Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight - i:e., from thy favourable regard. A just retribution on one who had fled "from the presence of the Lord" (Jonah 1:3). God's presence, which once he regarded as a burden, and from which he desired to escape, now that he has gotten his desire, he feels it to be his bitterest sorrow to be deprived of. He had turned his back on God, so God turned His back on him, making his sin his punishment.
Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. In the confidence of faith he anticipates yet to see the temple at Jerusalem, the appointed place of worship, and there to render thanksgiving (Henderson); 1 Kings 8:38, "What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man ... which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house." Rather, I think, 'Though cast out of thy sight, I will still [yet, or at least, only, 'ak (H389)] with the eye of faith once more look in prayer toward thy temple at Jerusalem, where, as thy earthly throne, thou hast desired thy worshippers to direct their prayers.'
Look ... toward - literally, look intently toward, as Moses did at the bush. Look ... toward - literally, look intently toward, as Moses did at the bush.