Psalm 43:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

NIV: Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

NASB: Why are you in despair, my soul? And why are you restless within me? Wait for God, for I will again praise Him For the help of His presence, my God.

CSB: Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.

NLT: Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again — my Savior and my God!

KJV: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

NKJV: Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.

The psalmist repeats his refrain from Psalm 42:5 and 11 in the closing verse of Psalm 43. The statement made here is not inquiring, even though it is phrased as a question. This "rhetorical" technique is used when the answer should seem obvious. If we understand the power and faithfulness of God, we have no reason to be anxious or afraid. Of course, as limited people, those are natural temptations. Psalms such as this are helpful reminders of the great hope we have in the Lord. Instead of looking around into the world, letting difficult circumstances dismay him, the psalmist chose to look above, to his God, who would deliver him and return him to the sanctuary in Jerusalem.

First-century believers were hounded and hunted, chased out of their homes, and scattered throughout the Mediterranean region, but the apostle Peter fixed their hope on Christ and their glorious future. He writes: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3–4).

Psalm 43:5 repeats a statement made twice in the prior psalm. This moves away from a dejected attitude which questions God and assumes abandonment. This turns the writer's focus from his enemy's oppression to hope and optimism in the Lord.

The psalmist prays to be delivered from ungodly people and injustice. He places trust in God, but grapples with feelings of abandonment during his hardships. He prays for God's light and truth to bring him back to Jerusalem, where he will gladly worship the Lord. The psalm concludes with a rhetorical question asked twice in the prior psalm (Psalm 42:5, 11).

Intricately connected in themes and phrases, Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 might have originally been a single song. Many Hebrew manuscripts render the two as one. In Psalm 43 the psalmist asks the Lord to lead him back to Jerusalem, where he could once again joyfully worship Him. This continues to express Psalm 42's concepts of discouragement overcome by purposeful faith in God.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.