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Easter Season · A Eighth Reading Easter Vigil · Year A

Psalm 42, 43

As a Deer Pants for Water

April 5, 2026

Deer Drinking, Winslow Homer
Deer Drinking, Winslow Homer, 1892Wikimedia Commons
A watercolour from Homer's Adirondack years: a buck at the edge of a lake with its head down, painted in a few washes.As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.Winslow HomerAn American who began as a war illustrator and ended painting the sea from a studio on the Maine coast, alone.Wikimedia CommonsNo holding institution is recorded with the image; it is known from the public domain reproduction.Wikimedia Commons
Revised Common Lectionary
Old TestamentEzek. 36:24-28Ez 36:24-28
PsalterPs. 42, 43Ps 42, 43

Overview & Insights

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1)

Psalms 42 and 43 are distinct psalms in the Hebrew (MT), Greek (LXX), Syriac, and Vulgate, which suggests that they were separate compositions. Yet the seamless relationship of the two poems is indicated by these factors: (1) they share a refrain (42:5, 11; 43:5); (2) Psalm 43 has no title (Ps. 71 is the only other exception in Book 2); (3) both psalms share the lament meter of 3+2; and (4) they share a similar subject.1 The psalm is an individual lament, stating the reason for the lament, which is the psalmist’s inability to visit the Jerusalem sanctuary (42:1, 4, 6; 43:3–4) and the mockery of his compatriots (42:3, 9; 43:2), evidently because of his religious devotion (43:1). There is no resolution to his dilemma, except in hope that God will in time resolve it.

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Take it further: Psalm 42, 43

Commentary

Psalm 42 Commentary: Longing for God in the Midst of DepressionPs 42 Commentary: Longing for God in the Midst of Depression Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik on the deer panting for water and the soul thirsting for God, the first half of this paired response.

Psalm 42 ResourcesPs 42 Resources Precept Austin

A gathering of commentators, word studies, and sermons on the soul's thirst for the living God.

Psalm 42:1 CommentariesPs 42:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentary set on 'as the deer pants for the water brooks,' the opening of the response.

Background & Word Study

Psalms 42 (Hebrew and English)Ps 42 (Hebrew and English) Sefaria

The Hebrew text with English and Jewish commentary for study of the thirsting soul (nephesh) and the refrain of hope in God.

Psalm 42:1 InterlinearPs 42:1 Interlinear BibleHub

Word-by-word Hebrew with Strong's numbers for the vocabulary of panting, thirst, and the living God.

The Church Fathers

Psalm 42, CatenaPs 42, Catena Catena

Patristic comment on the soul's longing, long read as the catechumens' thirst carried to the Easter font.

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