Many people are familiar with the song “As the Deer” which comes from Psalms 42:1-2. The song is very nice but misses the full meaning of the song that is written in Psalm 42-43.
One of the first things to recognize is that this song is a maskil, which means it is a teaching song. Another thing to recognize is that this song says so much more than the first two verses. Now I’m not saying that the first two verses don’t paint a powerful picture, I am saying that they don’t encompass the entirety of what we need to learn from this song.
The refrain of this particular teaching song sums up what the sons of Korah were wanting to impart:
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, For I will yet praise him, My savior and my God.”
When read with the rest of the verses of the song, this command becomes extremely potent. When it seems like our “tears have been (our) food day and night” and our “bones summer mortal agony as (our) foes taunt (us),” we can rejoice as we remember that He is our Savior and our God.
So, let not your heart and soul be downcast by the weight of the world and all the evil things in it, but “put your hope in God” who is the wellspring of life that we should pant for.
neumatikos 