[6] Matthew Henry speculates that David might have composed this psalm when he was prevented from returning to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, either due to persecution by Saul or because of Absalom's revolt.

Jonathan Nathan argues that the traditional translation ("As the hart panteth after the water brooks") is based on an ancient but unsupported guess about the meaning of the rare Hebrew word תַּעֲרֹג.

In the 1911 Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X, it appears, divided into two parts, in Tuesday sext.

In the post-Vatican II Liturgy of the Hours it is the first psalm in lauds on the Monday of the second of the four weeks over which the psalter is spread.

[29] Musical settings of the psalm include: K'ayal ta'arog (As the hart pants, verses 2–3) is a popular Jewish song.

[33] An early Hasidic nigun was composed by the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.

The third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (the Tzemach Tzedek) also composed a melody for it.