Psalms 42
1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
Deer pant, desiring to drink water from a stream [when there is a drought] (OR, [when they are being pursued by hunters].) In the same way [SIM], God, I need you very much.
2 My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
I desire to have fellowship with [MET] you, the all-powerful God. [I wonder], “When will I be able to go [back to the temple in Israel] and worship in your presence again?”
3 My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Every day and every night I cry; [it is as though] the only thing I have to drink is my tears; and while I do that, my enemies are continually asking me, “Why does your god not [help you]?”
4 These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.
I am very distressed [IDM] as I remember when I went with the crowd of people to the temple [in Jerusalem], leading them as we walked along; we were all shouting joyfully and singing to thank God [for what he had done]; we were a large group who were celebrating.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.
So [I say to] myself, “(Why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!) [RHQ] I confidently expect God [to help me], and again I will praise him, my God, the one who saves me.”
6 O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon— even from Mount Mizar.
[But now, Yahweh], I am very discouraged [IDM], so I think about you, even from where the Jordan [River] gushes out from the bottom of Hermon [Mountain] and from Mizar Mountain.
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
But here, the great sorrow that I feel is like water that you send down [MET]; [it is like] a waterfall that tumbles down and floods over me.
8 The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.
Yahweh shows me each day that he faithfully loves me, and each night I sing to him and pray to him, the God who causes me to live.
9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”
I say to God, [who is like] an [overhanging] rock [under which I can hide] [MET], “It seems that you have forgotten me. I (mourn/cry) constantly because my enemies act cruelly toward me” [RHQ].
10 Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
They make fun of me constantly; they continually ask, “Why does your god not help you?” [RHQ] And when they insult me [like that], [it is like] wounds that I feel even in my bones.
11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
But [I think, ] “(Why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!) [RHQ] I will confidently expect God [to help me], and I will praise him again, my God, the one who saves me.”
