Psalms 42:11

"Why are you sad?" etc. Here he shows the effect of prayer. And prayer has a twofold effect. One is the expulsion of sadness. The other is the increase of hope. The first effect is because through prayer the mind of man ascends to God; …

): Why art thou cast down, O my soul? His griefs and fears were clamorous and troublesome; they were not silenced though they were again and again answered. But here, at length, his faith came off a conqueror and forced the enemies to quit the field.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?....

His complaint is that his enemies oppressed and reproached him, and this made a great impression upon him. (1.) They oppressed him to such a degree that he went mourning from day to day, from place to place,

ANOTHER verse in this Psalm so attracts me that, though it is not my text, I cannot pass it by without a moment's notice. In the 5th verse the Psalmist says, "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His Countenance," and then follows the expression of the text, "who is the health of my countenance and my God." God's Countenance is our help and He, Himself is the health of our countenance! The best help a man can have in time of trouble is the Countenance of God!

This brings on a renewed self-chiding, and excites hopes of relief. health--or help. of my countenance--(compare Ps 42:5) who cheers me, driving away clouds of sorrow from my face. my God--It is He of whose existence and favor my foes would have me doubt.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? In the rehearsal of his sorrow, he finds after all no sufficient ground for being disquieted. Looked in the face, his fears were not so overwhelming as they seemed when shrouded in obscurity. Hope thou in God. Let the anchor still keep its hold. God is faithful, God is love, therefore there is room and reason for hope. Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? In the rehearsal of his sorrow, he finds after all no sufficient ground for being disquieted. Looked in the face, his fears were not so overwhelming as they seemed when shrouded in obscurity. Hope thou in God. Let the anchor still keep its hold. God is faithful, God is love, therefore there is room and reason for hope. Who is the health of my countenance, and my God. This is the same hopeful expression as that contained in verse five, but the addition of and my God shows that the writer was growing in confidence, and was able defiantly to reply to the question, "Where is thy God?" Here, even here, he is, ready to deliver me. I am not ashamed to own him amid your sneers and taunts, for he will rescue me out of your hands. Thus faith closes the struggle, a victor in fact by anticipation, and in heart by firm reliance. The saddest countenance shall yet be made to shine, if there be a taking of God at his word and an expectation of his salvation.

ANOTHER verse in this Psalm so attracts me that, though it is not my text, I cannot pass it by without a moment's notice. In the 5th verse the Psalmist says, "I shall yet praise Him for the help of His Countenance," and then follows the expression of the text, "who is the health of my countenance and my God." God's Countenance is our help and He, Himself is the health of our countenance! The best help a man can have in time of trouble is the Countenance of God! If he feels that he enjoys the Divine Love and that he is acceptable with the Lord, he becomes, at once, strong to bear, or dare, or do. Ask the Presence of God to be with you, child of God, and you may then descend into a lion's den, traverse a fiery furnace, or pass through the iron gates of death! A look from the Lord is life and strength to His people! So much for the 5th verse. Now let us weave our text with it. This help of God's Countenance usually comes to Believers by their obtaining health for their countenances. It may not please God to lessen the burden, but it comes to the same thing if He strengthens the back. He may not recall the soldier from the battle, but if He gives him a greater stomach for the fight, and increased strength for its toils, it may be better, still, for him. "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit who can bear?" Give a man health in his countenance and he laughs at that which would have crushed him had he been in another mood. There are times when the grasshopper becomes a burden and there are other seasons, when, with undaunted spirit we can say, "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain." Everything depends upon the man's personal condition. For the diseased eyes, beauty does not exist. For the disordered palate, sweetness is no longer to be found. And to a deaf ear, harmony is silent.

Why art thou cast down - There is no reason why thou shouldst despair. God will appear and release thee and thy brother captives and soon thy sighing and sorrowing shall flee away. Who is the health of my countenance - As a healthy state of the constitution shows itself in the appearance of the face; God will so rejoice thy heart, heal all thy spiritual maladies, that thy face shall testify the happiness that is within thee. There is a curious gloss on the first verse of this Psalm in my old Psalter, which I cannot withhold from the reader. The author translates and paraphrases the verse thus: - Trans. Als the Hert yernes til the welles of waters; so my saule yernes til the God. Par - This Psalm es al of perfite men, that er brinnand in the flamme of Goddes luf, and passes in til the contemplatyf lif: and tharfore it es sungen in the office of the dede men: for than haf that, that thai yearned; that es, the syght of God. Far thi, sais he, als the Hert that has eten the nedder, gretely yernes to com til the welles of waters for to drynk and wax yong opayne: so destroyed in me vices and unclennes, my saule desyres with brinnand yernyng, to come til the God. Aelian, Appian, Anstotle, Nicander, and Pliny, all inform us that one cause why the hart thirsts for the waters is, that they eat serpents, and that the poison of them diffused through their entrails produces a burning heat and fever, to ease and cure themselves of which they have recourse to water. […]

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? - This closes the second strophe of the psalm, and, with one or two slight and immaterial variations, is the same as that which closes the first Psa 42:5. In this latter, the word “why” is inserted, and the expression “the salvation of my countenance” occurs instead of “salvations of his countenance,” with the addition of the words “and my God” at the close. The sense, however, is the same; and the verse contains, as before, self-reproof for being thus cast down, and self-exhortation to put trust in God. In the former part of the psalm Psa 42:5 he had addressed this language to himself, as designed to impress his own mind with the guilt of thus yielding to discouragement and sorrow; but he had then almost immediately admitted that his mind was distressed, and that he was cast down; here he rallies again, and endeavors to arouse himself to the conviction that he ought not to be thus depressed and dejected. He exhorts himself, therefore; he charges his own soul to hope in God. He expresses again the assurance that he would yet be permitted to praise him. He regards God now as the “salvation of his countenance,” or as his Deliverer and Friend, and expresses the conviction that he would yet make such manifestations of himself as to clear up and illuminate his countenance, at present made dark and saddened by affliction; and he appeals to him now as “his God.” He has reached the true source of comfort to the afflicted and the sad - the living God as his God; and his mind is calm. Why should a man be sorrowful when he feels that he has a God? Why should his heart be sad when he can pour out his sorrows before Him? Why should he be cast down and gloomy when he can hope: hope for the favor of God here; hope for immortal life in the world to come!