Psalms 42:5

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?

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. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?

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.

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.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?] A good man’ s work lieth most within doors; he hath more ado with himself than with all the world besides; he prayeth oft, with that ancient, Libera me Domine a malo homine meipso, Deliver me, Lord, from that naughty man, myself. How oft do we punish ourselves by our passions, as the lion that beateth himself with his own tail! Grief is like lead to the soul, heavy and cold, sinking it downward, taking off the wheels of it, and disabling it for duty; like as a limb that is out of joint can do nothing without deformity and pain. Keep up thy spirit, therefore, and watch against dejection, whatsoever befalls thee, yea, against all distempers; since they hinder comfortable intercourse with God, and that spiritual composedness, that sabbath of spirit, that we must enjoy, or else we cannot keep that continual holyday (εορταζωμεν), 1 Corinthians 5:8. How many are there who through unnecessary sadness come to heaven before they are aware! Hope thou in God] Faith quieteth the soul first or last, saith reverend Dr Sibbes on these words. There will be stirring at the first; as in a pair of balances, there will be a little stirring when the weight is put in, till it come to a poise; so in the soul, it comes not to a quiet consistency till there be some victory of faith, till it rest and stay the soul. For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance] Heb. the healths of his countenance, Adhuc confitebor ei salutes vultus eius. Chrysostom bringeth in a man laden with troubles coming into the church, where, when he heard this passage read, Why art thou cast down? hope in God, he presently recovered (Homil. in Genes.).

(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 Isaiah 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 Psalms 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; Psalms 24:10; Psalms 49:12; Psalms 49:20; Psalms 56:4; Psalms 56:10; Psalms 59:9; Psalms 59:17, is not unusual.

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.

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. Psalms 35:14; Psalms 38:6. The resemblance of our Lord’s words in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34) to the Sept. rendering of this verse, Why art thou exceeding sorrowful, O my soul? (ἵνατίπερίλυποςεἶ, ἡψυχή;) 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 (ἡψυχήμουἑταράχθη), in a similar connexion upon another occasion (John 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 Psalms 42:4. Cp. Psalms 77:3; Jeremiah 4:19. hope thou in God] Or, wait thou for God. Cp. Psalms 38:15; Psalms 39:7; Micah 7:7. praise him] Or, give him thanks, as in past time (Psalms 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 Psalms 42:11, and Psalms 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 Psalms 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 (Psalms 84:9; Psalms 132:10). [22] The error arose very simply from the transference of the ε from the beginning of εΰμδι to the end of ξπι, so that ξπιεΰμδι became ξπιεΰμδι. Then ΰμδι was assumed to be merely an accidental repetition of ΰμδι at the beginning of Psa 42:6, and dropped out.

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

5. The apostrophic address of this verse shows the highly impassioned state of the author.