but should he have recounted his past in this way while he was panting after God? Actually, this was a departure from his panting after God. He should have remained in the state of panting after God. We may be having a time with the Lord in which we are panting after God, but then some consideration within us will take us away from our panting after God. We might remember how wonderful and pleasant the church life was many years ago. This consideration and remembrance of our past distracts us from enjoying the Lord.
Psalm 42:4 is a good verse, but it shows that there is a mixture within the sentiment of the writer of this psalm. There should be no mixture. Instead, there should be only panting after God and singing "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!" Our considerations and thinking should not take us away from the panting after God. We should not be distracted from God to the treasuring of our past. Because the psalmist departed from his panting after God, the thoughts constituting his sentiment were expressed.
Verse 5 says, "Why are you bowed down, O my soul?/And why are you disquieted within me?/Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him/For the salvation of His countenance." The psalmist was encouraged by the hope in God for the salvation of His countenance. The psalmist encouraged his soul, himself. He told his soul not to be cast down but to hope in God. He said that he would still praise God for the salvation of His countenance.
At that time the psalmist had been stripped of almost everything. He had lost his home and was in captivity. What could he enjoy? He could enjoy the countenance of God. He lost his home, his country, and he had been stripped of his earthly enjoyment. Now he was in captivity, but he could enjoy God's presence, God's countenance. God's countenance became his enjoyment in his captivity. However, while he was enjoying God's presence by panting after God, he became distracted by different thoughts. We are also like this. In our time with the Lord, we may be panting after Him, but then we are taken away from God by distracting thoughts.