Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 42:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him [for] the help of his countenance.
5. In this refrain the truer ‘self’ chides the weaker ‘soul,’ the emotional nature, for its despondency and complaint.
cast down ] Bowed down as a mourner. Cp. Psa 35:14; Psa 38:6.
The resemblance of our Lord’s words in Gethsemane (Mat 26:38; Mar 14:34) to the Sept. rendering of this verse, Why art thou exceeding sorrowful, O my soul? ( , 😉 suggests that this Psalm may have been in His mind at the time; the more so as He appears to use the words of Psa 42:6, which the Sept. renders, My soul is troubled ( ), in a similar connexion upon another occasion (Joh 12:27). In view of this it is interesting to remember that the hart is a common emblem for our Lord in Christian art.
disquieted in me ] Lit. moanest, or frettest upon me, the same idiom as in Psa 42:4. Cp. Psa 77:3; Jer 4:19.
hope thou in God ] Or, wait thou for God. Cp. Psa 38:15; Psa 39:7; Mic 7:7.
praise him ] Or, give him thanks, as in past time ( Psa 42:4).
for the help of his countenance ] This is the reading of the Massoretic Text. But the construction is peculiar, and the LXX and Syr. suggest that we ought to read here as in Psa 42:11, and Psa 43:5, (Who is) the help of my countenance and my God. But O my God should be retained at the beginning of Psa 42:6, where it is needed [22] . The help (lit. salvations, the plur. denoting manifold and great deliverances, as in Psa 28:8) of my countenance is a periphrasis for my help, facilitated by phrases like to look upon or turn away the face of a person (Psa 84:9; Psa 132:10).
[22] The error arose very simply from the transference of the from the beginning of to the end of , so that became . Then was assumed to be merely an accidental repetition of at the beginning of Psa 42:6, and dropped out.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? – Margin, bowed down. The Hebrew word means to bow down, to incline oneself; then, usually, to prostrate oneself as in public worship; and then, to sink down under the weight of sorrow; to be depressed and sad. The Septuagint renders it, Why art thou grieved? – perilupos. So the Vulgate. This is an earnest remonstrance addressed by himself to his own soul, as if there were really no occasion for this excessive depression; as if he cherished his grief improperly. There was a brighter side, and he ought to turn to that, and take a more cheerful view of the matter. He had allowed his mind to rest on the dark side, to look at the discouraging things in his condition. He now felt that this was in some measure voluntary, or had been indulged too freely, and that it was wrong: that it was proper for a man like him to seek for comfort in brighter views; that it was a duty which he owed to himself and to the cause of religion to take brighter views. We may remark,
(1) That there are two sides to the events which occur, and which seem so discouraging to us – a dark side and a bright side.
(2) That in certain states of mind, connected often with a diseased nervous system, we are prone to look only on the dark side, to see only what is gloomy and discouraging.
(3) That this often becomes in a sense voluntary, and that we find a melancholy satisfaction in being miserable, and in making ourselves more unhappy, as if we had been wronged, and as if there were a kind of virtue in dejection and gloom – in refusing, like Rachel, to be comforted Jer 31:15; perhaps also feeling as if by this we were deserving of the divine approbation, and laying the foundation for some claim to favor on the score of merit.
(4) That in this we are often eminently guilty, as putting away those consolations which God has provided for us; as if a man, under the influence of some morbid feeling, should find a kind of melancholy pleasure in starving himself to death in the midst of a garden full of fruit, or dying of thirst by, the side of a running fountain. And
(5) That it is the duty of the people of God to look at the bright side of things; to think of the past mercies of God; to survey the blessings which surround us still; to look to the future, in this world and the next, with hope; and to come to God, and cast the burden on him. It is a part of religious duty to be cheer ful; and a man may often do more real good by a cheerful and submissive mind in times of affliction, than he could by much active effort in the days of health, plenty, and prosperity. Every sad and desponding Christian ought to say to his soul, Why art thou thus cast down?
And why art thou disquieted in me? – Troubled, sad. The word means literally,
(1) to growl as a bear;
(2) to sound, or make a noise, as a harp, rain, waves;
(3) to be agitated, troubled, or anxious in mind: to moan internally. See the notes at Isa 16:11; compare Jer 48:36.
