Psalms 42

READ THE CHAPTER

WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

The complete biblical text below is stored on this website.

You do not need to leave The Bible for Smart People to read it.

1

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so my soul pants after you, God.

2

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

3

My tears have been my food day and night,
while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

4

These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,
how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house,
with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.

5

Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God!
For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.

6

My God, my soul is in despair within me.
Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.

7

Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls.
All your waves and your billows have swept over me.

8

Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime.
In the night his song shall be with me:
a prayer to the God of my life.

9

I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10

As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me,
while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

11

Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God! For I shall still praise him,
the saving help of my countenance, and my God.

READ FIRST. INTERPRET SECOND.

Keep the text open while reading the analysis on this page.

Separate what the chapter actually says from what later religious traditions, commentators, or critics say about it.

ABOUT THE TEXT

Scripture text: World English Bible.

The World English Bible is public domain.

This site stores its own local copy rather than depending on an external reader.

POETRY

Where this chapter fits

Psalms belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.

Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.

Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.

ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS

Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.

Scientific claims should be compared with science.

Moral claims should be examined morally.

Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.

QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING

Don't skip the hard parts.

What does the chapter actually say?

Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.

What kind of literature is this?

Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.

What historical evidence matters?

Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.

What are the strongest competing interpretations?

Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.

🔒

CONTINUE THE INVESTIGATION

You've reached the member analysis.

You can keep reading every Bible chapter on this site for free.

Membership unlocks the deeper analysis, historical context, competing interpretations, perspectives, and conclusion.

WANT TO KEEP READING FOR FREE?

Continue to Psalms 43

The complete biblical text of the next chapter is free to read.

You only need membership when you want the deeper analysis and side-by-side investigation.