As the Deer
A great modern worship song based on Psalm 42, which emerged from heartbreak and a water fast. It has since been sung by millions worldwide.
As the Deer: A Modern Classic of Worship
Introduction
It's time for another Friday Classic Hymn, although today's song isn't really a traditional hymn - it's quite modern. Well, fairly modern, at least. It's one of the favourites of the church over the last 50 years or so. I used to sing this song at school assemblies. We sang it in church. I think we even sang it in Sunday school. It's just one of those very well-known songs around the church, at least where I come from: As the deer pants for the water. Such a classic.
I was wondering about the history of the song the other day, so I thought, let me look it up and share it with you here as part of the series. What do you know about the song? Is it special to you? Does it have some memory for you? Can you remember playing it or singing it at a particular church? Please share your memories and your comments on the song in the comments below. I'd love to read them.
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The Story Behind "As the Deer"
Martin Nystrom is the man behind this song. Born in 1956 in Seattle, Washington, he grew up in a Christian church and graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1979 with a degree in music education. He worked as a music teacher and has done a lot of music work in the church over his years in ministry.
In fact, he was very influential in Integrity Music, music publishers who released a whole host of publications over the years. He was featured as a worship leader on a lot of the material they released, and you can find his albums online - really great stuff. In the US and Asia, he's still very well-known, travelling around doing music retreats, teaching, and singing.
This song is really his most famous composition. He wrote it in 1981, although it was only published in 1984.
In the summer of 1981, Nystrom was 24 years old. He was teaching music and decided to travel to Dallas, Texas for the summer because there was a girl there that he was pursuing. The relationship didn't work out, and he found himself depressed and really upset. A friend challenged him to take up a water-only fast because of the spiritual state he was in, thinking this might reconnect him with God.
He decided to take up the challenge. Nineteen days into this water-only fast, he was broken, depressed, and still sad about this girl. He sat down that day and started to play chords on the piano. Before he knew it, the song had come out.
There on his music stand was an open Bible on Psalm 42, which says in the old King James, As the hart panteth for the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. He just saw it and started to fit those words into the chords he was playing. Before long he had a verse and a chorus.
At first, this was just a personal song, and he wanted to keep it as his little song between him and God - it was a special moment. But when he shared it with a friend, his friend shared it with others, and the next thing it had sort of gone around. People really loved it.
In fact, in the 1990s, when he travelled to Korea for a worship conference, he witnessed 100,000 Koreans singing his song at this conference. It just touched his heart that the song had gone so far. It's been translated into various languages. Everyone in the world has done a cover of the song, and it's sung in churches all over the place.
Now, Nystrom only wrote the first verse and the chorus. It was the compilers of the Canadian United Church's hymnal who got somebody to write some extra verses. Verses two and three, which we enjoy, weren't actually written by Nystrom - Lydia Pederson wrote those. They're such a beautiful part of the song for me. They really work well with what the original idea was.
The words differ depending on where you sing it, so I'll be interested as we go through it to hear if you know the words a little differently to what I do.
What Do the Lyrics of "As the Deer" Mean?
Verse 1
As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.
Now some people will know it with the more King James language, with thees and thou panteth. I wonder if that's how you sing it? I've never sung it like that. I've always sung it with this slightly modernised English. Of course, this comes straight out of Psalm 42, as I mentioned in the story.
The psalmist is saying, my soul longs so deeply for God, just as a deer is panting for water. My soul is panting after God. I wonder if you have that sort of thirst for God, that intensity? Of course, Jesus spoke about how those who drink from the water He gives will never thirst again, and how He is the living water. Our thirst is quenched only in Jesus.
The truth is, everyone's thirsty for God, even if they don't know it. We all try to quench our spiritual thirst in some way. Some people use success, some people use relationships, and all sorts of things to try to quench that thirst. But in the end, only Christ will be the one who quenches our thirst. The song reflects that.
You alone know my heart's desire, and I long to worship you.
That desire of his heart, he realised, could only be fulfilled by God. What's the desire of your heart, I wonder? Is it God alone? Is it relationship with God alone, or has something else got in the way?
Do you long to worship Him? Do you rush to church on a Sunday so that you can worship Him alongside others? Do you open your eyes every morning and long to spend time in worship? The Christian life is a relationship with Jesus - not just you and Jesus, but you and your fellow Christians long to worship Him. In the end, nothing else will satisfy your heart's desire like a relationship with Him.
