Psalms 43:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 43:5
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.
to sink or depress (reflexive or causative) · verb, hithpael imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
soul
נַפְשִׁי֮naf.Shi
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
disquieted
תֶּהֱמִ֪יte.he.Mi
H1993
to make a loud sound (like English 'hum') · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
hope
הוֹחִ֣ילִיho.Chi.li
H3176
to wait · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person feminine singular
God
לֵֽ֭אלֹהִיםLe.lo.him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
praise
אוֹדֶ֑נּוּ'o.De.nu
H3034
physically · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
health
יְשׁוּעֹ֥תye.shu.'Ot
H3444
something saved · noun, common feminine plural construct
countenance
פָּ֝נַ֗יpa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
God
וֵֽאלֹהָֽיVe.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
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 count…
Psalms 42:11 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, who is the health of…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 43:1–end
David here makes application to God, by faith and prayer, as his judge, his strength, his guide, his joy, his hope, with suitable affections and expressions.
I. As his Judge, his righteous Judge, who he knew would judge him, and who (being conscious of his own integrity) he knew would judge for him (Psa 43:1): Judge me, O God! and plead my cause. There were those that impeached him; against them he is defendant, and from their courts, where he stood unjustly convicted and condemned, he appeals to the court of heaven, the supreme judicature, praying to have their judgment given against him reversed and his innocency cleared. There were those that had injured him; against them he is plaintiff,…
the altar--as the chief place of worship. The mention of the harp suggests the prominence of praise in his offering.
Next: Psalms Chapter 44
John Gill on Psalms 43:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul?.... See Gill on Psalm 42:5 and See Gill on Psalm 42:11.
John Calvin on Psalms 43:1–end
Psalm 43:1-5
1. Judge me, O God! and plead my cause: deliver me from the cruel [or unmerciful] nation, free me from the deceitful and wicked man. 2. For thou art the God of my strength; why art thou estranged from me? why go I sad because of the oppression of the enemy? 3. Send forth thy light and thy truth, let them direct me, let them conduct me to thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. 4. And I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, [literally the joy of my rejoicing:] and I will praise thee upon the harp, O God! my God. 5. O my soul! why art thou cast down? and why art thou disquieted within me? for I will yet praise him who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
1 J…
From this it is clear that both psalms have the same meaning. Those using them encourage themselves to have stronger hope, overcome the feeling of discouragement and await the salvation from God that will doubtless be given them.
I shall console myself and … not allow myself to be alarmed by my thoughts but to hope in you, my God, to whom I should also give thanks, for from you it is also possible to hope for salvation.
And again, in order that he may draw the sound from that sounding-board below, he addresses his soul: he says, "Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?" I am in tribulations, in weariness, in mourning, "Why dost thou disquiet me, O my soul?" Who is the speaker, to whom is he speaking? That it is the soul to which he is speaking, everybody knows: for it is obvious: the appeal is addressed to it directly: "Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me?" The question is as to the speaker. It is not the flesh addressing the soul, surely, since the flesh cannot speak without the soul. For it is more appropriate for the soul to address the flesh, than for the flesh to address the soul. ...We perceive then that we have a certain part, in which is "the image of God;" viz. the mind and reason. It was that same mind that prayed for "God's Light" and "God's Truth." It is the same mind by which we apprehend right and wrong: it is by the same that we discern truth from falsehood. It is this same that we call "understanding;" which "understanding," indeed, is wanting to the brutes. And this "understanding" whoever neglects in himself, and holds it in less account than the other parts of his nature, and casts it off, just as if he had it not, is addressed in the Psalm, "Be ye not as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding." It is our "understanding" then that is addressing our soul. The latter is withered away from tribulations, worn out in anguish, made "sorrowful" in temptations, fainting in toils. The mind, catching a glimpse of Truth above, would fain rouse her spirits, and she says, "Why art thou sorrowful, O my soul?" ...
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Korahite — (1 Chronicles 9:19,31) Kor’-hite, or Kor’athite, that portion of the Kohathites who were descended from Korah. They were an important branch of the singers, (2 Chronicles 20:19) hence we find eleven…
Countenance · Health indi — Health indi
Hope · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Psalms 43:4–end
The poet, in anticipation, revels in the thought of that which he has prayed for, and calls upon his timorous soul to hope confidently for it. The cohortatives in Psa 43:4 are, as in Ps 39:14 and frequently, an apodosis to the petition. The poet knows no joy like that which proceeds from God, and the joy which proceeds from Him he accounts as the very highest; hence he calls God אל שׂמחת גּילי, and therefore he knows no higher aim for his longing than again to be where the fountainhead of this exultant joy is (Hos 9:5), and where it flows forth in streams (Psa 36:9). Removed back thither, he will give thanks to Him with the cithern (Beth instrum.). He calls Him אלהים אלהי, an expression whic…
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.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? If God be thine, why this dejection? If he uplifts thee, why art thou so near the ground? The dew of love is falling, O withering heart, revive. And why art thou disquieted within me? What cause is there to break the repose of thy heart? Wherefore indulge unreasonable sorrows, which benefit no one, fret thyself, and dishonour thy God? Why overburden thyself with forebodings? Hope in God, or wait for God. There is need of patience, but there is ground for hope. The Lord cannot but avenge his own…
