Psalm 42

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.

Footnotes

Psalm 42:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 42:2 Revocalization yields and see the face of God
Psalm 42:5 Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5

Psalm 43

English Standard Version

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

43 ^(A)Vindicate me, O God, and ^(B)defend my cause
    against an ungodly people,
from ^(C)the deceitful and unjust man
    deliver me!
²For you are ^(D)the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you ^(E)rejected me?
Why do I ^(F)go about mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

³^(G)Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your ^(H)holy hill
    and to your ^(I)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^(J)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
^(K)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Psalm 88

English Standard Version

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of ^(A)the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to ^(B)Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil^[a] of ^(C)Heman the Ezrahite.

88 O Lord, ^(D)God of my salvation,
I ^(E)cry out day and night before you.
²Let my prayer come before you;
^(F)incline your ear to my cry!

³For my soul is full of troubles,
    and ^(G)my life draws near to ^(H)Sheol.
⁴I am counted among those who ^(I)go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
⁵like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom ^(J)you remember no more,
    for they are ^(K)cut off from your hand.
⁶You have put me in ^(L)the depths of the pit,
    in the ^(M)regions dark and ^(N)deep.
⁷Your wrath ^(O)lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with ^(P)all your waves. Selah

⁸You have caused ^(Q)my companions to shun me;
    you have made me ^(R)a horror^[b] to them.
I am ^(S)shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹    ^(T)my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I ^(U)spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰Do you work wonders for the dead?
    ^(V)Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
¹¹Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹²Are your ^(W)wonders known in ^(X)the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of ^(Y)forgetfulness?

¹³But I, O Lord, cry ^(Z)to you;
    ^(AA)in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴O Lord, why ^(AB)do you cast my soul away?
    Why ^(AC)do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.^[c]
¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me;
    your ^(AD)dreadful assaults destroy me.
¹⁷They ^(AE)surround me like a flood ^(AF)all day long;
    they ^(AG)close in on me together.
¹⁸You have caused ^(AH)my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.^[d]