Chorus
You alone are my strength and shield; to you alone may my spirit yield.
God alone, my strength and shield. This comes straight out of the Psalms. Psalm 28:7 says, The Lord is my strength and my shield. These images are used all throughout the Psalms. God is my strength - I'm weak, but my connection with Him keeps me strong. He's my shield - there are a lot of attacks in the world, you face a lot of difficulties, but with God you have a shield that protects you. Him alone. That phrase 'you alone' is important in this song. Nothing else. Don't look to anything else as your strength or as your shield, but only to God.
You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship you.
That line gets repeated from the first verse. Desire God above all. You'll find happiness and joy only when you seek to satisfy your heart in Him.
Verse 2
Verse two was written by Lydia Pederson, and this is what she wrote:
I want you more than gold or silver; only you can satisfy.
For some people, gold and silver, money, treasures, possessions are the things that they try to use to satisfy their hearts. Christians have realised that gold and silver cannot satisfy - only He can satisfy. So we want Him more than we want stuff, more than we want money, more than we want riches. That is the Christian life.
Perhaps you need to be reminded of this today. Pursue God more than you pursue gold and silver. He will satisfy in a way that gold and silver simply cannot.
You alone are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye.
Yes, there is joy that doesn't last - false joy, so to speak. Worldly joy that maybe gives you pleasure for a moment but then disappears. But God's joy is joy that lasts. Psalm 16:11 talks about it. David talks about how at God's right hand there is joy for ever. If you're living connected to God, there is joy there. In fact, the Psalms are full of this type of language, of how nothing else can satisfy.
Is God the apple of your eye? Is Jesus the deepest love and greatest desire and greatest joy in your life? Oh, quit searching for satisfaction apart from Him and let your relationship with Him be the focal point of your life. That is where you will really find joy.
Verse 3
You're my friend and you are my brother.
Now some versions I've seen say you're my friend and you are my father. I always sang 'brother'. Did you sing 'father'? Perhaps I'd love to know if you sing different words to me here. But maybe 'friend and father' makes more sense because they're contrasting. You're my friend - so we've got this intimate friendship with Jesus. Remember He said, 'I no longer call you servants, I call you friends.' But then He's also our Father - He's the one who cares for us and looks after us as a father does.
He's also a brother. If you sing that, then you know that He's your brother in a very special way. He is the only begotten Son, but we are the adopted children of God, brought into His family by grace, and we can know Him as our great big brother, in a way, I suppose.
Even though you are my King.
We have this intimacy with Him, but He's also the King that we revere, that we respect, that we love, that we worship. Do you know Him as Father, Friend, King? He is all these things. That's why He can satisfy our hearts, because He can be everything to us. When we need whichever one we need, He is that to us at that moment.
I love you more than any other, so much more than anything.
The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is a wonderful opportunity to sing that and tell God, yes, I love You more than anything. Nothing else compares. How often in the Psalms do we read that nothing compares to this God?
Do you love Him more than anything? Do you need to spend some time in prayer today, getting your priorities back in order, getting Him back up to the top and putting the other stuff back down under Him where it belongs? He alone should be these things to us.
Conclusion
This is just a beautiful song. What words speak to you, I wonder, as you sing this song? Does a particular line really resonate with you? I love the line about Him being a joy giver, the real joy giver, because so often I forget that only in Him can I find my joy. That needs to be the focus of my everyday life. I realised that as I went through this today.
How did God speak to you in the words? Share below.
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References
"History of Hymns: 'As the Deer'" - UMC Discipleship Ministries (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-as-the-deer)
"As The Deer" by Martin Nystrom - Songfacts (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/martin-nystrom/as-the-deer)
"As the Deer" - Hymnary.org (https://hymnary.org/tune/as_the_deer_nystrom)
"Song Scoops: As the Deer - Marty Nystrom" (http://songscoops.blogspot.com/2009/05/as-deer-marty-nystrom.html)
"As the Deer - Nystrom" - GodSongs.net (https://www.godsongs.net/2017/07/as-deer-panteth-for-the-water-marty-nystrom.html)
"Hymn Stories: 'As the Deer'" - Westside Bible Chapel (https://www.westsidebiblechapel.ca/1_3_101_hymn-stories-quot-as-the-deer-quot.html)
Martin Nystrom - The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology (https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/m/martin-nystrom)
