Psalms 42:1
in Psalms 42As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
KJV
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
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This verse in Psalms 42
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAs the hart panteth after the water brooks,.... Either through a natural thirst that creature is said to have; or through the heat of the summer season; and especially when hunted by dogs, it betakes itself to rivers of water, partly to make its escape, and partly to extinguish its thirst, and refresh itself.
This site's exposition
deer pants for streams
on Psalms 42:1-2
A deer pants for streams of water, and the soul's thirst is for God, the living God. Spurgeon reads a hunted animal's need in it, pressed and desperate for water. He asks when he will appear in God's presence.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
on Psalms 42:1-2
It was, (1.) When he was debarred from his outward opportunities of waiting on God, when he was banished to the land of Jordan, a great way off from the courts of God's house. Note, Sometimes God teaches us effectually to know the worth of mercies by the want of them, and whets our appetite for the means of grace by cutting us short in those means.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after the, O God. As after a long drought the poor fainting hind longs for the streams, or rather as the hunted hart instinctively seeks after the river to lave its smoking flanks and to escape the dogs, even so my weary, persecuted soul pants after the Lord my God. Debarred from public worship, David was heartsick.
THERE is something to be lamented in this state of mind, for if the Psalmist had maintained unbroken communion with his God, he would not have been so much panting after Him as enjoying Him. It is deeply to be deplored that we, who sometimes bask in the sunshine of God's Countenance, cannot live so as always to enjoy it. Why do we wander? Why do we grieve His Holy Spirit? Why do we turn aside from God, our exceeding joy?
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּאַיָּ֗ל | keaiyal | like a deer | H354 → | |
| תַּעֲרֹ֥ג | taarog | [which] it pants | H6165 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | towards | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲפִֽיקֵי־ | ʾafikei- | channels of | H650 → | 19 times |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| כֵּ֤ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֨י | nafshi | being my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| תַעֲרֹ֖ג | taarog | it pants | H6165 → | |
| אֵלֶ֣יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֱלֹהִֽים׃ | ʾelohim | O God | H430 → | 2601 times |
כְּאַיָּ֗לlike a deer
keaiyalH354 →
תַּעֲרֹ֥ג[which] it pants
taarogH6165 →
עַל־towards
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֲפִֽיקֵי־channels of
ʾafikei-H650 →19 times
מָ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
כֵּ֤ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
נַפְשִׁ֨יbeing my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
תַעֲרֹ֖גit pants
taarogH6165 →
אֵלֶ֣יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
אֱלֹהִֽים׃O God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 119:131I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:20
My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times.
- 1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
- Hebrews 12:14
Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
- Psalms 81:10
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
- Isaiah 26:8–9
Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.
- Psalms 119:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 822: “The Panting Deer” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.