Hope thou in God – That is, trust in him, with the hope that he will interpose and restore thee to the privileges and comforts heretofore enjoyed. The soul turns to God when all other hope fails, and finds comfort in the belief that he can and will aid us.
For I shall yet praise him – Margin, give thanks. The idea is, that he would yet have occasion to give him thanks for his merciful interposition. This implies a strong assurance that these troubles would not last always.
For the help of his countenance – literally, the salvations of his face, or his presence. The original word rendered help is in the plural number, meaning salvations; and the idea in the use of the plural is, that his deliverance would be completed or entire – as if double or manifold. The meaning of the phrase help of his countenance or face, is that God would look favorably or benignly upon him. Favor is expressed in the Scriptures by lifting up the light of the countenance on one. See the notes at Psa 4:6; compare Psa 11:7; Psa 21:6; Psa 44:3; Psa 89:15. This closes the first part of the psalm, expressing the confident belief of the psalmist that God would yet interpose, and that his troubles would have an end; reposing entire confidence in God as the only ground of hope; and expressing the feeling that when that confidence exists the soul should not be dejected or cast down.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 42:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God.
A prescription for a downcast soul
I. Inquiry. Why art thou cast down? Many a man is in great spiritual darkness, without knowing, or being able to discover the reason. He has been trying to live rightly, so far as he knows. He has not neglected prayer nor the house of God, and yet God seems to have hidden His face; his peace is gone; his soul is full of harrowing doubts. Christians sometimes forget that they have bodies; and that the condition of their bodies has a good deal to do with the brightness or darkness of their spiritual moods; and now and then a man, through sheer ignorance, persists in some habit of eating or drinking which, by keeping his body in an unhealthful state, correspondingly lowers the tone of his spiritual life. Often the devil which torments him is one that goeth not out but by fasting.
2. Or the cause may lie deeper, in some mental disease–possibly inherited. Cowper.
3. On the other hand, the distress may arise from estrangement between man and God. Peter, when he went out and wept bitterly, was cast down and disquieted as he deserved to be.
4. If you cannot, on inquiry, discover that sin is at the bottom of your disquietude, it may occur to you that God has sent it. Thou art satisfied that the source of thy trouble is Divine; is that something to be disquieted about? Or dost thou fear it will be more than thou canst bear? O reflect that the Father is the husbandman. He is pruning thee that thou mightest bring forth more fruit. Dost thou forget Him who was made perfect through suffering, and who was in all points tempted and tried like as thou arty Why art thou disquieted? Is it because thou canst not see the end thy God has in view in thy trial, or wilt thou forget that this light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh out for thee a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory?
II. Remembrance.
1. The psalmist remembers his own experience. Ah, how often we need the psalmists admonition to his own soul not to forget all Gods benefits. They will crowd, at the summons of memory, thickly down to the very edge of to-days trouble, like the cloud which followed the Israelites down to the merge of the Red Sea; and like that cloud will send light over the troubled waters through which lies the line of march. To-days trouble will be lighter, and to-days outlook more hopeful through the remembrance of the blessed past.
2. But this remembrance of the psalmist also takes in Gods dealings with His people. No one has such a range of history at his command as the believer who is in trouble; since the history of Gods children is largely made up of trouble, and as largely of Gods deliverances out of trouble. Sometimes a man is so engrossed with the pleasure and business of the present, that memory has no chance to do her work, and he is in danger of forgetting Gods benefits altogether; and so God leads him away alone, whither he does not like to go, but where, cut off from the occupations of the present, he has opportunity to survey the rich and fruitful past, and to grow grateful amid his sorrow. Yea, often the very land of exile is the land of precious memories. Men of old have had their faith, their courage, their patience tried sorely in the very places where our faith and courage and patience are tried; and their experience of Gods saving goodness and power calls on us to remember that the God of salvation is the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
III. Hope.
1. This hope is in God. Trouble opens a mans eyes to the need of a personal God. True hope, the psalmists hope, would say, This loss is Gods work; I am Gods child; this is Gods discipline; through this He may be working out for me something far better than worldly prosperity. The best thing I have left, the thing to which I anchor my present and my future is–God is mine. This matter is all in Gods hands, and whatever he may do with me or with my fortune, whether He give me back my prosperity or not, I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God.
