BOOK TWO

(Ps 42–72)

The Prayer of a Man in Exiles

42 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water,

so I long for you, O God.

2 I thirst for you, the living God;

when can I go and worship in your presence?

3 Day and night I cry,

and tears are my only food;

all the time my enemies ask me,

“Where is your God?”

4 My heart breaks when I remember the past,

when I went with the crowds to the house of God

and led them as they walked along,

a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.

5 Why am I so sad?

Why am I so troubled?

I will put my hope in God,

and once again I will praise him,

my saviour and my God.

6–7 Here in exile my heart is breaking,

and so I turn my thoughts to him.

He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul;

chaos roars at me like a flood,

like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan

from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.

8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day,

so that I may have a song at night,

a prayer to the God of my life.

9 To God, my defender, I say,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go on suffering

from the cruelty of my enemies?”

10 I am crushed by their insults,

as they keep on asking me,

“Where is your God?”

11 Why am I so sad?

Why am I so troubled?

I will put my hope in God,

and once again I will praise him,

my saviour and my God.