My soul longeth - The word used here means properly to be pale; then, to be faint or weak; and then, to pine after, to long for, to desire earnestly. It would properly denote such a longing or desire as to make one faint or exhausted; that is, it indicates intense desire. In Psalms 17:12, it is applied to a hungry lion; “Like a lion that is greedy of its prey.” In Genesis 31:30, it conveys the idea of intense desire: “Because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house.” For an illustration of the sentiment here expressed, see the notes at Psalms 42:1-2.
Yea, even fainteth - Is exhausted; fails of its strength. The word means properly to be completed, finished; then to be consumed, to be spent, to waste or pine away. Genesis 21:15; Jeremiah 16:4; Lamentations 2:11; Job 19:27.
For the courts of the Lord - The word used here refers to the different areas around the tabernacle or temple, within which many of the services of public worship were conducted, and which were frequented by different classes of persons. See the notes at Matthew 21:12.
My heart and my flesh - My whole nature; my body and my soul; all my desires and aspirations - all the longings of my heart are there. The body - the flesh - cries out for rest; the heart - the soul - for communion with God. Our whole nature demands the benefits which spring from the worship of God. Body and soul were made for his service, and the necessities of neither can be satisfied without religion.
Crieth out - The word used here - רנן rânan - means properly to give forth a tremulous sound; then, to give forth the voice in vibrations, or in a tremulous manner; and thence it may mean either to utter cries of joy, Leviticus 9:24; Job 38:7; Isaiah 12:6, or to utter a loud wail Lamentations 2:19. Its common application is to joy Psalms 98:4; Psalms 132:16; Psalms 65:8; and it might be rendered here, “Sing unto the Lord,” or “Rejoice unto the Lord.” The connection, however, seems to demand that it be understood as the cry of earnest longing or desire.
For the living God - God, the true God, considered as living, in contradistinction from idols, always spoken of as dead. Compare Psalms 63:1.