Proper 7/Pentecost 5/Ordinary Time 12
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
Though numbered separately in almost all texts, Psalms 42 and 43 are actually one psalm. Even a cursory reading makes this clear, and a closer reading leaves little doubt that the two poems should be read as one. The central message of the psalm is the presence of God, or more to the point, the absence of the presence. The psalmist draws our attention to the need to be steadfast in our faith with a recurring refrain spread out across the two poems: "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