2. This hope is a different thing from faith, while the operations of the two are nevertheless closely allied. When a physician gives to a sick man a remedy which for the time increases his distress, he does not realize nor feel that the work of restoration is going on; and in the dark places of Christian experience through which God causes a man to pass in the course of His discipline, the man does not always realize that God is doing a beneficent work upon him, or how He is doing it. Then hope comes in. If we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. (M. R. Vincent, D. D.)
Despondency
I. The unreasonableness and virtual impiety of the over-anxious, foreboding spirit manifested by so many.
1. This spirit is rebuked by your whole experience. The vast preponderance with you has always been on the side of happiness. If you have been long of this foreboding habit, not one in a hundred of the sorrows that you have apprehended has reached you. Those, also, that have overtaken you have been lighter than you feared.
2. What can your anxiety do for you? Can it avert what you dread? No. But it may hasten it. In many respects, our health, our outward well-being, and that of our household, are committed to our own keeping, and can be safely kept only by a self-collected mind and a quiet heart.
3. Sorrow in prospect is much more bitter and grievous than it is in actual experience. Every trial comes with its alleviating circumstances, its mild preparatives, and abounding consolations. Sickness summons sympathy and patience for its ministers. Unmerited disesteem fortifies itself by the testimony of a good conscience. Poverty moves on under the guidance of health and hope. Bereaved affection meets the risen Saviour at the grave-side.
4. Why do you dread aught that can befall you, when none of these things can take place without your Father? Under Him, all things will work together for your good. Lean, then, as children upon His arm, and commit yourselves as children to His keeping.
II. Inculcate the lesson of implicit trust in a wise and paternal providence.
1. An unexplored future is before us. But, as Christians, we have every possible ground for trust and hope; for that unexplored future is in the hands of our Father.
2. We have under God one object of hope continually in view, namely, the growth of our characters; and this is the great end for which, were we wise, we should desire to live. Does He send outward favours and mercies? It is that gratitude may engrave His image on our hearts, and write His law on our lives. Does He remove from us cherished blessings? He takes gifts which we were in danger of loving more than the Giver. He takes wealth that bound our souls to the sordid pathway which He bids us leave.
3. Heaven and eternity, brought to light by Jesus, re-echo the exhortation–Hope thou in God. Have we the testimony of His love within? Are we living by the law and in the spirit of Christ? Have we the consciousness of pardoned sin and of souls at peace with God? If so, however heavy our outward burdens or sorrows, we may well ask, in self-rebuke, Why art thou cast down? etc. (A. P. Peabody.)
Disquietude and hope
I. Davids disquietude.
1. Gods forgetfulness.
2. His own mourning.
3. Enemys oppression.
II. Davids hopefulness.
1. God is.
2. God is mine.
3. God will yet be praised by me. (Homiletic Review.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul?] Bad as the times are, desolate as Jerusalem is, insulting as are our enemies, hopeless as in the sight of man our condition may be, yet there is no room for despair. All things are possible to God. We have a promise of restoration; he is as good as he is powerful; hope therefore in him.
I shall yet praise him] For my restoration from this captivity. He is the health of my soul. I shall have the light and help of his countenance, his approbation, and a glorious deliverance wrought by his right hand.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Why art thou cast down with excessive sorrow and despair?
