Psalm 42-44

English Standard Version

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

42 ^(B)As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
²^(C)My soul thirsts for God,
    for ^(D)the living God.
When shall I come and ^(E)appear before God?^[b]
³^(F)My tears have been my food
    day and night,
^(G)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴These things I remember,
    as I ^(H)pour out my soul:
^(I)how I would go ^(J)with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    ^(K)a multitude keeping festival.

⁵^(L)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you ^(M)in turmoil within me?
^(N)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation^[c] ⁶and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I ^(O)remember you
^(P)from the land of Jordan and of ^(Q)Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
^(R)all your breakers and your ^(S)waves
    have gone over me.
⁸By day the Lord ^(T)commands his steadfast love,
    and at ^(U)night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹I say to God, ^(V)my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
^(W)Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
^(X)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹^(Y)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43 ^(Z)Vindicate me, O God, and ^(AA)defend my cause
    against an ungodly people,
from ^(AB)the deceitful and unjust man
    deliver me!
²For you are ^(AC)the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you ^(AD)rejected me?
Why do I ^(AE)go about mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

³^(AF)Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your ^(AG)holy hill
    and to your ^(AH)dwelling!
⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

⁵^(AI)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
^(AJ)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Come to Our Help

To the choirmaster. ^(AK)A Maskil^[d] of the Sons of Korah.

44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
    ^(AL)our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
    ^(AM)in the days of old:
²you with your own hand ^(AN)drove out the nations,
    but ^(AO)them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
    but ^(AP)them you set free;
³for not ^(AQ)by their own sword did they win the land,
    nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
    and ^(AR)the light of your face,
    ^(AS)for you delighted in them.

⁴^(AT)You are my King, O God;
    ^(AU)ordain salvation for Jacob!
⁵Through you we ^(AV)push down our foes;
    through your name we ^(AW)tread down those who rise up against us.
⁶For not in ^(AX)my bow do I trust,
    nor can my sword save me.
⁷But you have saved us from our foes
    and have ^(AY)put to shame those who hate us.
⁸^(AZ)In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

⁹But you have ^(BA)rejected us and disgraced us
    and ^(BB)have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰You have made us ^(BC)turn back from the foe,
    and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
¹¹You have made us like ^(BD)sheep for slaughter
    and have ^(BE)scattered us among the nations.
¹²^(BF)You have sold your people for a trifle,
    demanding no high price for them.
¹³You have made us ^(BG)the taunt of our neighbors,
    the derision and ^(BH)scorn of those around us.
¹⁴You have made us ^(BI)a byword among the nations,
    ^(BJ)a laughingstock^[e] among the peoples.
¹⁵All day long my disgrace is before me,
    and ^(BK)shame has covered my face
¹⁶at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
    at the sight of ^(BL)the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷^(BM)All this has come upon us,
    though we have not forgotten you,
    and we have not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our ^(BN)steps ^(BO)departed from your way;
¹⁹yet you have ^(BP)broken us in the place of ^(BQ)jackals
    and covered us with ^(BR)the shadow of death.
²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or ^(BS)spread out our hands to ^(BT)a foreign god,
²¹^(BU)would not God discover this?
    ^(BV)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²²Yet ^(BW)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³^(BX)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
    Rouse yourself! ^(BY)Do not reject us forever!
²⁴Why ^(BZ)do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵For our ^(CA)soul is bowed down to the dust;
    our belly clings to the ground.
²⁶Rise up; ^(CB)come to our help!
    ^(CC)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!