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Selected Verse: Psalms 42:3 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 42:3	Strong Concordance	My tears [01832] have been my meat [03899] day [03119] and night [03915], while they continually [03117] say [0559] unto me, Where is thy God [0430]?
	King James	My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Where is thy God?--implying that He had forsaken him (compare Sa2 16:7; Psa 3:2; Psa 22:8).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Where is thy God?--implying that He had forsaken him (compare Sa2 16:7; Psa 3:2; Psa 22:8).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
My tears have been my meat - The word rendered tears in this place is in the singular number, and means literally weeping. Compare Psa 39:12. The word meat here means literally bread, and is used in the general signification of food, as the word meat is always used in the English version of the Bible. The English word meat, which originally signified food, has been changed gradually in its signification, until it now denotes in common usage animal food, or flesh. The idea here is, that instead of eating, he had wept. The state described is that which occurs so often when excessive sorrow takes away the appetite, or destroys the relish for food, and occasions fasting. This was the foundation of the whole idea of fasting - that sorrow, and especially sorrow for sin, takes away the desire for food for the time, and leads to involuntary abstinence. Hence arose the correlative idea of abstaining from food with a view to promote that deep sense of sin, or to produce a condition of the body which would be favorable to a proper recollection of guilt. Day and night - Constantly; without intermission. See the notes at Psa 1:2. "While they continually say unto me." While it is constantly said to me; that is, by mine enemies. See Psa 42:10. Where is thy God? - See Psa 3:2; Psa 22:8. The meaning here is, "He seems to be utterly forsaken or abandoned by God. He trusted in God. He professed to be his friend. He looked to him as his protector. But he is now forsaken, as if he had no God; and God is treating him as if he were none of his; as if he had no love for him, and no concern about his welfare."

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

My tears have been my meat - The word rendered tears in this place is in the singular number, and means literally weeping. Compare Psa 39:12. The word meat here means literally bread, and is used in the general signification of food, as the word meat is always used in the English version of the Bible. The English word meat, which originally signified food, has been changed gradually in its signification, until it now denotes in common usage animal food, or flesh. The idea here is, that instead of eating, he had wept. The state described is that which occurs so often when excessive sorrow takes away the appetite, or destroys the relish for food, and occasions fasting. This was the foundation of the whole idea of fasting - that sorrow, and especially sorrow for sin, takes away the desire for food for the time, and leads to involuntary abstinence. Hence arose the correlative idea of abstaining from food with a view to promote that deep sense of sin, or to produce a condition of the body which would be favorable to a proper recollection of guilt.

Day and night - Constantly; without intermission. See the notes at Psa 1:2. "While they continually say unto me." While it is constantly said to me; that is, by mine enemies. See Psa 42:10.

Where is thy God? - See Psa 3:2; Psa 22:8. The meaning here is, "He seems to be utterly forsaken or abandoned by God. He trusted in God. He professed to be his friend. He looked to him as his protector. But he is now forsaken, as if he had no God; and God is treating him as if he were none of his; as if he had no love for him, and no concern about his welfare."

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
My tears have been my meat day and night - My longing has been so intense after spiritual blessings, that I have forgotten to take my necessary food; and my sorrow has been so great, that I have had no appetite for any. I feel more for the honor of my God and his truth than for myself, when the idolaters, who have thy people in captivity, insultingly cry, Where is thy God?

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

My tears have been my meat day and night - My longing has been so intense after spiritual blessings, that I have forgotten to take my necessary food; and my sorrow has been so great, that I have had no appetite for any. I feel more for the honor of my God and his truth than for myself, when the idolaters, who have thy people in captivity, insultingly cry, Where is thy God?

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