Hymn of May the Month
“As Deer Long for the Streams”

“As deer long for the streams, O Lord, so my soul also seeks your face…”
This moving, opening phrase of May’s Hymn of the Month, “As Deer Long for the Streams” comes to us from Psalm 42:1-7.  Our hymnal features one hundred hymns directly from the Psalms.   Writers and composers across generations and around the world, from diverse denominations, have throughout history turned to the Psalms as a rich source of hymn texts.
Christopher Webber, an Episcopal priest who lives in Sharon, Connecticut, paraphrased “Psalm 42” in 1986.  His many hymns are published in hymnals of several denominations in this country.  He has also written several other books on diverse topics—from guidebooks for Vestries to studies of Christian marriage and the more recent Yearbook of American Saints. 
The Rockingham tune, to which “As Deer Long for the Streams” is set, was first published, appropriately, in a 1790 publication, The Psalms of David.
In the early days of the church, the psalms, sacred songs and hymns, were a musical outlet for worshippers to rejoice, to mourn, to appeal, to give thanks, and to celebrate.  Today, one hundred of them, from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150 are available to us in our Presbyterian Hymnal—so that we, too, may rejoice, mourn, appeal, give thanks, and celebrate.