Psalms 43:5
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
When the soul is cast down and troubled within, it is to answer itself by hoping in God with confidence that it will yet praise Him as the health of its face and its own God. To call Him the health of the countenance means He personally restores and brightens the face and gives health, joy, light and strength in weakness and after dangerous sickness. Jesus is the source of this help as the believer's righteousness and strength, the mighty Saviour who bears the whole weight and the Great Physician who heals soul and body. This hope rests on the God who stands behind His promise, so faith stands on His plain word rather than on changing feeling, and trusting His promises breaks the enemy's hold in discouragement. Committing the soul to His keeping in trust brings His strength, grace and salvation, for He does not fail those who trust Him and wait patiently for His help in every need.
Answering the Downcast Soul
When the soul is cast down and disquieted within, it is to answer itself with hope in God, trusting that it will yet praise Him because He is its help and the health of the countenance, its own God, the source of strength and gladness and joy who restores the downcast. That hope is a present trust that praise will come again even while distress and inner unrest remain. The verse comforts in severe recurring pain without demanding that the sufferer feel cast down or inwardly troubled, calling instead for cheerfulness, hope in God, trust in Him for strength, and confidence of praising Him again. Trust in God's promises in this way breaks the enemy's hold and weakens his discouraging suggestions, giving the despondent a way to answer sadness and distress by hoping in God and looking forward to praising Him as the source of strength and renewed courage, and when personal faith falters a believer may lean on the faith of others.
Hope rests on the God who stands behind His promise, so faith rests on His promises and plain word rather than being ruled by changing feelings, whether or not joy or ecstasy is felt, and the troubled and discouraged soul is to keep hoping in God and trusting and learning of Christ, which strengthens the heart and may often help toward physical health. Trusting God and committing the soul to His keeping brings His strength and grace and salvation, for He does not fail those who trust Him, and in Him the soul can rejoice as the source of strength and health of countenance. Seeking His favor sustains people in their work with assurance and peace leading to gratitude and praise, since He is the source of the soul's help and strength, and the verse reassures believers to remain courageous and faithful in work when the soul is discouraged, upheld by God who restores the countenance, despite the enemy's attempts to discourage and trouble.
When divine light comes to the heart, bringing peace and joy and restoring believers and bringing them back to God, they rest in the Lord and praise Him as the One who restores and sustains them, and that promised praise is expressed not only in words but by consecrating and giving to Him all they are and have. So the verse is encouragement to repose in God and wait patiently for His help in every time of need, confident in His goodness and promises, and to endure life's burdens cheerfully and look on the bright side.
God the Health of Countenance
To call God the health of the countenance and my God is to confess Him as the believer's own God, the personal helper who restores, brightens and gives health to the face. He is the source of health and joy, of light and strength, to whom praise belongs, and who brings light to the countenance and makes it bright. He is the help and strength of the countenance in weakness and after perilous illness, the restorer who lifts the downcast and troubled soul to hope and to future praise. His countenance is the believer's health and restored joy, and the words are fitting as a blessing that His favor may rest upon another.
Jesus is the source of this help, for He is the believer's righteousness and strength and health of countenance. As Saviour He is mighty to bear the whole weight laid upon Him, and as the Great Physician He heals both soul and body. In Him the troubled soul finds renewed strength and a renewed face, and in Him hope and praise are grounded when the soul is cast down.
Those facing strong temptation, distress, or need of comfort are to be pointed to Jesus and given personal help and prayer. They are to trust God and go forward, believing that Jesus lifts the health of His countenance upon the one who believes to bring comfort.
The same confession calls for praise and thanks to God for favorable results and relief, recognizing them as coming from Him even when they arrive through human work rather than directly and at once from heaven. Even when relief comes through ordinary means and human effort rather than an outwardly miraculous event, its favorable outcome is from God and He is to be praised and thanked as though the help had come directly. So gratitude is due for recovery from sickness, for life spared, and for success in establishing healing work, even when personal recovery remains incomplete.
Its language is also used as blessing and prayer that God's favor and the health of His countenance may rest upon someone and be lifted upon the sick. To a sick and distressed person it is a call to take courage and trust God for comfort and light of countenance, since He is God and the light of the face to the one who trusts in Him.