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Psalm 42:10
As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
8The LORD will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.
9I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
11Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
Notice
A sword in the bones pictures the pain of repeated taunts, especially when those taunts turn a sufferer's trust in God into grounds for mockery.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What, if anything, in your experience helps you understand the comparison between reproach and a sword?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 3:2Many there are who say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah.Both psalms record other people's words attacking a sufferer's confidence that help can be found in God.
Psalm 42:3My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”The same repeated question about God's whereabouts accompanies tears in verse 3 and sword-like pain in verse 10.
Proverbs 24:17Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he is overthrown,Enemies appear in both passages; the psalm describes their reproach, while Proverbs forbids delight in an enemy's downfall.
2 Kings 2:14He took Elijah’s mantle that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they …Both contain a question about God's whereabouts, though Elisha asks while striking the waters and the psalm's adversaries ask in reproach.
Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her. Now she will be trodden down like the …An enemy questions where God is in both passages; Micah also describes the shame and overthrow awaiting that enemy.
Psalm 115:2Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”Both psalms record a question about God's whereabouts spoken by others as a challenge to those who trust him.
Joel 2:17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, LORD, and don’t give your heritage to …Both passages connect reproach with others questioning where God is; Joel includes that threatened taunt in the priests' plea for mercy.
Psalm 79:10Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’ blood is being poured …Both psalms repeat the taunt about God's whereabouts; Psalm 79 also asks for vengeance for the blood of God's servants.
Genesis 21:9Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.Mocking is the shared thread; Genesis names Sarah as its witness, while the psalm speaks from the sufferer's side.
Luke 2:35Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”Both use a sword piercing inward as an image of suffering, with bones named in the psalm and the soul in Luke.
Proverbs 12:18There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.Both compare the harm caused by speech to a sword's piercing; Proverbs also names the healing brought by wise speech.
1 Samuel 4:18When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and …The shared thread is narrow: Psalm 42 compares reproach to bodily injury, while Eli suffers an actual fatal injury.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. doubt. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The taunt hurts enough to be compared to a sword. Scripture keeps that pain in the prayer of someone who still addresses God as his rock.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).