For the help of his countenance, Heb. for the salvations of his face, i.e. for those supports, deliverances, and comforts which I doubt not I shall ere long enjoy, both in his presence and sanctuary, to which he will restore me, and from his presence, and the light of his countenance, which he will graciously afford to me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Hence he chides hisdespondent soul, assuring himself of a time of joy.
help of his countenanceor,”face” (compare Num 6:25;Psa 4:6; Psa 16:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Why art thou cast down, O my soul?…. The psalmist corrects himself, as being too much depressed in spirit with his present circumstances, and expostulates with himself; adding,
and [why] art thou disquieted in me? which suggests, that the dejections of God’s people are unreasonable ones; sin itself is no just cause and reason of them; for though it is very disagreeable, loathsome, and abhorring, troublesome and burdensome, to a spiritual man, and is ingenuously confessed, and heartily mourned over, and is matter of humiliation; yet no true reason of dejection: because there is forgiveness of it with God; the blood of Christ has been shed for the remission of it; it has been bore and done away by him; nor is there any condemnation for it to them that are in him; and though it rages, and threatens to get the ascendant; yet it is promised it shall not have the dominion over the saints; neither the nature of it, being great, as committed against God himself, nor the multitude of sins, nor the aggravated circumstances of them, are just causes of dejection, since the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin; nor are Satan and his temptations; he is indeed an enemy, very powerful, subtle, and terrible; he is the strong man armed, the old serpent, and a roaring lion; and his temptations are very troublesome and grieving; and it becomes the saints to be upon their guard against him and them; but they have no reason to be cast down on account hereof; for God, who is on the side of his people, is mightier than he; Christ is stronger than the strong man armed, and the divine Spirit who is in them is greater than he that is in the world: Satan is under divine restraints, and can go no further in tempting than he is suffered, and his temptations are overruled for good; besides, good armour is provided for the Christian to fight against him with, and in a short time he will be bruised under his feet: nor are the hidings of God’s face a sufficient reason of dejection; for though such a case is very distressing, and gives great trouble to those that love the Lord; nor can they, nor does it become them to sit easy and unconcerned in such circumstances, as they are great trials of faith and patience; yet it is the experience of the people of God in all ages: some good ends are answered hereby, as to bring saints to a sense of sins, which has deprived them of the divine Presence, to make them prize it the more when they have it, and to be careful of losing it for the future. Besides, the love of God continues the same when he hides and chides; and he will return again, and will not finally and totally forsake his people; and in a little while they shall be for ever with him, and see him as he is; and though by one providence or another they may be deprived for a while of the word, worship, and ordinances of God, he that provides a place for his church, and feeds and nourishes her in the wilderness, can make up the lack of such enjoyments by his presence and Spirit. The means and methods the psalmist took to remove his dejections and disquietudes of mind are as follow;
hope thou in God; for the pardon of sin; for which there is good ground of hope, and so no reason to be cast down on account of it; for strength against Satan’s temptations, which is to be had in Christ, as well as righteousness; and for the appearance of God, and the discoveries of his love, who has his set time to favour his people, and therefore to be hoped, and quietly waited for. Hope is of great use against castings down; it is an helmet, an erector of the head, which keeps it upright, and from bowing down: it is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, and is of great service in the troubles of life, and against the fears of death;
for I shall yet praise him [for] the help of his countenance; or “the salvations of his countenance” h; which implies that the psalmist believed, notwithstanding his present circumstances, that he should have salvation upon salvation; salvation of every kind; or a full and complete one, which should spring, not from any merits of his, but from the free grace and favour of God, expressed in his gracious countenance towards him; and also intimates, that the light of his countenance would be salvation to him i now; and that his consummate happiness hereafter would lie in beholding his face for evermore: all which would give him occasion and opportunity of praising the Lord. Now such a faith and persuasion as this is a good antidote against dejections of soul, and disquietude of mind; see Ps 27:13.
