For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Parallel translations
- WEB For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
- BSB For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
- NKJV For You are the God of my strength; Why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
- NASB For You are the God of my strength; why have You rejected me? Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
- NLT For you are God, my only safe haven. Why have you tossed me aside? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?
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
He calls God his strength yet asks why he feels rejected and mournful under oppression. Felt abandonment and faith are held together.
Overview
The psalmist confesses God as his refuge while honestly voicing his sense of rejection. The tension echoes Psalm 42:9. Bringing such questions to the God he still trusts models faithful lament rather than abandoning hope.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 42:9I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
- Ps 28:7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
- Eph 6:10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
- Ps 94:14For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- Isa 40:31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
- Ps 44:9But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
- Isa 45:24Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
- Ps 140:7O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
- 1 Chr 28:9And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
- Zech 10:12And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.
- Ps 77:7Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
- Ps 71:9Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.
- Exod 15:2The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
- Ps 31:4Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
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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 43:2 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.