Psalms 42 Study Notes: A Soul Thirsting for God
A psalm of the Korahites compares the longing for God to a thirsty deer seeking water. Far from the temple and mocked by enemies, the psalmist recalls joyful festival worship, feels overwhelmed like one under crashing waves, and repeatedly urges his discouraged soul to keep hoping in God.
General
True or False: In 42:7-8, the psalmist says that because the waves have overwhelmed him, the LORD's loving devotion no longer reaches him.
Answer: False
This is false. The psalmist does describe trouble like deep waters crashing over him, and he calls them God's own breakers and waves (42:7). But in the very next verse he says the LORD commands His loving devotion (His loyal, covenant-keeping love) by day and gives him a song at night, which he prays to God, the source of his life (42:8). The overwhelming trouble and God's steady love are both real at the same time. Jonah used the same picture of God's waves passing over him in the sea, and God brought him up from the pit.
- Psalm 42:7-8 (BSB)“Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me. 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.”The psalmist feels God's waves overwhelming him, yet confesses God's loving devotion by day and song by night.
- Jonah 2:3 (BSB)“For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.”Jonah uses the same picture of God's breakers and waves sweeping over him.
- Jonah 2:6 (BSB)“To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!”Jonah testifies that God raised his life from the pit, showing God's keeping in the depths.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 (BSB)“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!”Lamentations affirms that the LORD's loving devotion does not fail even amid affliction.
Theological
True or False: In 42:7-8, the psalmist concludes that God's overwhelming waves have cut him off from the LORD's loving devotion.
Answer: False
This is false. The psalmist ascribes the overwhelming floods to God Himself, calling them His breakers and waves (42:7), yet he immediately confesses that in the daytime the LORD ordains His loving devotion and in the night gives a song, offered as prayer to the One who gives him life (42:8). Sovereign affliction and covenant love coexist. Jonah's prayer uses the same imagery and ends in deliverance from the pit, and Lamentations affirms that the LORD's loving devotion does not fail.
- Psalm 42:7-8 (BSB)“Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me. 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.”The psalmist feels God's waves overwhelming him, yet confesses God's loving devotion by day and song by night.
- Jonah 2:3 (BSB)“For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.”Jonah uses the same picture of God's breakers and waves sweeping over him.
- Jonah 2:6 (BSB)“To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!”Jonah testifies that God raised his life from the pit, showing God's keeping in the depths.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 (BSB)“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!”Lamentations affirms that the LORD's loving devotion does not fail even amid affliction.
General
In the refrain of 42:5 and 42:11, what does the psalmist do with his discouragement?
Answer: He questions his own soul and urges it to hope in God
Twice the psalmist speaks to himself, asking his own soul why it is so low and troubled, and then commanding it to hope in God, because a day of praise is still coming (42:5, 11). He does not simply follow his feelings; he reminds himself of the truth about God. Lamentations shows the same move from grief to hope by calling God's mercy to mind, and Paul describes believers as hard pressed yet not crushed or left in despair.
- Psalm 42:5 (BSB)“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.”The first occurrence of the refrain in which the psalmist addresses his own discouraged soul.
- Psalm 42:11 (BSB)“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.”The refrain returns at the psalm's close.
- Lamentations 3:21-22 (BSB)“Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.”Lamentations shows the same move from grief to hope by calling to mind the LORD's loving devotion.
- Psalm 130:5 (BSB)“I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.”The psalmist waits for the LORD and puts his hope in His word, the hope the refrain commands.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (BSB)“We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”Paul describes believers as pressed and perplexed but not crushed or in despair.
Theological
What is the function of the refrain in 42:5 and 42:11?
Answer: He questions his own soul and urges it to hope in God
The refrain (42:5, 11) is self-address: the psalmist interrogates his own disquiet and then exhorts his soul to hope in God, anticipating renewed praise. Faith here argues with feeling rather than being governed by it. The movement from lament to hope mirrors Lamentations 3:21-22 and Psalm 130, and Paul's afflicted-but-not-despairing paradox (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) expresses the same sustained hope.
- Psalm 42:5 (BSB)“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.”The first occurrence of the refrain in which the psalmist addresses his own discouraged soul.
- Psalm 42:11 (BSB)“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.”The refrain returns at the psalm's close.
- Lamentations 3:21-22 (BSB)“Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.”Lamentations shows the same move from grief to hope by calling to mind the LORD's loving devotion.
- Psalm 130:5 (BSB)“I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.”The psalmist waits for the LORD and puts his hope in His word, the hope the refrain commands.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (BSB)“We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”Paul describes believers as pressed and perplexed but not crushed or in despair.
General
What memory does the psalmist recall in 42:4 as he pours out his soul?
Answer: Leading the joyful crowd in procession to God's house
The psalm's heading ties it to the Korahites (42:1), a family of Levites who praised the LORD. The psalmist remembers how he used to walk with the crowd, leading the festive throng toward God's house with joyful shouts and thanks (42:4). Now he is far away; he remembers God from the region of the Jordan and the heights of Hermon (42:6), far from Jerusalem. The memory of shared worship makes his present distance more painful, yet it also turns his mind back to God. Another psalm rejoices at the call to go to the LORD's house.
- Psalm 42:4 (BSB)“These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.”The psalmist recalls leading worshipers in festive procession to God's house.
- Psalm 42:6 (BSB)“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.”Far from Jerusalem, he remembers God from the region of the Jordan and Hermon.
- 2 Chronicles 20:19 (BSB)“And the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, shouting in a very loud voice.”The Korahites were Levites who stood to praise the LORD, the family named in this psalm's heading.