h “salutes faciei ipsius”, Cocceius; so Michaelis. i “Salutes sunt facies ejus”, De Dieu.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 O my soul! why art thou cast down? From this it appears that David contended strongly against his sorrow, lest he should yield to temptation: but what we ought chiefly to observe is, that he had experienced a strong and bitter contest before he obtained the victory over it; or we might rather say, that he was not delivered from it after one alarming assault, but was often called upon to enter into new scenes of conflict. It need not excite our wonder that he was so much disquieted and cast down, since he could not discern any sign of the divine favor towards him. But David here represents himself as if he formed two opposing parties. In so far as in the exercise of faith he relied upon the promises of God, being armed with the Spirit of invincible fortitude, he set himself, in opposition to the affections of his flesh, to restrain and subdue them; and, at the same time, he rebuked his own cowardice and imbecility of heart. Moreover, although he carried on war against the devil and the world, yet he does not enter into open and direct conflict with them, but rather regards himself as the enemy against whom he desires chiefly to contend. And doubtless the best way to overcome Satan is, not to go out of ourselves, but to maintain an internal conflict against he desires of our own hearts. It ought, however, to be observed, that David confesses that his soul was cast down within him: for when our infirmities rise up in vast array, and, like the waves of the sea, are ready to overwhelm us, our faith seems to us to fail, and, in consequence we are so overcome by mere fear, that we lack courage, and are afraid to enter into the conflict. Whenever, therefore, such a state of indifference and faint-heartedness shall seize upon us, let us remember, that to govern and subdue the desires of their hearts, and especially to contend against the feelings of distrust which are natural to all, is a conflict to which the godly are not unfrequently called. But here there are two evils specified, which, however apparently different, yet assail our hearts at the same time; the one is discouragement, and the other disquietude When we are quite downcast, we are not free of a feeling of disquietude, which leads us to murmur and complain. The remedy to both of them is here added, hope in God, which alone inspires our minds, in the first place, with confidence in the midst of the greatest troubles; and, secondly, by the exercise of patience, preserves them in peace. In what follows, David very well expresses the power and nature of hope by these words, I shall yet praise him; for it has the effect of elevating our thoughts to the contemplation of the grace of God, when it is hidden from our view. By the term yet, he confesses that for the present, and in so far as the praises of God are concerned, his mouth is stopped, seeing he is oppressed and shut up on all sides. This, however, does not prevent him from extending his hope to some future distant period; and, in order to escape from his present sorrow, and, as it were, get beyond its reach, he promises himself what as yet there was no appearance of obtaining. Nor is this an imaginary expectation produced by a fanciful mind; but, relying upon the promises of God, he not only encourages himself to cherish good hope, but also promises himself certain deliverance. We can only be competent witnesses to our brethren of the grace of God when, in the first place, we have borne testimony to it to our own hearts. What follows, The helps of his countenance, may be differently expounded. Commentators, for the most art, supply the word for: so that, according to this view, David here expresses the matter or cause of thanksgiving — that yet he would give praise or thanks to God for the help of his countenance This interpretation I readily admit. At the same time, the sense will not be inappropriate if we read the terms separately, thus: helps or salvations are from the countenance of God; for as soon as he is pleased to look upon his people he sets them in safety. The countenance of God is taken for the manifestation of his favor. His countenance then appears serene and gracious to us; as, on the contrary, adversity, like the intervening clouds, darkens or obscures its benign aspect.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Why art thou.The refrain here breaks in on the song like a sigh, the spirit of dejection struggling against the spirit of faith.
Cast down.Better, as in margin, bowed down, and in the original with a middle sense, why bowest thou down thyself?
Disquieted.From root kindred to and with the meaning of our word hum. The idea of internal emotion is easily derivable from its use. We see the process in such expressions as Isa. 16:11, My bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab.
For the help of his countenance.There is no question but that we must read the refrain here as it is in Psa. 42:12, and in Psa. 43:5. The LXX. and Vulg. already have done so, and one Hebrew MS. notices the wrong accentuation of the text here. The rhythm without this change is defective, and the refrain unnecessarily altered. Such alteration, however, from comparison of Psa. 24:8; Psa. 24:10; Psa. 49:12; Psa. 49:20; Psa. 56:4; Psa. 56:10; Psa. 59:9; Psa. 59:17, is not unusual.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The apostrophic address of this verse shows the highly impassioned state of the author.
Cast down Calvin says, “David here presents himself divided into two parts.” “It is the struggle,” says Perowne, “between the spirit of faith and the spirit of dejection between the higher nature and the lower.” “It is the spirit, mighty in God, which here meets the trembling soul.” Hengstenberg.
