Psalm
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Psalm 42

BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

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

1As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c]pants for You, O 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 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and [e]lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you [f]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
[g]Hope in God, for I shall [h]again praise [i]Him
For the [j]help of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is [k]in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the [l]peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness 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 mourning [m]because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you [n]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
[o]Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The [p]help of my countenance and my God.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 42:1 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 read see the face of God
  5. Psalm 42:4 Or move slowly with them
  6. Psalm 42:5 Or sunk down
  7. Psalm 42:5 Or Wait for
  8. Psalm 42:5 Or still
  9. Psalm 42:5 Some ancient versions read Him, the help of my countenance and my God
  10. Psalm 42:5 Or saving acts of
  11. Psalm 42:6 Or sunk down
  12. Psalm 42:6 Lit Hermons
  13. Psalm 42:9 Or while the enemy oppresses
  14. Psalm 42:11 Or sunk down
  15. Psalm 42:11 Or Wait for
  16. Psalm 42:11 Or saving acts of
Psalm 42