Psalm 42 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Book Two: Psalms 42—72

Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses

Psa 42:1To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation[fn] of the sons of Korah.

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.

Psa 42:2

Psa 42:2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?[fn]

Psa 42:3

Psa 42:3My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”

Psa 42:4

Psa 42:4When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

Psa 42:5

Psa 42:5Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.[fn]

Psa 42:6

Psa 42:6O my God,[fn] my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.

Psa 42:7

Psa 42:7Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.

Psa 42:8

Psa 42:8The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.

Psa 42:9

Psa 42:9I will say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

Psa 42:10

Psa 42:10As with a breaking of my bones,
My enemies reproach me,
While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Psa 42:11

Psa 42:11Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(42:1)

Hebrew Maschil

(42:2)

Following Masoretic Text and Vulgate; some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Targum read I see the face of God.

(42:5)

Following Masoretic Text and Targum; a few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read The help of my countenance, my God.

(42:6)

Following Masoretic Text and Targum; a few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate put my God at the end of verse 5.

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For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.