Psalms 42 (DBY)

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Chapter Text

42:1 {To the chief Musician. An instruction; of the sons of Korah.} 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 bread day and night, while they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God?

42:4 These things I remember and have poured out my soul within me: how I passed along with the multitude, how I went on with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, a festive multitude.

42:5 Why art thou cast down, my soul, and art disquieted in me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, [for] the health of his countenance.

42:6 My God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, and the Hermons, from mount Mizar.

42:7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy cataracts; all thy breakers and thy billows are gone over me.

42:8 In the day-time will Jehovah command his loving-kindness, and in the night his song shall be with me, 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 crushing in my bones mine adversaries reproach me, while they say unto me all the day, Where is thy God?

42:11 Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "chief", "musician", "instruction", "sons", "korah", "hart", "panteth", and "after". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "chief" and "musician", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local DBY text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "chief" and "musician" 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 "chief" and "musician" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.