Psalm 42

English Standard Version

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

42 ^(B)As a deer pants for flowing streams,
    so pants my soul for you, O God.
²^(C)My soul thirsts for God,
    for ^(D)the living God.
When shall I come and ^(E)appear before God?^[b]
³^(F)My tears have been my food
    day and night,
^(G)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴These things I remember,
    as I ^(H)pour out my soul:
^(I)how I would go ^(J)with the throng
    and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
    ^(K)a multitude keeping festival.

⁵^(L)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you ^(M)in turmoil within me?
^(N)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation^[c] ⁶and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I ^(O)remember you
^(P)from the land of Jordan and of ^(Q)Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
^(R)all your breakers and your ^(S)waves
    have gone over me.
⁸By day the Lord ^(T)commands his steadfast love,
    and at ^(U)night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹I say to God, ^(V)my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
^(W)Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
^(X)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹^(Y)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.

Footnotes

Psalm 42:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 42:2 Revocalization yields and see the face of God
Psalm 42:5 Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5

Psalm 44

English Standard Version

Come to Our Help

To the choirmaster. ^(A)A Maskil^[a] of the Sons of Korah.

44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
    ^(B)our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
    ^(C)in the days of old:
²you with your own hand ^(D)drove out the nations,
    but ^(E)them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
    but ^(F)them you set free;
³for not ^(G)by their own sword did they win the land,
    nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
    and ^(H)the light of your face,
    ^(I)for you delighted in them.

⁴^(J)You are my King, O God;
    ^(K)ordain salvation for Jacob!
⁵Through you we ^(L)push down our foes;
    through your name we ^(M)tread down those who rise up against us.
⁶For not in ^(N)my bow do I trust,
    nor can my sword save me.
⁷But you have saved us from our foes
    and have ^(O)put to shame those who hate us.
⁸^(P)In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

⁹But you have ^(Q)rejected us and disgraced us
    and ^(R)have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰You have made us ^(S)turn back from the foe,
    and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
¹¹You have made us like ^(T)sheep for slaughter
    and have ^(U)scattered us among the nations.
¹²^(V)You have sold your people for a trifle,
    demanding no high price for them.
¹³You have made us ^(W)the taunt of our neighbors,
    the derision and ^(X)scorn of those around us.
¹⁴You have made us ^(Y)a byword among the nations,
    ^(Z)a laughingstock^[b] among the peoples.
¹⁵All day long my disgrace is before me,
    and ^(AA)shame has covered my face
¹⁶at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
    at the sight of ^(AB)the enemy and the avenger.

¹⁷^(AC)All this has come upon us,
    though we have not forgotten you,
    and we have not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our ^(AD)steps ^(AE)departed from your way;
¹⁹yet you have ^(AF)broken us in the place of ^(AG)jackals
    and covered us with ^(AH)the shadow of death.
²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or ^(AI)spread out our hands to ^(AJ)a foreign god,
²¹^(AK)would not God discover this?
    ^(AL)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²²Yet ^(AM)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³^(AN)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
    Rouse yourself! ^(AO)Do not reject us forever!
²⁴Why ^(AP)do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵For our ^(AQ)soul is bowed down to the dust;
    our belly clings to the ground.
²⁶Rise up; ^(AR)come to our help!
    ^(AS)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!