Psalms 43:2 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

For thou art the God of my strength - See Psalms 18:2, note; Psalms 28:7, note.

Why dost thou cast me off? - As if I were none of thine; as if I were wholly abandoned. Compare the notes at Psalms 22:1. The word rendered “cast off” - זנח zânach - is a word which implies strong disgust or loathing: “Why dost thou cast me off as a loathsome or disgusting object?” Compare Revelation 3:16. The Hebrew word means properly to be foul, to be rancid, to stink: then, to be loathsome or abominable; and then, to treat or regard anything as such. Compare Hosea 8:3, Hosea 8:5; Isaiah 19:6.

Why go I mourning ... - See the notes at Psalms 42:9. This expression, with others of a similar character, renders it morally certain that this psalm was composed by the same person, and with reference to the same circumstances, as the former.

Psalms 43:2

2 For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?