Like as the Hart Desires

Psalm 30, 32 • Psalm 42, 43
Ecclus. 15:9-20 • Rev. 10:1-11 • Luke 11:1-13

Like as the hart desires
The water brooks
so longeth my soul
after thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
Psalm 42

Sometimes if something is said in a different way, as in the African American spiritual Deep River, my heart is over Jordan…and continuing with I want to cross over into camp grounds, it is clear what is meant even if we ourselves have never seen the Jordan, which in this case would be the Ohio River, or had the experience of needing to get to safety (into camp grounds).

Psalm 42 begins: Like as the Hart desireth the water brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, which we sing as set to music by Howard Howells in choir. There, too, we experience the whole piteous longing put into words. A different musical setting by Palestrina depicts serenity and peace, the sound of a river flowing. We need to be able to express both longing and serenity which Psalm 42 fulfills.

The Bible is rich in this tradition of metaphor. Often we are in such pain that we cannot exist without a way to cry out. When I think of Deep River, I know that the song says “camp grounds” and that the words “crossed over” must mean we would go safely into that space even though I have never gone into camp grounds.

So also in Psalm 42 we know what it is to thirst, to be like a deer. I do not know if other life forms have this capacity but humans do have that capacity. That is how Psalm 42 works and how God works in us to inspire and to satisfy us with a way to express it. 

Written by Rebecca Newth

Rebecca Newth would like to thank Jack Cleghorn organist and choir master at St. Paul’s for ideas to pursue in writing this Morning Reflection.