BOOK II As the Deer Pants for the Water 1 UDB O God, I need you very much, as a deer needs to drink water from a cool stream. BSB BSB: For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
2 UDB I desire to be with 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?" BSB BSB: My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?
3 UDB Every day and every night I weep; the only thing I have to drink is my tears; and while I do that, my enemies are always asking me, "Why does your God not help you?" BSB BSB: My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 UDB I pray earnestly to God as I remember when I used to go with the crowd of people to the temple in Jerusalem. I used to lead 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. BSB BSB: These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise.
5 UDB So now I say to myself, "Why am I in a panic? I confidently expect God to bless me, and again I will praise him, my God, the one who saves me." BSB BSB: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.
6 UDB But now, Yahweh, I was panicking, so I think about you. You are there in Israel where the Jordan River rushes down from the bottom of the peaks of Mount Hermon and from Mount Mizar. BSB BSB: O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar.
7 UDB But here, the great sorrow that I feel is like water that you send down; it is like a waterfall that tumbles down and floods over me. BSB BSB: Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
8 UDB I desire that Yahweh will show me each day that he faithfully loves me, in order that each night I may sing to him and pray to him, the God who causes me to live. BSB BSB: The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life.
9 UDB I say to God, who is like a huge rock on top of which I am safe, "Why have you forgotten me? You know the hardships that my enemies bring on me." BSB BSB: I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”
10 UDB They are always making fun of me; they keep asking, "Why does your God not help you?" When they insult me like that, it is like wounds that shatter my bones. BSB BSB: Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 UDB But I say to myself, "Why am I in a panic? I will confidently expect God to bless me, and I will praise him again, my God, the one who saves me." BSB BSB: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
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