"My soul thirsts for You,... in a parched and weary land without water. If only in the times of the Beis HaMikdash I had beheld You!"

These verses speak of the divine service of the Jewish people during the times of exile.

Their soul thirsts for G-d "in a parched and weary land"; i.e., they are weary of the bothers of making a livelihood, weary of the yoke of the exile, when they are "without water," i.e., unable to engage in Torah study and the service of G-d. Nevertheless, despite all odds, they do serve Him out of self-sacrifice, and of this self-sacrifice they say, "If only in the times of the Beis HaMikdash I had beheld You thus!"