Psalms · psalm 42 of 150
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Psalm 42 is the lament of a son of Korah who thirsts for God, far from the temple and surrounded by people who ask where his God is. He remembers the festivals of the past with sorrow and speaks to himself in a refrain: why are you cast down, O my soul, hope in God. Though he sinks in waters of discouragement, the Lord is still his rock and hope.
The title ascribes it to the sons of Korah, a family of Levites who served as singers and gatekeepers of the temple, and calls it a Maskil. Psalm 42 opens the second book of the Psalter, and Psalm 43 seems to be its continuation, since it shares the same refrain and has no title of its own. It is one of the best-known prayers about spiritual discouragement.
The psalm begins with an image: as the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants the soul of the psalmist for God. His soul thirsts for God, the living God, and he wonders when he may come and appear before him. His tears have been his food day and night, while people say to him all day long: where is your God?
He remembers how he used to go with the throng to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Then he asks why he is cast down and in turmoil, and answers himself: hope in God, for he will yet praise him for the salvation of his presence. From the land of Jordan and the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar, he remembers God. Deep calls to deep at the roar of his waterfalls, and all God's breakers and waves have gone over him.
By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with him, a prayer to the God of his life. He says to God, his rock: why have you forgotten me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? His adversaries taunt him with a deadly wound in his bones, saying again: where is your God? The psalm ends by repeating the refrain: why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
As the deer longs for flowing streams, the psalmist's soul thirsts for God, the living God. Thirst expresses a deep need that only God can satisfy.
The psalmist asks why he is cast down and answers himself: hope in God, for he will yet praise him. He learns to speak to his own soul to remind it whom to trust.
Deep calls to deep at the roar of God's waterfalls, and all his waves and breakers pass over him. Trials come one after another, yet the psalmist sees them as part of a world God governs.
The refrain returns: why be cast down and in turmoil, if he can still hope in God and praise him, his salvation and his God. Hope remains a decision, not only a feeling.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A deer that pants for flowing streams. — Psalm 42:1
Answer: His tears. — Psalm 42:3
Answer: Where his God is. — Psalm 42:3
Answer: Going with the throng to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise. — Psalm 42:4
Answer: He asks why he is cast down and answers: hope in God, for he will yet praise him. — Psalm 42:5
Answer: By day he commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with him. — Psalm 42:8
Psalm 42 is a good companion for seasons of dryness. It offers no formula but a way of praying: name the thirst, remember what God has done and speak to yourself with truth. In a small group you can set aside time to write or say aloud a refrain of your own, a short sentence of hope for the days when courage fails.
It also teaches us not to discard community. The psalmist misses the house of God and the shared festival. When someone is discouraged, the church can come near with presence and prayer, not with quick answers, and remind them that they are not alone in that thirst.
Psalm 42 remains open, with a hope that has not yet seen its answer. Psalm 43 continues with the same refrain and asks God to send out his light and truth to lead the psalmist back to the altar.
They were descendants of Korah, a Levite, and their families served as singers and gatekeepers of the temple, according to 1 Chronicles 6:31-38 and 9:19. Eleven psalms carry their name in the title, among them 42, 44 to 49, 84, 85, 87 and 88.
Yes, the Bible presents it as an honest experience of believers. The psalmist does not stop believing, but he feels far away. That pain leads him to seek God more intensely, not to give up.
Hermon is the highest mountain in the north of Israel, in the region of the sources of the Jordan, and Mount Mizar is not identified with certainty. Perhaps the psalmist was far from Jerusalem, in that northern area, and from there remembered the temple.