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Psalm 42
New King James Version

## BOOK TWO

### Psalms 42–72

### Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses

#### To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (A)My soul thirsts for God, for the (B)living God.
When shall I come and [c]appear before God?
3 (C)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(D)“Where is your God?”

4 When I remember these things,
(E)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(F)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

5 (G)Why are you [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(H)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[e]For the help of His countenance.

6 [f]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [g]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(I)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (J)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (K)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my Rock,
(L)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [h]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [i]reproach me,
(M)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

11 (N)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [j]help of my countenance and my God.

#### Footnotes

1. Psalm 42:1 Heb. Maschil
2. Psalm 42:1 Lit. longs for
3. Psalm 42:2 So with MT, Vg.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Tg. I see the face of God
4. Psalm 42:5 Lit. bowed down
5. Psalm 42:5 So with MT, Tg.; a few Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. The help of my countenance, my God
6. Psalm 42:6 So with MT, Tg.; a few Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. put my God at the end of v. 5
7. Psalm 42:6 Or Mount
8. Psalm 42:10 Lit. shattering
9. Psalm 42:10 revile
10. Psalm 42:11 Lit. salvation

#### Cross references

1. Psalm 42:2 : Ps. 63:1; 84:2; 143:6; [Jer. 10:10]
2. Psalm 42:2 : Rom. 9:26; 1 Thess. 1:9
3. Psalm 42:3 : Ps. 80:5; 102:9
4. Psalm 42:3 : Ps. 79:10; 115:2; Joel 2:17; Mic. 7:10
5. Psalm 42:4 : 1 Sam. 1:15; Job 30:16
6. Psalm 42:4 : Ps. 55:14; 122:1; Is. 30:29
7. Psalm 42:5 : Ps. 42:11; 43:5
8. Psalm 42:5 : Ps. 71:14; Lam. 3:24
9. Psalm 42:7 : Ps. 69:1, 2; 88:7; Jon. 2:3
10. Psalm 42:8 : Deut. 28:8
11. Psalm 42:8 : Job 35:10; Ps. 149:5
12. Psalm 42:9 : Ps. 38:6
13. Psalm 42:10 : Ps. 42:3; Joel 2:17; Mic. 7:10
14. Psalm 42:11 : Ps. 43:5

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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