Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word
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⚙ Annotations & References ▾
Passage sections 1 ▾
As the Deer Pants poetry 42:1–42:11
Themes 8 ▾
Water and Living Water 1 Prayer 2, 8 Worship 2, 4 Hope 2, 5, 8, 11 Church 4 Joy 4 Love 8 Faith 11
Prophecies 1 ▾
Anguish in the Garden 6, 11
Historic voices 9 ▾
A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections 1× 1 Catechism of the Catholic Church 2× 3, 7 City of God 3× 3, 6, 10 Summa Theologica 1× 3 Canons of Dort 1× 5, 11 John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible 1× 1-11 Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament 1× 1, 6 Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary 1× 1, 6 Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary 1× 2-9, 11
Manuscript witnesses 5 ▾
Codex Sinaiticus Aleph c. AD 330-360 Codex Vaticanus B c. AD 300-325 Codex Alexandrinus A c. AD 400-440 Aleppo Codex (Crown of Aleppo) c. AD 930 Leningrad Codex (Codex Leningradensis) AD 1008
Cross-references 119 ▾
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What is Psalms 42 about?

With the second book of the Psalter the voice passes to the sons of Korah, who sing from a place far from the sanctuary, in the land of Jordan and the heights of Hermon. As the hart pants after the water brooks, the psalmist's soul thirsts for the living God, his tears his food day and night while foes taunt, 'Where is thy God?' Twice he charges his downcast soul to hope in God, for he shall yet praise Him, the health of his countenance. This longing for God's presence in a time of absence teaches the exiled heart to preach hope to itself.

Historical backdrop

These are the songbook of a nation, sung across a thousand years of Israel's worship, from Moses in the wilderness to the exiles returned from Babylon. They were carried from the tabernacle to Solomon's temple to the second temple rebuilt under Persia, set to the lyre and the harp and the clash of cymbals in the courts of the LORD.

Matthew Henry on Psalms 42
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Psalms 42
The Church Fathers on Psalms 42
Cited by the confessions

Psalms 42

Psalms Chapter 42
42
1As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.
5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Andwhy art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him Forthe help of his countenance.
6O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Therefore do I remember thee from the land of the Jordan, And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.
7Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterfalls: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
8Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the day-time; And in the night his song shall be with me, Evena prayer unto the God of my life.
9I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
10As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
11Why 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 isthe help of my countenance, and my God.
← Chapter 41 Chapter 43 →
What is Psalms 42 about?

With the second book of the Psalter the voice passes to the sons of Korah, who sing from a place far from the sanctuary, in the land of Jordan and the heights of Hermon. As the hart pants after the water brooks, the psalmist's soul thirsts for the living God, his tears his food day and night while foes taunt, 'Where is thy God?' Twice he charges his downcast soul to hope in God, for he shall yet praise Him, the health of his countenance. This longing for God's presence in a time of absence teaches the exiled heart to preach hope to itself.