When it is said
It suits the days when sadness will not lift, and it can be prayed at any hour.
St Athanasius of Alexandria advised Psalm 42 for anyone who longs for God while enemies taunt them.
He told such a person to comfort the soul with hope in God and so soothe the griefs of this life.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
Who wrote it?
The Hebrew heading of Psalm 42 gives it to “the sons of Korah”. Psalm 43 has no heading of its own in the Hebrew. It opens straight away with “Judge me, O God”. The Greek Septuagint numbers the two psalms 41 and 42 and heads the second “A Psalm of David”.
The Hebrew Bible, on Mechon Mamre; Brenton’s translation of the Septuagint, Psalm 42
Why two psalms make one prayer
The same refrain, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? ... Hope in God,” comes twice in Psalm 42 and closes Psalm 43. Psalm 43:2 also repeats the question of Psalm 42:9, “Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” So this prayer joins them, from the first verse of Psalm 42 to the last of Psalm 43.
What the words mean
What “cast down” means
The Hebrew word means “bowed”, as the King James translators noted in their margin. In Brenton’s English translation of the Greek Septuagint, the refrain asks “Wherefore art thou very sad, O my soul?”
The King James Version, margin at Psalm 42:5; Brenton’s translation of the Septuagint, Psalm 41
The Scripture in it
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the festive procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence. O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me. The LORD decrees His loving devotion by day, and at night His song is with me as a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?” Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men. For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression? Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.