42:2 living God. Psalm 42 is the heart-cry of a true believer in “the living God,” who (like Job) had seemingly been forgotten by God, and who longed for some concrete evidence that He was still there.

42:5 Why art thou cast down. Instead of complaining and asking God why He had been forgotten, the trusting believer instead questions his own soul. Why should he be discouraged, since God does exist and does care, in spite of the immediate circumstances. There is such a thing as a “trial of your faith” (I Peter 1:7), and it is vital that we endure such testings (James 1:12), repeatedly reminding ourselves to “hope thou in God.” In good time we again shall see “the help of His countenance.”

42:7 Deep calleth unto deep. This remarkable phrase seems to refer to a thunderous oceanic tornado (“waterspout”) extending all the way from the ocean “deep” to the cloudy “deep” of the heavens; generating mighty billows on the deep sea.

42:8 Yet the LORD. Even in such tumultuous times, the Lord is still with us day and night, though our enemies deride us for trusting in a God who seems (for the present) not to answer.

Psalm 43 (title). Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book II of the Psalms (except for Psalm 71, q.v.) which has no title. The reason is that it is, in effect, a continuation of Psalm 42, both concluding with the same question. Yet it is clearly a different psalm, evidently written by the same unnamed author at a later time.