I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
Parallel translations
- WEB I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
- BSB I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
- NKJV I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah
- NASB I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, like a weary land. Selah
- NLT I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Interlude
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David spreads out his hands and thirsts for God like a parched land. It expresses intense longing and dependence on God.
Overview
With outstretched hands, the posture of prayer, David likens his soul's thirst for God to dry, cracked ground craving rain. This deep spiritual hunger is the mark of a heart set on God. Jesus offers living water to such thirsty souls, satisfying them with Himself (John 7:37-38; Psalm 42:1-2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Job 11:13If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
- Ps 63:1O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
- Ps 88:9Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
- Ps 84:2My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
- Ps 42:1–2As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
- Ps 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
- Isa 26:8–9Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
- Isa 35:7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
- John 7:37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 143:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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