A <i>Nepeš</i> Divided: Trust, Doubt, and Longing in Psalm 42–43

Abstract This article argues that the two different uses of nepeš in Psalm 42–43 (one metonymic. the other apostrophic) are integral to the psalm’s rhetoric and ritual function. Like other poetic prayers, Ps 42–43 expresses longing for God and, through the recitation of the psalm, produces the kind of encounter for which the speaker longs. At the same time, however, the psalm betrays the speaker’s doubts about the possibility of such an encounter. While she longs to meet God in God’s temple, she finds herself distanced from God and needs to remind herself to trust in her relationship with God. Psalm 42–43 gives voice to this tension between desire and doubt, and the distinct uses of nepeš play a vital role in this discourse. The ritual language associated with the apostrophic nepeš even begins to resolve the psalm’s tension by creating the experience of worship she longs for.