For the help of his countenance Hebrew, The deliverance, or salvation, of his face; that is, the deliverance which is assured by the turning of his face to me, or looking upon me, according to the Oriental custom of looking upon the suppliant as a sign of granting his request, or turning away the face as a token of denial. See note on Psa 42:11
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope you in God,
For I will yet praise him
For the help of his countenance.
And so he rebukes himself and speaks to his inner soul, and asks it why it is disquieted within him. He reminds himself that because he serves the living God (Psa 42:2) he can have confident hope in God, knowing that God will come to his aid. He is sure therefore that one day he will once again be found in His House praising Him, because God will look on him with favour (give him the help of His countenance) and will therefore ensure his final restoration.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 42:5. Why art thou cast down, &c. Bishop Hare, Mr. Mudge, &c. &c. concur in reading this period in the same manner as the last periods of this and the next Psalm are read.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The holy mourner seems to have found strength from having given vent to his full soul, and therefore expostulates with himself and his unbelief. What! shall I despond, shall I be cast down, who have found God faithful in all that is past? Will Jehovah be less Jehovah to me than to all his people? Will Christ’s suretyship be less blessed to me? has his blood lost its efficacy to cleanse? can his righteousness justify me no more? Oh no! I will believe. I will depend. I have hope and sustaining grace still, though the comfortable views of Jesus’s smiles; I see not.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him [for] the help of his countenance.
Ver. 5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? ] Here David seemeth to be Homo divisus in duas partes, saith Vatablus, a man divided into two parts, as indeed every new man is two men; and what is to be seen in the Shulamite but as it were the company of two armies? Son 6:13 . David chideth David out of his dumps. So did Alice Benden, the martyr, rehearsing these very words (when she had been kept in the bishop’s prison all alone nine weeks with bread and water), and received comfort by them in the midst of her miseries (Acts and Mon. 1797).
And why art thou disquieted in me?
Hope thou in God
For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 42:5-8
5Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
6O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.
Psa 42:5-8 The psalmist tries to reassure himself. This is conveyed by two questions in Psa 42:5. He answers the questions:
1. hope (wait, BDB 403, KB 407, Hiphil imperative) in God
2. I shall again praise Him BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperative) for the help of His presence
3. I remember (BDB 269, KB 269, Qal imperfect) You from
a. land of Jordan
b. peaks of Hermon (BDB 356, the name is plural in the OT only here, therefore, peaks)
c. Mount Mizar (little hill, BDB 859, LXX) found only here in the OT. It could refer to
(1) small hill near Mt. Hermon
(2) a way of referring to Mt. Moriah, the site of the temple in Jerusalem
Hebrew poetry is slippery stuff! Its imagery is often vague (see Special Topic: Hebrew Poetry).
Psa 42:7 The imagery is powerful. The phrase deep calls to deep is moving but ambiguous. What waterfalls is he talking about?
1. the psalmist’s tears, Psa 42:3
2. the Jordan River Valley and its origin in the mountains, Psa 42:6
The next line implies it may be figurative of problems the psalmist is facing (cf. Psa 69:1-2; Psa 88:7). Notice they are YHWH’s
1. waterfalls
2. breakers
3. waves
that have rolled over (BDB 716, KB 778, Qal perfect) the psalmist! Faithful followers live in a fallen world but believe/trust that YHWH is the God of my life (Psa 42:8 c). The why is unknown, but the Who is with us and this is certain!
The imagery of water in this Psalm is multi-fold.
1. water brooks, Psa 42:1 (i.e., drought)
2. tears, Psa 42:3 (i.e., pain)
3. a river (i.e., Jordan), Psa 42:6
4. deep, Psa 42:7
a. emotions
b. imagery from God’s defeat of chaos in Genesis 1
5. waterfalls (i.e., hiding place in the north may be under a waterfall)
6. breakers/waves (i.e., a flood of problems)
Psa 42:8 As the psalmist’s tears were his food day and night (Psa 42:3), now YHWH’s (notice this is the only use of YHWH in the Psalm; Book 2 of the Psalter is dominated by the use of Elohim for Deity, as Book 1 by YHWH) lovingkindness and song are his companions.
