I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. Interlude
Parallel translations
- WEB I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
- KJV I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty 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
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 11:13“If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.
- Ps 63:1A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
- Ps 88:9My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.
- Ps 84:2My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
- Ps 42:1–2For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.
- Ps 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or spread out our hands to a strange god;
- Isa 26:8–9Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
- Isa 35:7The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Grass with reeds and rushes will be in the habitation of jackals, where they lay.
- John 7:37Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.