42
A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah for the choir director
1 Deer desire to drink water from a stream of cool water.
In the same way [SIM], God, I need you very much.
2 I desire to have fellowship with [MET] you, the all-powerful God.
I say to myself, “When will I be able to go back to the temple in Israel
and worship in your presence again?”
3 Every day and every night I cry;
the only thing I have to drink is my tears;
and while I do that, my enemies are continually asking me,
“Why does your god not help you?”
4 I am very distressed [IDI] as I remember
when I went with the crowd of people to the temple in Jerusalem,
leading them as we walked along;
we were all shouting joyfully and singing to thank God for what he had done;
we were a large group who were celebrating.
5 So I say to myself, “◄Why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!► [RHQ]
I confidently expect God to bless me,
and again I will praise him,
my God, the one who saves me.”
6 But now, Yahweh, I am very discouraged [IDI],
so I think about you.
You are there in Israel where the Jordan River rushes down from the bottom of Hermon Mountain and Mizar Mountain.
7 But here, the great sorrow that I feel is like water that you send down [MET];
it is like a waterfall that tumbles down and floods over me.
8 I desire that (OR, I know that) Yahweh will show me each day that he faithfully loves me,
in order that each night I will (OR, each night I) sing to him
and pray to him, the God who causes me to live.
9 I say to God, who is like a huge rock under which I can hide [MET],
“◄Why have you forgotten me, with the result that I ‘mourn/cry’ constantly because my enemies act cruelly toward me?/It seems that you have forgotten me, with the result that I ‘mourn/cry’ constantly because my enemies act cruelly toward me.►” [RHQ]
10 They make fun of me constantly;
they continually ask, “Why does your god not help you?” [RHQ]
And when they insult me like that,
it is like wounds that shatter/smash my bones.
11 But I say to myself,
“◄Why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!► [RHQ]
I will confidently expect God to bless me,
and I will praise him again,
my God, the one who saves me.”
Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.