Book II—Psalms 42–72
Psalm 42
Prayer of Longing for God
1 For the director. A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 As a deer longs for running streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
3 My soul thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come to behold the face of God?
4 My tears have become my food
day and night,
while people taunt me all day long, saying,
“Where is your God?”
5 As I pour out my soul,
I recall those times
when I journeyed with the multitude
and led them in procession to the house of God,
amid loud cries of joy and thanksgiving
on the part of the crowd keeping festival.
6 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God,
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.
7 My soul is disheartened within me;
therefore, I remember you
from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
8 The depths of the sea resound
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and your breakers
sweep over me.
9 During the day the Lord grants his kindness,
and at night his praise is with me,
a prayer to the living God.
10 I say to God, my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in mourning
while my enemy oppresses me?”
11 It crushes my bones
when my foes taunt me,
jeering at me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
12 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Footnotes
- Psalm 42:1
- Psalm 42:1
- Psalm 42:1
- Psalm 42:2
- Psalm 42:3
- Psalm 42:6
- Psalm 42:7
- Psalm 42:8
- Psalm 42:9
- Psalm 42:10
- Psalm 42:11
- Psalm 42:12
