"My Soul Thirsts for God, for the Living God", Psalm 41 with Commentary

Red Deer Stag Bleeting

This psalm is one of my favorites. It is read in its
entirety in the services of the Orthodox Church, during
the Royal Hours, the Eve of Theophany and in the Prayers
of the Third Hour. The first two verses are also read in
the Paschal Vigil and in the Burial Service. The second 
verse is quoted in the Trisagion, during the Orthodox
Divine Liturgy. From Grace for Grace p.710

Psalm 42 NASB Source

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession
to the house of God, 

With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.

6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

8 The Lord will command His loving kindness in the day

time; and His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

In the Septuagint this is Psalm 41 and it reads;

"As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so panteth

my soul after Thee, O God.

My soul thirsted for God, the mighty, the living; when shall I

come and appear before the face of God?

My tears have been my bread by day and by night, whilst it is

said to me daily, Where is thy God?

These things have I remembered , and I poured out my soul 

within me; for I shall go to the place of the wondrous tabernacle,

even to the house of God, with a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving,

yea, the sound of those that keep festival.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why dost thou

disquiet me? 

Hope  in God, for I will give thanks unto Him, he is the salvation

of my countenance, and my God.

Within me my soul hath been troubled ; therefore will I

remember Thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniem, from the

little mountain.

Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of Thy cataracts; all Thy

billows and Thy waves are gone over me.

By the day the Lord will command His mercy, and by night

His ode shall be with me, my prayer unto the God of my life.

I will say unto God, Thou art my helper. Why hast Thou

forgotten me? And therefore go I downcast face whilst my

enemy afflicted me?

Whilst my bones were broken, mine enemies reproached me,

whilst they said me daily, Where is thy God?

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why dost thou

disquiet me? Hope in God, for I will give thanks unto Him,

He is the salvation of my countenance, and my God."

from,

The Psaler According to the Seventy of Saint David the

Prophet and King p.66, Holy Transfiguration Monastery,

Boston, MA, 2007  ISBN 0-943405-00-9

Commentary selections from Augustine of Hippo,
St Nicholas Cabasilas, St Symeon the New Theologian 

and St Nikolai Velimirovich***

The sons of Korah

"Regarding the title: we have met with the sons of Korah

in other titles of Psalms...Now Korah may have been, as

indeed he was, a certain definite person; and have had

sons who might be called the sons of Korah. Let us, however

search for the secret of which this is the sacrament, so this

name may bring to light the mystery with which it is pregnant.

For there is a great mystery in the event that the name 'the

sons of Korah' is given to Christians.

Why 'sons of Korah'? They are 'sons of the Bridegroom, sons

of Christ' (see Mt. 9:15). Why then does Korah stand for Christ?

Because Korah is equivalent to 'Calvaria' ... Therefore, the sons of

the bridegroom, the sons of His Passion, the sons redeemed by His

blood, the sons of His Cross, who bear on their forehead that 

which His enemies erected on Calvary, are called the sons of

'Korah', to them is this psalm sung as a psalm for 

'instruction'. Let then our understanding be aroused...

With God is the fountain of Life; a fountain that shall never be 

dried up: in His Light is a light that shall never be darkened.

Long for this light: for a certain fountain, a certain light, such

as your bodily eyes do not know, a light for which the inward

eye must be prepared; a fountain, to drink of which the inward

thirst is to be kindled. Run to the fountain; long for the fountain;

but do it not casually; do not be satisfied with running like any

other animal; run 'like the hart'. What is meant by 'the hart'?

Let there be no sloth in the running; run with all your might:

long for the fountain with all your might. For we find in 'the hart'

an emblem of swiftness." Blessed Augustine of Hippo, "On the 

Psalms"

'My soul thirsted for God, the mighty, the living.'

The words of the Trisagion hymn during the Orthodox Divine

Liturgy, 'Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal' "are those of 

the blessed David, who exclaims: 'My soul thirsted for God, the

mighty, the living.' St Nicholas Cabasilas in his Commentary on

the Divine Liturgy

'My tears have been my bread by day and by night' 

Palm 41, 3rd verse above

"Thus joy kindles my love for the Giver and the One who

transforms me, God - and love causes streams of tears."

St Symeon the New Theologian, Hymns of Divine Love,

Hymn 13

     

'Deep calleth unto deep, at the voice of Thy cataracts 
'"You lend Your voice to the birds and the midnight murmur

to the lake. You have lent a voice to every throat, and have put

a story into every creature. I am surrounded by your heralds,

as a student by many teachers, and I listen to them tirelessly

from dawn until dusk. O Lord Master of the voice, speak more

clearly through your heralds!"...

"The vocal cords belong to You, and You uttered the first sound

that began to tremble in the deafness and formlessness of

nothingness, and it broke into countless sounds and heralds, as

a thundercloud breaks into rain drops." St Nikolai Velimirovich

in Prayers by the Lake (XXVII)

Notes

Hart: A male deer, especially a male red deer over five years old.

Maskil: "Some psalms are called "maskil" (maschil) because
in addition they impart wisdom. Most notable of these is
Psalm 142 which is sometimes called the "Maskil of David",
others include Psalm 32 and Psalm 78 (*) The term derives
from maskil meaning "enlightened" or "wise".

* McKenzie, Steven L. (2000). King David: A Biography.

New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 39–40

*** from Grace for Grace p.144 to 147, Johanna Manley,

St Vladimir Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York, 2003

ISBN 0-9622536-1-8