Psalms 42 (KJV)

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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 meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

42:4 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.

42:5 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.

42:6 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.

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

42:8 Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my 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 enemies reproach me; while they say daily 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 health of my countenance, and my God.

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 KJV 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.