Psalm 42: You Say Potato, I Say Po-tah-to
My first thought on reading today's NRSV translation of
psalm 42 is that it's a hart, not a deer, that longs for the
water-brooks. The change from hart (used in both the KJV and the RSV)
was one of choice; it's not necessarily more accurate (The Jewish
Publication Society opts for hind; the NIV translators use deer).
Messing with a perfectly good translation, one rooted in tradition and
immediately recognizable to many of the faithful strikes me as
gratuitous. But, then, so too is my high dudgeon.
Yes, tradition and poetry are good and estimable. But what really matters is what the psalmist is communicating: a deep longing for God, a longing that is akin to a thirst that begs to be quenched. You know the feeling of being parched on a hot summer's day? Of really, really wanting a cool glass of ice water or lemonade? Of imagining the taste, of envisioning the beads of condensation on the glass? Of seeing the ice cubes bobbing in the water? That's what the psalmist is getting at. Now imagine what it's like when you enjoy that cold drink. The satisfaction, the pleasure. That's what the psalmist dreams he will enjoy when his soul's longing for God is met.
Lent allows us to confront the reality that we are often distracted by the charms of this world. That we allow ourselves to long for things other than God under the false assumption that they will satisfy our needs. During this season, we can refocus on what it's like to have God be the object of our desire. When we do, we will thirst for him - and whether it's like a deer, like a hart, like a hind, it really won't matter.
1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *
so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, *
while all day long they say to me,
“Where now is your God?”
4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things: *
how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving *
among those who keep holy-day.
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
7 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to the One
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 My soul is heavy within me; *
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.
9 One deep calls out to another in the noise of your cataracts; *
all your rapids and floods have gone over me.
10 The LORD grants loving-kindness in the daytime; *
in the night season the song of the LORD is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
11 I will say to the God of my strength,
“Why have you forgotten me? *
and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?”
12 While my bones are being broken, *
my enemies mock me to my face;
13 All day long they mock me *
and say to me, “Where now is your God?”
14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
15 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to the One
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Yes, tradition and poetry are good and estimable. But what really matters is what the psalmist is communicating: a deep longing for God, a longing that is akin to a thirst that begs to be quenched. You know the feeling of being parched on a hot summer's day? Of really, really wanting a cool glass of ice water or lemonade? Of imagining the taste, of envisioning the beads of condensation on the glass? Of seeing the ice cubes bobbing in the water? That's what the psalmist is getting at. Now imagine what it's like when you enjoy that cold drink. The satisfaction, the pleasure. That's what the psalmist dreams he will enjoy when his soul's longing for God is met.
Lent allows us to confront the reality that we are often distracted by the charms of this world. That we allow ourselves to long for things other than God under the false assumption that they will satisfy our needs. During this season, we can refocus on what it's like to have God be the object of our desire. When we do, we will thirst for him - and whether it's like a deer, like a hart, like a hind, it really won't matter.
1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *
so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, *
while all day long they say to me,
“Where now is your God?”
4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things: *
how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving *
among those who keep holy-day.
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
7 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to the One
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 My soul is heavy within me; *
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.
9 One deep calls out to another in the noise of your cataracts; *
all your rapids and floods have gone over me.
10 The LORD grants loving-kindness in the daytime; *
in the night season the song of the LORD is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
11 I will say to the God of my strength,
“Why have you forgotten me? *
and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?”
12 While my bones are being broken, *
my enemies mock me to my face;
13 All day long they mock me *
and say to me, “Where now is your God?”
14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
15 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to the One
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
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