Psalm 42:3 (ESV)

3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

He can no longer eat. That is how bad it is with the poet. Tears are his daily food (cf. Job 3:24). Sorrow dominates him. He really has a reason to feel like this. There is always that cold mockery: Where is your God? Those mean words sound all day long. The mockery comes from the pagans, but also from the mouth of fellow members of the covenant people. Those ugly words get to him because: where is the help of God? This loss especially hurts him. He feels that God is absent.

This was also the worst for Jesus on the cross on Calvary. The people shouted mocking words to him, but the worst thing was that his Father was absent. He cried out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” This means: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46). Jesus experienced these words so that we might be accepted by God and nevermore forsaken by him. Knowing this gives courage in difficult times.