Psalm 42
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
1OOK. TWO: Psalms 42—72 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation[a] of the sons of Korah. 42 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?[b]
3. My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?”
4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.[c]
6. O my God,[d] my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar.
7. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— 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 mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10. As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 42:1: Hebrew Maschil
b. Psalm 42:2: Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Targum read I see the face of God.
c. Psalm 42:5: Following Masoretic Text and Targum; a few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read The help of my countenance, my God.
d. Psalm 42:6: Following Masoretic Text and Targum; a few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate put my God at the end of verse 5.