Psalm 42:11 Have hope

Psalm 42:11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. 

The opening psalm of the second book in the corpus, Psalm 42, is again for the director of music and so designed for public singing but this time it is not by David. Rather, it is A maskil of the Sons of Korah. Various Levites were Korahites and some were involved in the Temple music programme, including Asaph and Heman who are, presumably, the ones in mind here. An 11 verse long psalm, its two halves are punctuated by a refrain (5, 6a; 11) - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. The same refrain occurs at the end of the following short psalm leading to suggestions that Psalm 42 and 43 are really one. Both psalms are about panting after and longing for God when he seems far away for whatever reason (or lack of it). Although there once was a time when this writer used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng his soul is now downcast and that is the last thing he can bring himself to do. However, he can hope for better times. He remembers too (8) that even now By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me. But he wants more than that. The refrain itself then urges us to talk to ourselves, to our souls, and to urge ourselves to hope in God. If we really are his, the time will come when we will yet praise him and say with gladness my Saviour and my God. It is towards these times we must head.