As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Parallel translations
- WEB For 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.
- BSB For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
- NKJV As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
- NASB As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, God.
- NLT As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
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
As a deer pants for water, the psalmist's soul longs for God. Deep spiritual thirst for God's presence drives this psalm.
Overview
This contemplation of the sons of Korah opens with one of Scripture's most vivid images of spiritual desire. Separated from worship, the psalmist yearns for God Himself. Such thirst is satisfied only in the living God, and ultimately in Christ who gives living water (John 4:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 63:1–2O 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 143:6–7I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
- Ps 119:131I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.
- 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.
- Ps 84:1–2How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
- Ps 48:1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
- Ps 46:1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Ps 85:1Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
- Ps 47:1O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
- Ps 45:1My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
- Ps 44:1We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
- Ps 49:1Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
- Num 16:32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
- 1 Chr 25:1–5Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:
- Num 16:1Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:
- 1 Chr 6:33–37And these are they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel,
- Num 26:11Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.
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 42:1 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.