Psalm 42: Longing for God in sorrow

42:1 As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! 42:2 I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” 42:3 I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” 42:4 I will remember and weep! For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. 42:5 Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention. 42:6 I am depressed, so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 42:7 One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me. 42:8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God. 42:9 I will pray to God, my high ridge: “Why do you ignore me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?” 42:10 My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 42:11 Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention. Psalm 43

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

This psalm shows a believer who deeply longs for God and for worship in his presence. He is far from the temple, weighed down by tears, and mocked by enemies. Still, he keeps speaking to his own soul and telling it to hope in God. The psalm ends where it began: with thirst for the living God and trust that God will again save.

Psalm 42 gives voice to holy longing. The psalmist compares his desire for God to a deer longing for water. He does not merely want comfort. He wants the living God himself and to appear before him in worship.

His sorrow is deep. He weeps day and night. He has lost his appetite. Others mock him and ask, ‘Where is your God?’ He remembers joyful worship in the temple, and that memory makes his present pain sharper.

In the middle of the psalm, he speaks to his own soul. He asks why it is downcast and then commands it to wait for God. This is not denial of grief. It is faith refusing to let feelings have the last word. He expects God to act again and bring saving help.

The psalm also says that God’s loyal love remains true by day, and that God gives a song by night. Even while the psalmist feels overwhelmed, he still prays to God as his strong place and hope.

The psalm ends as it began, with renewed self-exhortation: hope in God, for I will again praise him. The sorrow is not fully removed, but faith remains. Psalm 42 teaches believers to lament honestly, to remember God’s covenant love, and to wait for his saving help.

• Believers may long deeply for God himself, not only for relief from trouble.
• A person can grieve honestly before God without abandoning faith.
• Mockery and spiritual opposition can make suffering feel even heavier.
• Remembering past worship can sharpen sorrow over present separation from it.
• Faith speaks to the soul and commands it to hope in God.
• God’s loyal love remains the ground of hope even in dark seasons.
• The psalm ends with waiting, not immediate deliverance, but with trust in God’s saving help.

• Warning: Do not let discouragement or enemy taunts define your view of God.
• Warning: Do not treat feelings of distance from God as proof that he has failed.
• Promise: God’s loyal love is declared by day, and he gives a song by night.
• Promise: The psalmist expects to give thanks again for God’s saving intervention.
• Command: Speak to your own soul and wait for God.
• Command: Keep hoping in God and keep looking for his help.

Psalm 42 belongs to Israel’s temple-centered worship life. It shows that God’s people long for his presence and grieve when they are cut off from public worship. In the wider Bible, this longing points forward to the fuller access to God that he provides in his saving plan, which reaches its goal in the Messiah.

When you feel dry, sad, or forgotten, bring that sorrow to God. Remember what he has done, and do not give up on him because the day feels dark. Speak truth to your own heart. Wait for God, and keep hoping that he will again give help and restore your praise.

• Lite Commentary
• In-depth Commentary