My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say unto me continually
“Where is thy God?”
The thought of her deceased husband rushed upon her mind, and her tears flowed in a fuller stream. Yet with a lighter heart, and with a less faltering voice, she proceeded: (ver. 4.)
When I remember these things, my heart melteth within me;
How I had gone with the multitude to the house of God,
How I had gone with the voice of joy and praise,
With the multitude that kept the festival.
At this moment Helon met her. She embraced him and said, “So once I went to the holy city, but now I must remain a captive in a strange land. All the day long this psalm of the sons of Korah dwells upon my mind. Thy father sang it the last evening that we spent together. Immediately after, he set out for the promised land, and returned no more.”
Helon was moved by the distress of his mother. His feelings had been the same as hers, but he was near the accomplishment of his wishes. He was about to visit the holy city, and the grave of his father in the valley of Jehoshaphat; and raising himself from his mother’s embrace, he replied, “Hast thou forgotten the thrice repeated chorus of that psalm?”