Psalm 42

BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the music director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c]pants for You, God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and [d]appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 I remember these things and pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go over with the multitude and walk them to the house of God,
With a voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude celebrating a festival.

5 Why are you [e]in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will [f]again praise [g]Him
For the [h]help of His [i]presence, my God.
6 My soul is [j]in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the [k]peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have passed over me.
8 The Lord will send His goodness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go about mourning [l]because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries taunt me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you [m]in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will again praise [n]Him
For the [o]help of His presence, my God.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 42 Title Possibly Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
  2. Psalm 42:1 Lit longs for
  3. Psalm 42:1 Lit longs for
  4. Psalm 42:2 Some mss see the face of God
  5. Psalm 42:5 Lit dissolved away
  6. Psalm 42:5 Or still
  7. Psalm 42:5 Some ancient versions Him, the help of my face and my God
  8. Psalm 42:5 Or saving acts of
  9. Psalm 42:5 Or presence. O my God, my soul...
  10. Psalm 42:6 Or dissolved away
  11. Psalm 42:6 Lit Hermons
  12. Psalm 42:9 Or while the enemy oppresses
  13. Psalm 42:11 Or dissolved away
  14. Psalm 42:11 As in some ancient mss, cf. v 5; MT Him, the help of my face and my God
  15. Psalm 42:11 Or saving acts of