“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”
– Psalm 42:1
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever felt like God did not want anything to do with you? Have you ever felt like God has forgotten you? Have you ever felt like God has deserted you to die? Psalm 42 is a rather haunting psalm song prayer that was scribed by a Korahite guy. A Korahite is a guy who was born in the extended family of one of Levi’s kids who Levi named Korah. Levi’s dad was Jacob. God renamed Jacob’s name to Israel. Levi – as one of Israel’s sons, became the patriarch of one of the twelve Israelite people group tribal clans. Israel’s extended family – through his twelve sons, are God’s specially chosen guys and gals. A family member of Korah employed imagery in this psalm song prayer that he scribed to reflect his feelings of having been abandoned by God. A Levitical choir that was made up of the descendants of Korah was appointed by David to lead in the liturgical functions that took place in the temple of God that was in the city of Jerusalem. Seven psalm songs are attributed to the sons of Korah. This psalm song prayer and the following psalm song prayer that was scribed by a Korah family member were originally a single psalm song prayer that was divided at some point into two different psalm song prayers. By the time that the Septuagint came into existance – which took place in the third century B.C. when the Hebrew Torah was translated into Greek, this psalm song prayer had already become two separate psalm song prayers. The central theme of this author’s psalm song prayer is a distraught, longing cry for God’s manifested presence in a time of real need for deliverance from an oppressive enemy. The author of this psalm song prayer may possibly be a Korahite leader who had been captured during a raiding incursion into the land area of Judah by some Aramean looters from the region of Damascus.
This psalm song prayer begins Book II of the psalm songs Psalter. The psalm songs Psalter has five ‘Books’ in it. The name that is prominent whenever God’s name is mentioned in the first psalm songs Psalter book is Yahweh. The name Yahweh – which is God’s personal name, can be literally translated as ‘He brings into existence whatever exists’. The name that is prominent whenever God’s name is mentioned in the second psalm songs Psalter book is Elohim. The name Elohim – which is the name that identifies God as being the God of Israel, can be translated in the context of a deity. The author of this psalm song prayer mentions in his psalm song prayer that he is at Mount Mizar. Mount Mizar is a small peak that is situated on the flank of Mount Hermon. This would have put the author of this psalm song prayer near the Jordon River’s headwaters. It is also possible that the Korahite author of this psalm song prayer may have been at the very top or near the top of Mount Hermon when he scribed about the roar of waterfalls as water rushed down the side of the mountain in fast moving streams. It seems obvious that this Korahite psalm song author had to have been near a stream. Verse 1 says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” The following verse has this guy scribing that his soul is thirsting for the living God – that he is really wanting to know when he can go and meet with God. This guy confesses that all he can do day and night is to cry as other guys ridicule him by asking him where his God is. This guy has very special memories that he would really like to relive – such as leading festive processions of throngs of Israelite people group compatriots as they shouted for joy and gave thanks to God as they went into the house of God – which is the temple of God that was in the city of Jerusalem. Even though this guy feels like God has absolutely forgotten him, is really hurting physically as his bones are giving him agonizing pain and has guys taunting him all day long about God not being there for him, this guy knew that his hope was still in God and that he was going to continue to praise God no matter what happened next to him.
Where do you put your hope when you feel as if God has completely dumped you, when your body hurts so bad that all you want to do is cry and when your peers call you names every time that they see you because of your faith in God? Why do you think that this Korahite psalm song author used a deer to illustrate the quandary that he was in? This Korahite psalm song author used the metaphor of a panting deer that was in real need as it was being chased by hunters and a stream’s fresh waters to epitomize how he was wanting to feel in his apparent, present dire circumstances. How often have you seen a deer? The first visit that you made with your dad and ma to the house where your grandmaa and grandpaa are living in Gainesville, Georgia, you saw a buck behind their house and then at the end of last November when you spent two days with your dad and ma visiting your grandmaa and grandpaa in Gainesville, you saw a fawn several times behind the house where they are living. The morning when your grandpaa was handed a note at Bear Trap Ranch that said that your grandpaa’s dad had died during the night, your grandpaa looked up to see a spike buck standing less than 100 feet away. When the spike buck began to eat grass – showing no fear of the guys and gals who were with your grandpaa, was to your grandpaa a symbolic message from your grandpaa’s dad – through the deer, telling your grandpaa that he was just fine. Your grandpaa’s dad really liked the outdoors. There will be times when you will find yourselves having to pull this Korahite psalm song author so . . .
Psalm 42 (1061)