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Psalm 42:5
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
3My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
4These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
5Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
6My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
7Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
Notice
The turn from questioning a troubled soul to expecting praise can expose the strain of hoping in God while despair still has a voice.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you name if you asked your own soul why it is disturbed?
Write on thisHow does the return to despair in verse 6 affect how you hear “Hope in God!”?
Write on thisWhat does “the saving help of his presence” lead you to ask of God today?
Write on thisConnect
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 37:7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.Both psalms direct troubled hearts toward God, one through hope amid despair and the other through rest and waiting amid wrongdoing.
Hebrews 10:36–37For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.Both look toward help still ahead: the psalm anticipates praise, while Hebrews urges endurance to receive God’s promise.
Psalm 61:2From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.Both describe inward distress and turn toward God for help, through hope in his presence and a cry from an overwhelmed heart.
Matthew 1:23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”Both speak of God’s presence: the psalm anticipates its saving help, while Matthew explains Immanuel as “God with us.”
Psalm 42:11Why 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.Both verses repeat the soul’s questions and the command to hope in God, followed by confidence that praise will come.
Psalm 27:13–14I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.Both express confidence in God’s help ahead, anticipating renewed praise in Psalm 42 and seeing God’s goodness in Psalm 27.
Lamentations 3:24–26“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”Both portray the soul speaking about hope in God, grounding that hope in who God is to the speaker.
Numbers 6:26The LORD lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’Both link God’s presence with help: the psalm anticipates salvation, while the blessing asks for God’s face and peace.
1 Samuel 30:6David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his …Both depict distress alongside a deliberate turn toward God, as the psalmist urges hope and David finds strength in the LORD.
Romans 4:18–20Against hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your …Both describe hope amid circumstances that resist it: the psalmist speaks from despair, and Abraham believes against hope.
Job 13:15Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.Both speak from anguish in relation to God, though the psalm urges hope and Job says he has none.
Isaiah 50:10Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in the LORD’s name, and rely on his …Both direct a person toward trust in God while distress remains, described as despair in the psalm and darkness in Isaiah.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. grief. waiting.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The next verse still names despair. Hope in God can be spoken while distress remains; the psalm’s confidence rests in the saving help of his presence.
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).