As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
Parallel translations
- WEB As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
- BSB Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- NKJV As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- NASB As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries taunt me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- NLT Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
His enemies' taunts pierce like a sword in his bones as they ask, 'Where is your God?' Mockery wounds him to the core.
Overview
The repeated jeer questioning God's presence cuts deeply into his spirit. The 'sword in my bones' conveys the agony of relentless reproach. Such taunts test faith, yet the psalmist will answer them with renewed hope in the next verse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 42:3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
- Joel 2:17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
- Luke 2:35(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
- Prov 12:18There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
- Mic 7:10Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 42:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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