Psalms 42

1 To the Chief Musician. An Instructive Psalm for the Sons of Korah. As, the hart, cometh panting up to the channels of water, So my soul, panteth for thee, 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 thirsteth for God, for a GOD who liveth, —When shall I enter in, and see the face of God?

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 day and night, While it hath been said unto me all the day, Where is thy 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, I keep calling to mind, and pouring out, over me, my own soul, For I used to cross over with a crowd, Lead them in procession up to the house of God, With the voice of shouting and praise.—a throng keeping festival.

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 shouldst thou be cast down, O my soul? And [why] shouldst thou moan over me? Wait thou for God, for yet shall I praise him, As the triumph of my 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 My God! over myself, my soul is cast down, —For this cause, will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, And the Hermons, from the hill 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 Roaring deep unto roaring deep, is calling, at the voice of thy cataracts, All thy breakers and thy rolling waves, over me, have passed.

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 By day, will Yahweh command his lovingkindness, And, in the night, shall His song be with me, My prayer be 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 will say onto GOD, —my rock, Wherefore hast thou forgotten me? Wherefore in gloom should I go, because of oppression by the enemy?

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 With a crushing of my bones, have my adversaries reproached me, —While they keep saying unto me all the day, Where is thy 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 shouldst thou be sat down, O my soul? And why shouldst thou moan over me? Wait thou for God, for yet shall I praise him, As the triumph of my presence 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.”