What Does 'Deep Calls to Deep' Teach Us about God's Great Power?
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Do you have a love for deep conversations? Do thoughts of deep woods or deep space fill you with awe and wonder? Are you someone who is not content to skim across the surface of faith but instead looks to plummet the depths of God’s Word and all a relationship with Jesus offers? The biblical phrase “deep calls to deep” is poetic and compelling. But what does it mean? How does it apply to us? Is it simply poetry, or does “deep calls to deep” call us to something more?
Why Is 'Deep Calls to Deep' a Scary Phrase?
Deep can have both beautiful and ominous connotations.
The hymn “O The Deep Deep Love of Jesus” promises His love has no end. We cannot even fathom its depths, so that is clearly good. But when we feel as if God has called us out into deep waters where we are in over our heads, though faith-expanding, it can also be unnerving. And when we’re feeling “out of our depth” or in deep trouble, deep debt, or deep sorrow, the word sounds anything but positive.
What did the biblical writer intend to say when he penned, “deep calls to deep,” and how does God speak to us through this phrase today?
Where Does 'Deep Calls to Deep' Appear in the Bible?
The phrase “deep calls to deep” appears in Psalm 42. This Psalm is best known by its first verse, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1 ESV)
The phrase we’re exploring appears later in the Psalm. Here it is in context:
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.” (Psalm 42:5-7 ESV)
Many scholars believe Psalms 42 and 43 should be read together, because they are both maskils (musical lessons in wisdom or piety) written by the Sons of Korah, and follow a similar theme. There is speculation that they were likely written when David’s son, Absalom, overthrew his father for a time.
When this coup occurred, David fled with his entire household (except 10 concubines left to keep the house).
“And a messenger came to David, saying, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.’ Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, ‘Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom.’ . . . So the king went out, and all his household after him.” (2 Samuel 15:13-14, 16 ESV)
It’s also possible this Psalm is comprised of David’s words from memories of his time running from Saul, words that the Sons of Korah later set to music for worship. The psalm speaks of feeling desperate for God, of nights full of endless tears, and of questioning God about why trouble is happening. The writer remembers better times when he was free to go to God’s house but speaks of adversaries who taunt him and ask where His God is now. At least two, likely more, situations would have evoked these feelings for David and the Sons of Korah.
The author uses words like “forgotten,” “mourning,” “oppression,” “turmoil,” “cast down,” and “thirsting for God.” These words paint a picture of desperation, confusion, not to mention longing for home, peace, and the end of troubles.
Set in the middle of this context, we find the Psalmist describing his condition as being under the “breakers and waves” of the Lord, where he finds the deep calling to deep. It’s poetic language, but that’s often what we need to express core responses to traumatic situations.
David certainly had his share of traumatic experiences being betrayed by Saul. He was exiled for years. He experienced a near-constant battle with the Philistines and other neighboring tribes. He was ejected from his throne by his own son. The sons of Korah are likely drawing on David’s experience, possibly using words he’s given them, or as members of David’s household, drawing on their own experiences of following David into temporary exiles.
What Are Some Other Translations for 'Deep Calls to Deep'?
The Hebrew word for deep here is tᵊhôm (Strong’s H8415) and is most often used about watery depths (like the sea or river) or the abyss or grave. We encounter this word in Genesis 1:2 when “darkness was upon the face of the deep.”
In Genesis 7:11, the fountains of the “great deep” break open as part of Noah’s flood. In Exodus 15:5, the depths covered Pharaoh’s army in Exodus 15:5. Of course, Jonah experienced the deep firsthand, writing in Jonah 2:5, “The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head.” (ESV)
“Deep calls to deep,” in biblical terms, clearly refers to deep waters and being under those waters.
The Contemporary English Version (CEV) makes this line very personal by translating it: “Your vicious waves have swept over me like an angry ocean or a roaring waterfall.”
The Expanded Bible (EXB) goes right for the literal meaning by translating “deep calls to deep” as “troubles have come again and again.”
The Living Bible (TLB) reads, “All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract.” This particular version brings to mind the well-loved hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.” Horatio Spafford penned the lyrics when his four daughters drowned at sea. He’d already lost his only other child, a son. Perhaps Psalm 42 came to mind when passing over the same waters that had taken his girls. He wrote, "When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
The Message paraphrases it as “Chaos calls to chaos, to the tune of whitewater rapids. Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers crash and crush me.”
However a translation phrases it, “deep calls to deep” connotes the sense of relentless, overwhelming troubles from which the writer needs to be saved. The ocean’s depths or a swift-moving river are too strong for anyone caught in their rolls. When troubles, sorrows, and betrayals come, we can feel them creating a barrier between us and God as He feels further and further away. The Psalmist demonstrates how to reach out from beneath the waves.
How Does ‘Deep Calls to Deep; Contrast God’s Power with His Love?
As someone who has experienced great trial, loss, and trauma, I can testify that Psalm 42 does a brilliant job of portraying the experience of a Jesus-follower enduring relentless trouble. We remember times of “flowing streams,” as mentioned in verse 1. We consume our own tears during turmoil, as the Psalmist writes in verse 3. In the middle of trouble, a believer often asks where God is and then reminds herself of the answer using Scripture. That is what the Psalmist does in verse 5.
We then acknowledge our situation is overwhelming (as the Psalmist does in verse 7). Still, a deeper part of ourselves that has been disciplined to call on God’s Word also knows God’s steadfast love remains strong, and He sings over us, even as we feel, in our flesh, so far from Him (verse 8).
In essence, this Psalm is an ancient follower of God wrestling to reconcile what his past experience and the Scriptures have taught him about God with the depth of trouble and sense of isolation he’s feeling now. By the final verse, verse 11, we see that love wins as the writer reminds himself that there is hope because God is his salvation.
What Does ‘Deep Calls to Deep’ Teach Us about Seeking God’s Help?
There are many lessons in this powerful and deep Psalm. Here are three:
First, followers of Jesus are not spared great troubles, trials, and hardships. Many of us will “face the deep” and experience all the emotions and thoughts common to others. Jesus promised that we would have trouble in this world but that we should take heart and comfort ourselves with the knowledge that He has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Second, being honest with God about what happens in our hearts, minds, and circumstances is right and cathartic. Pouring out our hearts in prayer builds our relationship with God and releases everything we’re trying to control. Lamentations 2:19 says, “Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!” (ESV) Psalm 56:8 says that God stores our tears in a bottle.
Finally, it is common during terrible times to feel overwhelmed and desperate in our emotions and yet access the truth of God’s steadfast love and our hope in Him by remembering His Word and our experiences of Him. When the early church was facing persecution, arrest, torture, and sometimes martyrdom, Paul encouraged the believers—reminding them that nothing, ultimately, will separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). No matter how we feel in any given circumstance, we are, in reality, “more than conquerors.”
Whether experiencing great trials or ministering to others in their time of overwhelm, Psalm 42 can help us navigate deep waters. It reminds us that no matter how deep the trouble we’re in, God’s love is deeper still.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Alexmumu
This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy-to-read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. We hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in your life today.