Book 2
42
(Psalms 42—72)
To the director: A maskil from the Korah family.
1 Like a deer drinking from a stream,
I reach out to you, my God.*
2 My soul thirsts for the living God.
When can I go to meet with him?
3 Instead of food, I have only tears day and night,
as my enemies laugh at me and say, “Where is your God?”
4 My heart breaks as I remember the pleasant times in the past,
when I walked with the crowds as I led them up to God’s Temple.
I remember the happy songs of praise
as they celebrated the festival.
5-6 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help!
You will again be able to praise him,
your God, the one who will save you.”
In my sadness I say, “I will remember you from here on this small hill,†
where Mount Hermon and the Jordan River meet.”
7 I hear the roar of the water coming from deep within the earth.
It shouts to the water below as it tumbles down the waterfall.
God, your waves come one after another,
crashing all around and over me.‡
8 By day the LORD shows his faithful love,
and at night I have a song for him—a prayer for the God of my life.§
9 I say to God, my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I suffer this sadness that my enemies have brought me?”
10 Their constant insults are killing me.
They never stop asking, “Where is your God?”
11 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help!
You will again be able to praise him,
your God, the one who will save you.”
* 42:1 Or “As a deer stretches out to drink water from a stream, so my soul thirsts for you, God.” † 42:5-6 small hill Or “Mount Mizar.” ‡ 42:7 God, your waves … over me These word pictures describe the psalmist’s feelings about the many troubles the Lord has allowed him to experience. § 42:8 the God of my life Or “my living God.”