en_tn_condensed/psa/042/001.md

General Information:

Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/writing-poetry and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)

For the chief musician

"This is for the director of music to use in worship."

A maschil

This may refer to a style of music. See how you translated this in Psalms 32:1.

As the deer pants after streams of water, so I thirst for you, God

The author compares his desire for God to the desire of a thirsty deer for water.

pants

heavy breathing from an animal or person that is very tired or thirsty

I thirst for you, God ... thirst for God

The author speaks of his strong desire for God as if it were a strong thirst for water. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)

when will I come and appear before God?

The author does not ask this question to get an answer but to show his strong desire to be before God. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion)