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Psalms 42

1

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

1
2

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

3

My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

5

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

6

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

7

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

8

Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

9

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

10

As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

11

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

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Psalms 42:1

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

Study Summary

The psalmist opens with the imagery of a deer panting for streams of water, so his soul pants for God. The vivid metaphor of the panting deer establishes the intensity of the psalmist's longing for God, suggesting a thirst as profound as the physical thirst of a hunted animal. This opening establishes that the psalmist's deepest need is for encounter with God. The entire psalm expresses this longing and the struggle that accompanies it.

Community Reflections

2
David Osei (test user)9d ago
As the deer pants

This image of the deer panting after water is one of the most honest descriptions of spiritual longing I have encountered. The psalmist is not performing devotion — he is thirsting. There is a rawness here that gives me permission to be honest about my own dry seasons, the times when God feels absent even though the longing itself proves He is not.

Read the note →

Psalms 42:1

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

Study Summary

The psalmist opens with the imagery of a deer panting for streams of water, so his soul pants for God. The vivid metaphor of the panting deer establishes the intensity of the psalmist's longing for God, suggesting a thirst as profound as the physical thirst of a hunted animal. This opening establishes that the psalmist's deepest need is for encounter with God. The entire psalm expresses this longing and the struggle that accompanies it.

Community Reflections

2
David Osei (test user)9d ago
As the deer pants

This image of the deer panting after water is one of the most honest descriptions of spiritual longing I have encountered. The psalmist is not performing devotion — he is thirsting. There is a rawness here that gives me permission to be honest about my own dry seasons, the times when God feels absent even though the longing itself proves He is not.

Read the note →

Psalms 42:1

The psalmist opens with the imagery of a deer panting for streams of water, so his soul pants for God. The vivid metaphor of the panting deer establishes the intensity of the psalmist's longing for God, suggesting a thirst as profound as the physical thirst of a hunted animal. This opening establishes that the psalmist's deepest need is for encounter with God. The entire psalm expresses this longing and the struggle that accompanies it.