Psalm 42

New Century Version

Wishing to Be Near God

For the director of music. A maskil of the sons of Korah.

42 As a deer thirsts for streams of water,
    so I thirst for you, God.
²I thirst for the living God.
    When can I go to meet with him?
³Day and night, my tears have been my food.
People are always saying,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴When I remember these things,
    I speak with a broken heart.
I used to walk with the crowd
    and lead them to God’s Temple
    with songs of praise.

⁵Why am I so sad?
    Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God
    and keep praising him,
    my Savior and ⁶my God.

I am very sad.
    So I remember you where the Jordan River begins,
near the peaks of Hermon and Mount Mizar.
⁷Troubles have come again and again, sounding like waterfalls.
    Your waves are crashing all around me.
⁸The Lord shows his true love every day.
    At night I have a song,
    and I pray to my living God.
⁹I say to God, my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why am I sad
    and troubled by my enemies?”
¹⁰My enemies’ insults make me feel
    as if my bones were broken.
They are always saying,
    “Where is your God?”