1For 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.2My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?3My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”4These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.6O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon— even from Mount Mizar.7Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
8The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.9I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”10Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”11Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
What’s happening. Written by the sons of Korah, temple musicians. The writer is far from Jerusalem and the temple, feeling cut off from worship and taunted by others.
What it means. The psalmist’s longing for God is like a deer desperate for water in dry country. It is an honest prayer from a time when God feels far away. The psalm keeps repeating, “Why are you downcast, my soul? Hope in God,” showing how to speak truth to your own heart in a low season.