Psalms 43 Study Notes: A Plea for Vindication and Guidance
The psalmist asks God to defend his cause against lying and unjust enemies and wonders why God seems to have rejected him. He prays for God's light and truth to lead him back to the altar and ends with the same call to hope in God that runs through Psalm 42.
General
In 43:3-4, where does the psalmist ask God's light and truth to lead him?
Answer: To God's holy mountain and the altar where he will praise
The psalmist asks God to send out His light and His truth like guides to bring him back to His holy mountain and the place where He lives, the sanctuary at Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where God was worshiped (43:3). There he will go to God's altar, to God who is his highest joy, and praise Him with the harp (43:4). His goal is not just a place but God Himself. God's word is described elsewhere as a light for the path, and David's one desire was to live in the LORD's house and seek Him there.
- Psalm 43:3-4 (BSB)“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. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.”The psalmist asks God's light and truth to lead him to God's dwelling and altar, where he will praise Him.
- Psalm 119:105 (BSB)“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”God's word is pictured as light that guides the path, as the psalmist asks light to lead him.
- Psalm 27:4 (BSB)“One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.”David's one desire is to dwell in the LORD's house and seek Him there, the same goal as 43:3-4.
- Psalm 73:25-26 (BSB)“Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”Asaph confesses that God Himself is his desire and portion, as the psalmist calls God his joy.
Theological
What destination does the psalmist ask God's light and truth to bring him to in 43:3-4?
Answer: To God's holy mountain and the altar where he will praise
Light and truth are personified as God's emissaries, sent to escort the psalmist to the holy mountain and God's dwelling place (43:3). The goal is worship: the altar and, beyond it, God Himself as his exceeding joy, praised with the harp (43:4). The sanctuary matters because God is there; the psalmist's desire finds its goal in God. This God-centered longing is shared by Psalm 27:4 and Psalm 73:25-26, and Psalm 119:105 likewise pictures God's word as guiding light.
- Psalm 43:3-4 (BSB)“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. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.”The psalmist asks God's light and truth to lead him to God's dwelling and altar, where he will praise Him.
- Psalm 119:105 (BSB)“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”God's word is pictured as light that guides the path, as the psalmist asks light to lead him.
- Psalm 27:4 (BSB)“One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.”David's one desire is to dwell in the LORD's house and seek Him there, the same goal as 43:3-4.
- Psalm 73:25-26 (BSB)“Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”Asaph confesses that God Himself is his desire and portion, as the psalmist calls God his joy.
General
What does the psalmist ask God to do in 43:1?
Answer: Take up his cause against lying and unjust people
The psalmist asks God to vindicate him, that is, to show publicly that he is in the right, and to argue his case like an advocate against a godless nation and against lying, unjust people (43:1). He does not take revenge into his own hands; he brings his case to God as judge. David spoke to Saul the same way, asking the LORD to judge between them, and the speaker in Micah 7 waits for God to argue his case and bring him out into the light.
- Psalm 43:1 (BSB)“Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.”The psalmist asks God to vindicate him and defend his cause against a godless nation.
- 1 Samuel 24:15 (BSB)“May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.””David asked the LORD to judge between him and Saul and plead his case, the same appeal.
- Micah 7:9 (BSB)“Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.”The speaker in Micah 7 waits for God to argue his case and bring him into the light.
- Psalm 35:23-24 (BSB)“Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord! Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.”David likewise asks God to rise to his defense and vindicate him by His righteousness.
Theological
What legal appeal does the psalmist make to God in 43:1?
Answer: Take up his cause against lying and unjust people
Psalm 43 opens in the language of the lawcourt: the psalmist asks God to vindicate him and to plead his cause against a godless nation and deceitful, unjust men (43:1). He commits his case to the divine Judge rather than seeking redress himself. The same legal appeal appears in David's words to Saul (1 Samuel 24:15), in Psalm 35, and in the confidence voiced in Micah 7 that God will argue the case.
- Psalm 43:1 (BSB)“Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.”The psalmist asks God to vindicate him and defend his cause against a godless nation.
- 1 Samuel 24:15 (BSB)“May the LORD be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.””David asked the LORD to judge between him and Saul and plead his case, the same appeal.
