Psalms 42 (ASV)

Chapter Text

42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.

42:2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God?

42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

42:4 These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.

42:5 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 [For] the help of his countenance.

42:6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.

42:7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

42:8 [Yet] Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time; And in the night his song shall be with me, [Even] a prayer unto the God of my life.

42:9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

42:10 As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

42:11 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 help of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 43

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hart", "panteth", "after", "water", "brooks", and "soul". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hart" and "panteth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "hart" and "panteth" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hart" and "panteth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.