New English Translation
Psalms 42:2
2I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?”
Psalms 42:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
- New International Version (NIV)My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
- English Standard Version (ESV)My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
- New King James Version (NKJV)My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Context of Psalms 42:2
1As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” 3I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” 4I will remember and weep! For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival.
Read all of Psalms 42Psalms 42:2 word by word
צָמְאָ֬ה נַפְשִׁ֨י׀ לֵאלֹהִים֮ לְאֵ֪ל חָ֥י מָתַ֥י אָב֑וֹא וְ֝אֵרָאֶ֗ה פְּנֵ֣י אֱלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 42:2
- Psalms 36:8They are filled with food from your house, and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies.
- Psalms 63:1O God, you are my God! I long for you! My soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
- John 7:37On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and
- Revelation 22:1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
- Job 23:3O that I knew where I might find him, that I could come to his place of residence!
- Jeremiah 2:13“Do so because my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
- Jeremiah 10:10The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury.
- John 5:26For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself,
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- Psalms 27:4I have asked the Lord for one thing – this is what I desire! I want to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life, so I can gaze at the splendor of the Lord and contemplate in his temple.
- Psalms 84:4How blessed are those who live in your temple and praise you continually! (Selah)
Commentaries on Psalms 42:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2When shall I come - When, when shall I have the privilege of appearing in his courts before God? In the mouth of a Christian these words would import: "When shall I see my heavenly country? When shall I come to God, the Judge of all, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant?" He who is a stranger and a pilgrim here below, and feels a heart full of piety to God, may use these words in this sense; but he who feels himself here at home, whose soul is…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2My soul thirsteth for God - That is, as the hind thirsts for the running stream. For the living God - God, not merely as God, without anything more definitely specified, but God considered as living, as himself possessing life, and as having the power of imparting that life to the soul. When shall I come and appear before God? - That is, as I have been accustomed to do in the sanctuary. When shall I be restored to the privilege of again uniting with his…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-4The psalmist's deep desire for God arises from being far away from the temple as he remembers the past. The verb translated as "longs" appears only here and in Joel 1:20 (meaning "cry out"). In both instances, it describes extreme thirst in a dry desert (see Psalms 63:1; 143:6; see also 84:2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-111-2. Compare (Psa 63:1). panteth--desires in a state of exhaustion.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 42:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 42
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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