Psalm 43 Devotional

Led by Light and Truth

“Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell.”Psalm 43:3 (BSB)

Psalm 43 sounds like a continuation of Psalm 42, and it closes with the very same refrain. The psalmist asks God to take up his case against deceitful and unjust people (43:1). He calls God his refuge, and in the same breath asks why God has rejected him and why he goes about mourning (43:2). The psalm does not explain the contradiction. It holds both: God is the refuge, and God seems far away.

Then comes a request that changes direction. He asks God to send out his light and truth to lead him back to the holy mountain, to the altar, and to God himself, whom he calls his greatest joy (43:3-4). He is not asking first for his circumstances to improve. He is asking to be brought back to God. The final verse again tells his soul to hope in God (43:5). When you feel far from God, the way back is not found in yourself. He sends the light that leads you home.

To think about: What would it look like to ask God today not first for better circumstances, but to lead you back to himself?