His song Is this the result of YHWH’s lovingkindness (hesed, see SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (HESED) ) or is it parallel to it? What is YHWH’s song? How is the psalmist’s prayer of line 3 related to the song? It probably refers to the content of the psalmist’s praises of YHWH’s mercy and faithfulness. The details of poetry are ambiguous. We must let the weight and feel of the strophe, and the parallelism of the lines guide us in an overall impression! Do not push the details! Do not build doctrine on isolated lines of poetry!
the God of my life Faithful followers are not alone; there is purpose in their lives; there is a merciful Creator who is with them and for them! Nothing just happens to faithful followers (cf. Psalms 139).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Why . . . ? Figure of speech Cycloides. The question repeated in Psa 42:11 and Psa 43:5. See the Structure, above.
And why . . . ? This second “why” is in the text of some codices, with Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, as in Psa 42:11 and Psa 43:5.
help. Hebrew, plural salvations. Plural of majesty = great help, or great salvation.
His. Hebrew text reads “my”, so that, where I go I am delivered.
countenance. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), put for the whole person.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 42:5
Psa 42:5
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him
For the help of his countenance.”
This verse, as Henry noted, finds, “Faith silencing the complaint with the assurance of good times at last.
“Hope thou in God” (Psa 42:5 b), etc. These last two lines are repeated almost verbatim in Psa 42:11 and in Psa 43:5, concluding each of the three stanzas which comprise these two psalms.
McCaw has understood the meaning of these three `refrains’ as, (1) “Being Faith’s rebuke to dejection in Psa 42:5, (2) Faith’s exhortation in bewilderment in Psa 42:11, and (3) Faith’s triumphant declaration of certainty in Psa 43:5.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 42:5. This verse is an effort to David to rouse himself from his despondency and think of the goodness of God. He had been helped many times before, so now why allow himself to be so discouraged?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Why art thou cast down: Heb. Why art thou bowed down, Psa 42:11, Psa 35:14, Psa 43:5, Psa 55:4, Psa 55:5, Psa 61:2, Psa 142:2, Psa 142:3, Psa 143:3, Psa 143:4, 1Sa 30:6, Mar 14:33, Mar 14:34
hope: Psa 27:13, Psa 27:14, Psa 37:7, Psa 56:3, Psa 56:11, Psa 71:14, Job 13:15, Isa 50:10, Lam 3:24-26, Rom 4:18-20, Heb 10:36, Heb 10:37
praise him: or, give thanks
for the help: etc. or, his presence is salvation, Psa 44:3, Psa 91:15, Psa 91:16, Num 6:26, Mat 1:23, Mat 28:20
Reciprocal: Gen 49:6 – O my soul Psa 4:6 – lift Psa 6:3 – My Psa 11:7 – his Psa 38:6 – bowed Psa 62:5 – soul Psa 131:2 – quieted Psa 145:14 – raiseth up Isa 36:7 – We trust Jer 4:19 – O my Lam 3:20 – humbled Jon 2:7 – I remembered Luk 13:11 – bowed Joh 14:1 – not Act 2:28 – make Rom 5:4 – and experience 2Co 4:9 – cast 1Th 5:8 – the hope Heb 6:19 – both 1Pe 1:21 – your
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 42:5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul With excessive sorrow and despair. Why art thou disquieted within me? Is there any cause that anxiety of mind should put thee into a state of such perturbation, as if all hopes of this felicity were lost for ever? Hope thou in God Trust in him, and patiently wait upon him. For I shall yet praise him The time will come when I shall go again to his house, and praise him for his favour toward me. For the help of his countenance Hebrew, For the salvations of his face, for those supports, deliverances, and comforts, which, I doubt not, I shall ere long enjoy, both in his presence and sanctuary, to which he will restore me, and from his presence, and the light of his countenance, which he will graciously afford me.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and [why] art thou disquieted in me? {e} hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him [for] the help of his countenance.
(e) Though he sustained grievous assaults of the flesh to cast him into despair, yet his faith grounded on God’s accustomed mercies gets the victory.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The psalmist encouraged himself rhetorically by reminding himself that he would again praise God. He needed to continue to hope in God until then.