² My inner self thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?^(A)

³ My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, Where is your God?

⁴ These things I [earnestly] remember and pour myself out within me: how I went slowly before the throng and led them in procession to the house of God [like a bandmaster before his band, timing the steps to the sound of music and the chant of song], with the voice of shouting and praise, a throng keeping festival.