- Micah 7:9 (BSB)“Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.”The speaker in Micah 7 waits for God to argue his case and bring him into the light.
- Psalm 35:23-24 (BSB)“Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord! Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.”David likewise asks God to rise to his defense and vindicate him by His righteousness.
General
What tension does the psalmist express in 43:2?
Answer: He calls God his refuge yet asks why God has rejected him
In one breath the psalmist calls God the God of his refuge (his safe shelter), and in the next he asks why God has rejected him and why he must go about mourning, weighed down by his enemy's cruelty (43:2). The second question repeats almost exactly the complaint of 42:9. Honest questions to God are not unbelief; he still speaks to God as his refuge. Psalm 22 and Psalm 44 raise similar why-questions in faith.
- Psalm 43:2 (BSB)“For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”The psalmist calls God his refuge while asking why God has rejected him.
- Psalm 42:9 (BSB)“I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?””The same complaint about mourning under the enemy's oppression appears in the previous psalm.
- Psalm 22:1 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?”David's cry of forsakenness is another why-question addressed to God in faith.
- Psalm 44:23-24 (BSB)“Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?”The sons of Korah ask God why He seems asleep and hidden, still praying to Him.
Theological
What paradox does 43:2 hold together?
Answer: He calls God his refuge yet asks why God has rejected him
Verse 2 juxtaposes confession and complaint: God is the God of his refuge, yet the psalmist asks why he has been rejected and why he walks mourning under the enemy's pressure (43:2), nearly repeating 42:9. The lament is an act of faith, since the complaint is addressed to the very God confessed as refuge. The why-questions of Psalms 22 and 44 share this same faith wrestling with God's apparent absence.
- Psalm 43:2 (BSB)“For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?”The psalmist calls God his refuge while asking why God has rejected him.
- Psalm 42:9 (BSB)“I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?””The same complaint about mourning under the enemy's oppression appears in the previous psalm.
- Psalm 22:1 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?”David's cry of forsakenness is another why-question addressed to God in faith.
- Psalm 44:23-24 (BSB)“Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?”The sons of Korah ask God why He seems asleep and hidden, still praying to Him.
General
True or False: Psalm 43 ends with the same refrain that appears twice in Psalm 42, urging the soul to hope in God.
Answer: True
This is true. Psalm 43 closes with the refrain heard in 42:5 and 42:11, matching 42:11 word for word: the psalmist questions his discouraged soul and tells it to hope in God, his Savior, whom he will yet praise (43:5). Psalm 43 has no heading of its own, and it continues the themes of Psalm 42, including the complaint about the enemy's oppression (42:9; 43:2). Read together, the two psalms move three times from sorrow to hope, ending with confident expectation of praise. That hope rests on God and His word, not on wishful thinking.
- Psalm 43:5 (BSB)“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”Psalm 43 ends with the refrain that also appears twice in Psalm 42.
- Psalm 42:5 (BSB)“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.”The refrain's first appearance in Psalm 42.
- Psalm 42:11 (BSB)“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”The refrain's second appearance, at the end of Psalm 42.
- Psalm 130:5 (BSB)“I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.”Hope that rests on the LORD and His word, the confidence the refrain commands.
Theological
True or False: Psalm 43 concludes with the refrain found at 42:5 and 42:11, calling the soul to hope in God.
Answer: True
This is true. The refrain of 42:5 and 42:11 recurs at 43:5, identical to 42:11 and nearly so to 42:5, where the psalmist again addresses his disquieted soul and summons it to hope in God as his Savior. Psalm 43 lacks a superscription and shares the vocabulary of Psalm 42, including the complaint of 42:9 repeated in 43:2. Taken together, the two psalms move three times from lament to hope, a hope grounded in God and His word (Psalm 130:5).
- Psalm 43:5 (BSB)“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”Psalm 43 ends with the refrain that also appears twice in Psalm 42.
- Psalm 42:5 (BSB)“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.”The refrain's first appearance in Psalm 42.
- Psalm 42:11 (BSB)“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”The refrain's second appearance, at the end of Psalm 42.
- Psalm 130:5 (BSB)“I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.”Hope that rests on the LORD and His word, the confidence the refrain commands.