Psalm 42; Psalm 88

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Psalm 42

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil1 of the sSons of Korah.

1  As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

2  tMy soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

When shall I come and uappear before God?2

3  vMy tears have been my food

day and night,

while they wsay to me all the day long,

x“Where is your God?”

4  These things I remember,

as I ypour out my soul:

how I would go zwith the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

a multitude keeping festival.

5  aWhy 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 salvation3 6 and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;

therefore I remember you

from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,

from Mount Mizar.

7  Deep calls to deep

at the roar of your waterfalls;

ball your breakers and your waves

have gone over me.

8  By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,

and at cnight his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

9  I say to God, my rock:

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I dgo mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10  As with a deadly wound in my bones,

my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me all the day long,

“Where is your God?”

11  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.


Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to sMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil1 of Heman the Ezrahite.

1  O Lord, God of my salvation,

I tcry out uday and night before you.

2  Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!

3  For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

4  I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

5  like one set loose among the dead,

vlike the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

for they are cut off from your hand.

6  You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

7  Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8  You have caused my wcompanions to shun me;

you have made me a horror2 to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9  xmy eye grows dim through sorrow.

yEvery day I call upon you, O Lord;

I spread out my hands to you.

10  Do you work wonders for the dead?

zDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12  Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13  But I, O Lord, cry to you;

ain the morning my prayer comes before you.

14  O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

15  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.3

16  Your wrath has swept over me;

your dreadful assaults destroy me.

17  They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in on me together.

18  You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.4