Scholars believe that Psalms 42 and 43 were originally one unit, since the refrain of Ps 42:5,11 is repeated in Ps 43:5. This psalm was divided in two long ago, though, as early as the Septuagint.
Psalm 42 is the first psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter, and the first of the psalms of the sons of Korah. It is an individual lament, with the psalmist cut off from worship at the Temple and harassed by enemies. In a spiritual struggle, he mourns his current situation and reminds himself to hope in a faithful God.
He asks in the psalm's refrain, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him."
The Gospel writers picture Jesus in a similar position shortly before his arrest, as he thought about what lay ahead:
Matt 26:38: "My soul is very sorrowful and troubled, even to death."
Mark 14:34: "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death."
John 12:27: "Now is my soul troubled."
This is another example in which early Christians saw the situation of the psalmist prefiguring that of the Messiah.
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