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?

Psalms 43:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 43:2

For thou [art] the God of my strength
Who being the strong and mighty God was able to deliver and save him, as well as to plead his cause; and was the author and giver of strength, natural and spiritual, to him; and was the strength of his heart, life and salvation; and is a good reason why he committed his cause unto him;

why doest thou cast me off?
this is the language of unbelief: it being what was not in reality, only in appearance: the psalmist was ready to conclude he was cast off and rejected of God, because he was afflicted and left in a desolate condition by him, and he did not immediately arise to his help and deliverance, and had withdrawn the light of his countenance from him; but God does not cast off or reject any of his people; they always continue in his love, and in his covenant, and in the hands of his Son; they are always in his sight and family, and shall never perish eternally; and whoever casts them off, or casts them out, he will not;

why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
(See Gill on Psalms 42:9).

Psalms 43:2 In-Context

1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

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?

3 O send out Thy light and Thy truth! Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles.

4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God, my God.

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.