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Psalm 42:3
My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
1For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.
2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
5Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
Notice
Tears become food day and night, making sorrow feel relentless, while other people’s questions about God add the pain of being mocked.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the image of tears as food suggest about sorrow that fills a day?
Write on thisHave someone’s questions about God made a hard time harder for you?
Write on thisWhat would you want to tell God before trying to answer the people questioning your faith?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 22:2My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.Both describe distress that continues through day and night, with tears in Psalm 42 and unanswered cries in Psalm 22.
Psalm 79:10Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured …Both report people questioning where God is; Psalm 79 adds a plea for vengeance for his servants’ blood.
Psalm 3:2Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah.Both describe hostile speech about a sufferer’s relationship with God, questioning his presence or denying his help.
Psalm 115:2Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”Both repeat a taunt about God’s whereabouts, spoken by the nations in Psalm 115 and unnamed people in Psalm 42.
Joel 2:17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, LORD, and don’t give your heritage to …Tears and the taunt about God’s whereabouts appear in both, as Joel directs priests to weep and plead for God’s people.
Ecclesiastes 4:1Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on …Both describe tears amid harsh treatment by others; Ecclesiastes names oppression and the absence of anyone to comfort the sufferers.
Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her. Now she will be trodden down like the …Both report a taunt about God’s whereabouts; Micah also anticipates shame and defeat for the enemy who speaks it.
1 Samuel 4:18When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and …The connection is slight: Psalm 42 describes sustained weeping; this passage records Eli’s death when God’s ark is mentioned.
1 Samuel 7:6They gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” …Food links these passages in different ways: tears become food in the psalm, while Israel fasts at Mizpah.
2 Samuel 16:12It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will repay me good for the cursing of me today.”Both describe suffering under hostile words; the speaker in Samuel hopes the LORD will see the wrong and repay him good.
Isaiah 36:4Rabshakeh said to them, “Now tell Hezekiah, ‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says, “What confidence is this in which you trust?Both contain questions that challenge someone’s trust, though Rabshakeh’s quoted question does not name God.
Jeremiah 9:1Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!Both use the phrase “day and night” for weeping, with Jeremiah naming the slain of his people as its cause.
Where this verse fits
Grief. feeling distant from God. doubt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Tears need no cheerful ending before you bring them to God. This psalm keeps grief in the speech of someone who thirsts for the living God.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).