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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 42

Psalm 42: the panting hart and the cast-down soul

General context

The speaker compares his soul to a hart panting after water brooks: his soul thirsts for God, the living God, and he asks when he will come and appear before God. His tears have been his food day and night while people continually ask him where his God is. Remembering, he pours out his soul, for he had gone with the multitude to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude keeping holyday. He asks his soul why it is cast down and disquieted, and tells it to hope in God, for he will yet praise him for the help of his countenance. His soul is cast down, so he will remember God from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the noise of God's waterspouts, and all God's waves and billows have gone over him. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and at night his song and prayer will be with the speaker. He will say to God his rock, Why have you forgotten me, why do I go mourning because of the enemy's oppression? His enemies reproach him as with a sword in his bones, saying daily, Where is your God? The refrain returns: why is his soul cast down, hope in God, for he will yet praise him who is the health of his countenance and his God.

Cited passages: Psalms 42:1, Psalms 42:2, Psalms 42:3, Psalms 42:4, Psalms 42:5, Psalms 42:6, Psalms 42:7, Psalms 42:8, Psalms 42:9, Psalms 42:10, Psalms 42:11

Psalms 42 (KJV)

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 meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

4When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

6O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

7Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

8Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my 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 enemies reproach me; while they say daily 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 is the health of my countenance, and my God.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "As the hart panteth after the water brooks", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. The speaker is a single "I" who addresses God, his own soul, and reports the words of unnamed people who ask "Where is thy God?". The only place names are "the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites" and "the hill Mizar", given as the place from which he will remember God; the text does not say why he is there or how far it is from "the house of God" he once visited with the multitude. That visit is in the past, "I had gone", and the present question is "when shall I come and appear before God?". The enemy and the "oppression of the enemy" are not identified. This psalm has no closing blessing of its own; Psalm 43 continues with the same refrain, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?", and the same words "why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?", though the two are printed as separate chapters here.

Cited passages: Psalms 42:1, Psalms 42:3, Psalms 42:6, Psalms 42:4, Psalms 42:2, Psalms 42:9, Psalms 43:5, Psalms 43:2

Literary context

The psalm is built around a refrain the speaker addresses to his own soul, at verse 5 and again at verse 11, each time asking why it is cast down and answering "hope thou in God". Between the two refrains the mood sinks again: "my soul is cast down within me" restates the very thing the refrain questioned. Water runs through the images and changes meaning: the brooks the hart pants for, the tears that are his food, then the waterspouts, waves and billows that go over him. The taunt "Where is thy God?" is quoted at verse 3 and again at verse 10, and the speaker's own question to God, "Why hast thou forgotten me?", answers it with a question. Memory works both ways: remembering the holyday multitude makes him pour out his soul, and remembering God from Jordan and Hermon is what he resolves to do. Day and night frame both the tears and the promised song. The refrain's last phrase shifts from "the help of his countenance" to "the health of my countenance".

Cited passages: Psalms 42:5, Psalms 42:11, Psalms 42:6, Psalms 42:3, Psalms 42:7, Psalms 42:9, Psalms 42:4, Psalms 42:8

Key moments

  1. As the hart pants (Psalms 42:1). The speaker compares his soul's thirst for God to a hart panting for water brooks.
  2. Where is thy God? (Psalms 42:3). His tears are his food while people continually ask him where his God is.
  3. Remembering the holyday multitude (Psalms 42:4). He pours out his soul remembering going with the multitude to the house of God.
  4. Why art thou cast down? (Psalms 42:5). He asks his soul why it is cast down and tells it to hope in God.
  5. Deep calls to deep (Psalms 42:7). God's waterspouts, waves and billows go over him.
  6. A sword in my bones (Psalms 42:10). His enemies' reproach is like a sword in his bones as they ask daily where his God is.
  7. The refrain returns (Psalms 42:11). He again tells his soul to hope in God, who is the health of his countenance.

For reflection

The speaker twice tells his soul to hope in God and in between says his soul is cast down; what does it mean that the poem lets the question be asked a second time?

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