- Psalm 122:1 (BSB)“A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.””Another psalm rejoices at the invitation to go to the LORD's house, the joy the psalmist now misses.
- Psalm 84:10 (BSB)“For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”A psalm of the sons of Korah prizes one day in God's courts above a thousand elsewhere.
Theological
What recollection intensifies the psalmist's longing in 42:4?
Answer: Leading the joyful crowd in procession to God's house
This psalm of the Korahites (42:1), a Levitical family of singers, recalls the psalmist's former role leading the festal throng to God's house amid joyful shouting and thanksgiving (42:4). Now removed to the region of the Jordan and Hermon (42:6), far from Zion, he feels the absence of corporate worship acutely. Memory both wounds and redirects him toward God. The same love of God's courts marks Psalms 84 and 122.
- Psalm 42:4 (BSB)“These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.”The psalmist recalls leading worshipers in festive procession to God's house.
- Psalm 42:6 (BSB)“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.”Far from Jerusalem, he remembers God from the region of the Jordan and Hermon.
- 2 Chronicles 20:19 (BSB)“And the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, shouting in a very loud voice.”The Korahites were Levites who stood to praise the LORD, the family named in this psalm's heading.
- Psalm 122:1 (BSB)“A song of ascents. Of David. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.””Another psalm rejoices at the invitation to go to the LORD's house, the joy the psalmist now misses.
- Psalm 84:10 (BSB)“For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”A psalm of the sons of Korah prizes one day in God's courts above a thousand elsewhere.
General
What taunt does the psalmist hear again and again in Psalm 42 (42:3, 10)?
Answer: A mocking question about where his God is
The psalmist says he has fed on his own tears day and night, because people keep asking him all the time where his God is (42:3). The taunt returns in 42:10, where it wounds like crushing bones. The mockers imply that God has abandoned him or cannot help him. Israel's prayers often face the same taunt, and Psalm 115 replies that God reigns in the heavens and does whatever He pleases. Even Jesus on the cross was mocked with the challenge that God should rescue Him if He wanted Him.
- Psalm 42:3 (BSB)“My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?””The psalmist weeps day and night as people keep taunting him about his God.
- Psalm 42:10 (BSB)“Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?””The same taunt returns and wounds him like crushing bones.
- Psalm 115:2-3 (BSB)“Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.”Another psalm answers the same taunt by declaring that God is in heaven and does as He pleases.
- Joel 2:17 (BSB)“Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’””Joel's priests plead that God's people not become a byword with this same mocking question.
- Matthew 27:43 (BSB)“He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’””Jesus on the cross was mocked with a similar challenge for God to rescue Him.
Theological
What taunt recurs in 42:3 and 42:10, deepening the psalmist's lament?
Answer: A mocking question about where his God is
The adversaries' recurring question (42:3, 10) challenges the reality or the faithfulness of the psalmist's God, and it is the source of his tears and of pain like crushed bones. The taunt is a stock challenge in Israel's laments, answered in Psalm 115 by an appeal to God's heavenly sovereignty and echoed in Joel's plea for God's honor. The same mockery was hurled at Christ on the cross (Matthew 27:43), the supreme righteous sufferer.
- Psalm 42:3 (BSB)“My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?””The psalmist weeps day and night as people keep taunting him about his God.
- Psalm 42:10 (BSB)“Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?””The same taunt returns and wounds him like crushing bones.
- Psalm 115:2-3 (BSB)“Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases.”Another psalm answers the same taunt by declaring that God is in heaven and does as He pleases.
- Joel 2:17 (BSB)“Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’””Joel's priests plead that God's people not become a byword with this same mocking question.
- Matthew 27:43 (BSB)“He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’””Jesus on the cross was mocked with a similar challenge for God to rescue Him.
General
In 42:1-2, what does the image of a deer panting for water picture?
Answer: The psalmist's deep longing to be with God
Just as a thirsty deer longs for running water, the psalmist's soul longs for God (42:1). He thirsts for God, who is alive, and asks when he will be able to come before Him (42:2), which, as the psalm goes on to show, means worshiping God at His house (42:4). His deepest need is not merely help but God Himself. David's psalm from the wilderness uses the same thirst image, and Jesus invited anyone who is thirsty to come to Him.
- Psalm 42:1-2 (BSB)“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. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?”The psalmist compares his longing for God to a deer panting for water and asks when he may come before God.
- Psalm 63:1 (BSB)“A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.”David uses the same image of a soul thirsting for God in a dry land.
- Psalm 84:2 (BSB)“My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”Another psalm of the sons of Korah expresses the same yearning for the living God and His courts.
- John 7:37 (BSB)“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”Jesus invites anyone who thirsts to come to Him and drink, answering the soul's thirst for God.
Theological
What does the simile of 42:1-2 express?
Answer: The psalmist's deep longing to be with God
The simile of the panting deer expresses the psalmist's intense longing for God Himself (42:1), sharpened into thirst for the God who lives and a desire to appear before Him (42:2), that is, in the worship of His house (42:4). The need is centered on God: not relief only, but communion with God. The image recurs in Psalms 63 and 84, and Jesus presents Himself as the answer to such thirst (John 7:37).
- Psalm 42:1-2 (BSB)“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. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?”The psalmist compares his longing for God to a deer panting for water and asks when he may come before God.
- Psalm 63:1 (BSB)“A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.”David uses the same image of a soul thirsting for God in a dry land.
- Psalm 84:2 (BSB)“My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”Another psalm of the sons of Korah expresses the same yearning for the living God and His courts.
- John 7:37 (BSB)“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”Jesus invites anyone who thirsts to come to Him and drink, answering the soul's thirst for God.