Psalms, Chapter 42
This is Psalms, chapter 42, a sacred text in the Judaism tradition. You can read it here verse by verse for free, listen to it read aloud, and follow cross-references that connect its themes to other traditions.
For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites.
Like a hind crying for water,awater Lit. “watercourses.” my soul cries for You, O God;
my soulbsoul Or “throat.” thirsts for God, the living God;O when will I come to appear before God!
My tears have been my food day and night;I am ever taunted with, “Where is your God?”
When I think of this, I pour out my soul:how I walked with the crowd, moved with them,cwalked with the crowd, moved with them Meaning of Heb. uncertain. the festive throng, to the House of Godwith joyous shouts of praise.
Why so downcast, my soul,why disquieted within me?Have hope in God;I will yet give praisefor God’s saving presence.dfor God’s saving presence Several ancient versions and Heb. mss. connect the end of this verse with the first word in v. 7, reading yeshuʻot panai we-ʼElohai, “my ever-present help, my God,” as in v. 12 and 43.5.
O my God, my soul is downcast;therefore I think of Youin this land of Jordan and Hermon,in Mount Mizar,
where deep calls to deepin the roar of Your cataracts;eYour cataracts Meaning of Heb. uncertain. all Your breakers and billows have swept over me.
By day may GOD devote faithful care,so that at night a song may be with me:a prayer to the God of my life.
I say to God, my rock,“Why have You forgotten me,why must I walk in gloom,oppressed by my enemy?”
Crushing my bones,fCrushing my bones Meaning of Heb. uncertain. my foes revile me,taunting me always with, “Where is your God?”
Why so downcast, my soul,why disquieted within me?Have hope in God;I will yet give praise,my ever-present help, my God.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”