My Soul Thirsts for God

For the choir director. A [†]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

1As the deer [†]pants for the water brooks,

So my soul [†]pants for You, O God.

2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;

When shall I come and [†]appear before God?

3My tears have been my food day and night,

While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go along with the throng and [†]lead them in procession to the house of God,

With the sound of a shout of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5Why are you [†]in despair, O my soul?

And why are you disturbed within me?

Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,

[†]For the [†]salvation of His presence.

6O my God, my soul is [†]in despair within me;

Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan

And the [†]peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

7Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;

All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

8By day, Yahweh will command His lovingkindness;

And by night, His song will be with me,

A prayer to the God of my life.

9I say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning [†]because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries reproach me,

While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11Why are you [†]in despair, O my soul?

And why are you disturbed within me?

Wait for God, for I shall still praise Him,

The salvation of my presence and my God.