Tehillim / Psalms 42, Part 1, Sorrow, Deliverance, and the Lord

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This week’s study is from Tehillim / Psalms 42:1-11, we will briefly discuss the Kabbalistically concept of the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah and its connection to the Yetzer ha’rah and Yetzer ha’tov.  The Psalm opens saying א   לַמְנַצֵּחַ מַשְֹכִּיל לִבְנֵי-קֹרַח:  For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. (NASB)  It appears that the sons of Korah are the authors of this Psalm.  The Psalmist continues saying ב   כְּאַיָּל תַּעֲרֹג עַל-אֲפִיקֵי-מָיִם כֵּן נַפְשִׁי תַעֲרֹג אֵלֶיךָ אֱלֹהִים: ג   צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי | לֵאלֹהִים לְאֵל חָי מָתַי אָבוֹא וְאֵרָאֶה פְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים:  42:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? (NASB)  The emotional response of the desire (longing) to draw near to the Lord is paralleled to the deer that needs water.  The stream of water is the location of the most danger but is also the source of life.  ד   הָיְתָה-לִּי דִמְעָתִי לֶחֶם יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה בֶּאֱמֹר אֵלַי כָּל-הַיּוֹם אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: 42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ (NASB)  The son of Korah notes that he used to lead the procession to the house of God with praise (42:4).  The Psalmist’s soul is in despair and remembers the Lord from the Jordan and the peaks of Hermon and from Mount Mizar (42:5-6).  He says ח   תְּהוֹם אֶל-תְּהוֹם קוֹרֵא לְקוֹל צִנּוֹרֶיךָ כָּל-מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ עָלַי עָבָרוּ: ט   יוֹמָם | יְצַוֶּה יְהֹוָה | חַסְדּוֹ וּבַלַּיְלָה שִׁירֹה [שִׁירוֹ] עִמִּי תְּפִלָּה לְאֵל חַיָּי:  42:7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. 42:8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life. (NASB)  What does it mean that “deep calls to deep?” Read More here: Tehillim 42-Part1

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Dr. Duane D. Miller received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron Ohio. He is currently a Chemical Engineering Researcher. Duane’s research expertise has focused upon functional materials development for the control, conversion, and release of process gases in Energy production technologies. His R&D interests include computational chemistry, developing novel technologies for converting biomass to fuels and studying their fundamental interactions during the chemical conversion process. His past experience includes sorbent development for pre- and post-combustion CO2 and SO2 capture, selective absorption of H2S from methane streams, O2 capture for oxy-fuel combustion, photocatalytic reduction of alcohols, NOx reduction catalysis, the development of oxygen carriers to combust fossil fuels (CH4 and coal) for the chemical looping combustion processes, and the extraction of rare earth elements using patent pending sorbents. His research expertise has focused on operando-characterization using Infrared, Raman, and UV-Vis spectroscopy to observe the nature of the catalytic active sites and reaction intermediates under realistic reaction conditions, allowing direct correlation of molecular/electronic structures with catalyst performance during Gas-Solid / Liquid-Solid Adsorption and Photocatalytic Processes with real time online analysis of reaction products using ICP-MS and mass spectrometry. His current work involves a multi-disciplinary approach to developing, understanding, and improving the catalytic gasification of coal and methane, high temperature chemical looping combustion, and the catalytic decomposition and gasification of biomass and coal using novel microwave reactor.​ He has been studying the Hebrew Scriptures and the Torah for 20+ years and sharing what he has learned. The studies developed for MATSATI.COM are freely to be used by everyone, to God be the Glory!