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Pentecost Season · Proper 7 · Year C

Psalm 42 and 43

As a Deer Pants for Water

June 25, 2028

A Thicket of Deer at the Stream of Plaisir-Fontaine, Gustave Courbet
A Thicket of Deer at the Stream of Plaisir-Fontaine, Gustave Courbet, 1866Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Courbet painted this from a stream in his native Franche-Comté, the deer unaware and the water the brightest thing in the picture.As the deer pants for flowing streams: the psalm's image, painted by someone who had watched it happen.Gustave CourbetThe leader of French Realism (1819-1877), who insisted on painting only what he could see, and who paid for his politics with exile.Musée d'Orsay, ParisA railway station of 1900 converted into the museum of French art from 1848 to 1914, which is why its Impressionists stand under a train shed.Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 8:26-39Lk 8:26-39
EpistleGal. 3:23-29Gal 3:23-29
Old Testament1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a1 Kgs 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15aAlt. OTIsa. 65:1-9Is 65:1-9
PsalterPs. 42 and 43Ps 42 and 43Alt. PsalmPs. 22:19-28Ps 22:19-28

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 and 43

Commentary

Psalm 42 CommentaryPs 42 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

Walks through the psalmist's thirst for God and the refrain of hope.

Psalm 43 CommentaryPs 43 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

Covers the closing stanza's plea for vindication and light and truth.

Psalm 42 ResourcesPs 42 Resources Precept Austin

A collected list of evangelical resources and devotional notes on the psalm.

Background & Word Study

Psalms 42Ps 42 Sefaria

The Hebrew text of the psalm alongside translation.

The Church Fathers

Psalm 42 CatenaPs 42 Catena Catena

Patristic comments on the psalmist's longing for God.

Questions preachers ask

What is the longing of Psalm 42?

A soul cast down and thirsting for God amid tears and taunts urges itself again and again to hope in God, its salvation, a psalm of the Vigil's longing.

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