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Psalms Chapter 42 (YLT)

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Psalm 42 - As the Hart Panteth After the Water Brooks
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1 To the Overseer. -- An Instruction. By sons of Korah. As a hart doth pant for streams of water, So my soul panteth toward Thee, O God.

2 My soul thirsted for God, for the living God, When do I enter and see the face of God?

3 My tear hath been to me bread day and night, In their saying unto me all the day, `Where `is' thy God?'

4 These I remember, and pour out my soul in me, For I pass over into the booth, I go softly with them unto the house of God, With the voice of singing and confession, The multitude keeping feast!

5 What! bowest thou thyself, O my soul? Yea, art thou troubled within me? Wait for God, for still I confess Him: The salvation of my countenance -- My God!

6 In me doth my soul bow itself, Therefore I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, And of the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.

7 Deep unto deep is calling At the noise of Thy water-spouts, All Thy breakers and Thy billows passed over me.

8 By day Jehovah commandeth His kindness, And by night a song `is' with me, A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my rock, `Why hast Thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning in the oppression of an enemy?

10 With a sword in my bones Have mine adversaries reproached me, In their saying unto me all the day, `Where `is' thy God?'

11 What! bowest thou thyself, O my soul? And what! art thou troubled within me? Wait for God, for still I confess Him, The salvation of my countenance, and my God!

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Psalm 42 express?
Psalm 42 expresses deep longing for God -- 'As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee' (v.1) -- while remembering past worship with joy (v.4) and repeatedly asking why the soul is 'cast down' (vv.5,11).
What does the refrain 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul?' mean?
It's repeated in verses 5 and 11 as the psalmist argues with his own despair, each time answering himself with 'hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him.'
What does verse 1 compare the soul's thirst to?
It compares longing for God to a deer panting for water brooks, a thirst for God similarly expressed in Psalms 63:1-2. See Psalms 42:1.

Today's Verse

He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, When he went out over the land of Egypt, `Where' I heard a language that I knew not.

Psalms 81:5 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

Twice the psalmist questions his own despair, asking "why art thou cast down, O my soul?" before choosing to hope in God despite waves and billows going over him. That same yearning reappears in Psalms 63:1-2; step back to Psalms 41 or forward to Psalms 43.