Psalms 42:11
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as they say to me all day long, “Where is
your God?”
42:11 Why are you depressed, O my
soul?
Why are you upset?
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.
Psalm 43
43:1 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me against an ungodly nation!
Deliver me from deceitful and evil
men!
43:2 For you are the God who shelters me.10
Why do you reject me?11
Why must I walk around12 mourning13
because my enemies oppress me?
43:3 Reveal14 your light15 and your faith-
fulness!
They will lead me,16
they will escort17 me back to your holy
hill,18
and to the place where you live.19
 sn “Where is your God?” The enemies ask this same
question in v. 3.
 tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”
 sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or
inner self.
 tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”
 tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts
of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to
read ‫( ׁיְשוּ עֹת ְפנֵי אֱ לֹהָ י‬yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts
of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated
with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost iden-
tical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.
 sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm
43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm
in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a
heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and con-
cluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain
in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.
 tn Or “argue my case.”
 tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note
the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.
 tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew
text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the
reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.
10 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is
my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.
11 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but ‫ָזנַח‬
(zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than ‫( ׁ ָשכַ ח‬shakhakh, “for-
get”).
12 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hit-
pael form of the verb ‫( הָ לַ ְך‬halakh; as opposed to the Qal form
in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of
the psalmist’s distress.
13 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar
statement.
14 tn Heb “send.”
15 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which
will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine
deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness
to his people.
16 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here
and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
17 tn Heb “bring.”
18 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem.
See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1;
87:1; Dan 9:16.
19 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the
43:4 Then I will go20 to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,21
so that I express my thanks to you,22 O
God, my God, with a harp.
43:5 Why are you depressed,23 O my
soul?24
Why are you upset?25
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.26
Psalm 4427
For the music director; by the Korahites, a well-
written song.28
44:1 O God, we have clearly heard;29
our ancestors30 have told us
what you did31 in their days,
in ancient times.32
noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special
dwelling place (see Pss 46:4; 84:1; 132:5, 7).
20 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Pre-
fixed with the vav (‫ )ו‬conjunctive it also expresses the result or
outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
21 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase
“joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Syn-
onyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the
degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the
grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur,
“Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in
Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2
(1971): 17-81.
22 tn The cohortative with vav (‫ )ו‬conjunctive probably indi-
cates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
23 tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”
24 sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or in-
ner self.
25 tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”
26 tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts
of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended
to read ‫( ׁיְשוּ עֹת ְפנֵי אֱ לֹהָ י‬yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving
acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated
with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to
the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.
27 sn Psalm 44. The speakers in this psalm (the worshiping
community within the nation Israel) were disappointed with
God. The psalm begins on a positive note, praising God for
leading Israel to past military victories. Verses 1-8 appear to
be a song of confidence and petition which the people recited
prior to battle. But suddenly the mood changes as the nation
laments a recent defeat. The stark contrast between the pres-
ent and the past only heightens the nation’s confusion. Israel
trusted in God for victory, but the Lord rejected them and al-
lowed them to be humiliated in battle. If Israel had been un-
faithful to God, their defeat would make sense, but the na-
tion was loyal to the Lord. Comparing the Lord to a careless
shepherd, the nation urges God to wake up and to extend his
compassion to his suffering people.
28 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term ‫ש ִּכיל‬ ׂ ְ ‫( ַמ‬maskil) is un-
certain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the
superscription of Ps 42.
29 tn Heb “with our ears we have heard.”
30 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 2; the same Hebrew word may
be translated either “fathers” or “ancestors” depending on
the context.
31 tn Heb “the work you worked.”
32 tn Heb “in the days of old.” This refers specifically to the
days of Joshua, during Israel’s conquest of the land, as vv.
2-3 indicate.