Why art thou cast down? or, Why art thou bowed down? i.e. brought low—a term indicative of the very extreme of dejection. O my soul. The spirit, or higher reason, rebukes the "soul," or passionate nature, for allowing itself to be so depressed, and seeks to encourage and upraise it.
And why art thou so disquieted in me? rather, Why dost thou make thy moan over me? literally, make a roaring noise like the sea (comp. Psalms 46:3; Jeremiah 4:19; Jeremiah 5:22). Hope thou in God (comp.
Psalms 33:22; Psalms 39:7, etc.). For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Another reading assimilates the refrain here to the form which it takes in Psalms 42:11 and in Psalms 43:5.
But, as Hengstenberg observes, Hebrew poets, and indeed poets generally, avoid an absolute identity of phrase, even in refrains (see Psalms 24:8, Psalms 24:10; Psalms 49:12, Psalms 49:20; Psalms 56:4, Psalms 56:11, etc.
).