Passage Research
Psalm 42 — Sermon Preparation
A psalm of longing in exile — like a deer panting for streams, the writer thirsts for God and preaches hope to his own downcast soul. Below is a research summary for Psalm 42, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 12
- verses
- 132 / 76
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 9
- classic sermon excerpts
- 4
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 42 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֶפֶשׁ | nephesh | H5315 | 6 | breathing creature, animal |
| שָׁחַח | shâchach | H7817 | 3 | sink, depress |
| עָרַג | ʻârag | H6165 | 2 | long for |
| אֵל | ʼêl | H410 | 3 | strength, mighty |
| הָמָה | hâmâh | H1993 | 2 | make a loud sound, be in great commotion |
| תְּהוֹם | tᵉhôwm | H8415 | 2 | abyss, deep |
| יָחַל | yâchal | H3176 | 2 | wait, be patient |
How preachers through history handled this text
9 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 42, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Saviour's name let us hope and pray. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Psalm 42:6–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Jordan— Ps 42:6
- Mount Hermon— Ps 42:6
- Mount Mizar— Ps 42:6
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