1. My soul pants for you, O God (1-4)

A deer running from the hunters longs for water, for he cannot stop to drink from cool streams. Men who are harassed and driven by the world become like a hunted deer. Their souls are thirsty for God. The Psalmist had been a servant of God, but personal problems or national tragedy or family troubles had cut him off from God. [He may be a captive in a foreign land.] Tears are his food day and night, and godless men mock him. Still he knows that the only solution is to meet the living God.

2. Why are you downcast, O my soul? (5-11)

He rebukes his soul for despairing amid the pressures of life. He knows that he must not despair, but put his hope in God. God is our hope, for he is our Savior. He is our God. He is our Rock; by day his love directs us, and by night his song is in our hearts. He is the God of my life; I must pray to him and not despair.

Application: Lord, I put my hope in you. My soul longs for you like a thirsty deer.
One Word: My soul thirsts for God