Psalms 42:7

at the noise of thy waterspouts Better, in the roar of thy cataracts. God is sending upon him one trouble after another. He is overwhelmed with a flood of misfortunes. The metaphorical language is derived from the surrounding scenery. The roar of the cataracts calling to one another from opposite sides of the valley is like the voice of one abyss of waters (Psalms 33:7 note) summoning another to break forth and join in overwhelming him. The torrents and eddies of the Jordan suggest the breakers and waves of calamity which have gone over his head. Tristram in describing Banias speaks of "the impetuous stream which has hewn out its channel in the black basalt," and of the "wild medley of cascades and dashing torrents" everywhere (Land of Israel, p. 573). According to Robinson (Researches, iii. 405) "in the rainy season, and at the time of the melting of the snow on Hermon, an immense volume of water must rush down the chasm" below the ridge on which the castle stands. It might be supposed that the figure of breakers and wavesmust have been suggested by the sea, but no one who has seen mountain streams in spate will doubt that the words might refer to the Jordan in flood. The winter rainfall in Palestine is enormous. See Tristram's Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 31.

Psalms 42:7 bis borrowed in Jonah's prayer (Jonah 2:3).