Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Psalms Chapter 43 mean?

Many Hebrew manuscripts join Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 as a single work. It’s possible they were separated, at some point, for unknown reasons. The themes of Psalm 43 echo those of the prior song. Overall, the psalmist honestly expresses frustration with his suffering. Yet he makes a conscious effort to remember God’s faithfulness and resolves to look to the future with hope.

The psalm opens with an appeal for justice. Because he is being oppressed and slandered, the writer asks why God has not yet come to the rescue. This is followed by a request echoing a prior desire to return to a place of worship (Psalm 42:4). The psalmist refers to God’s truth, and His light, which are common themes in the Bible. The appeal ends on a hopeful note, with the assumption that the writer will be able to worship God in the temple once again (Psalm 43:1–4).

The final verse of this psalm is the exact phrase used twice in the prior song (Psalm 42:5, 11). This is a statement, poetically phrased as a question whose answer should be obvious. It’s natural to be tempted towards despair and discouragement. Despite our feelings, we know God is faithful and that He will vindicate His people, eventually. For that reason, we can be encouraged to put all our trust in the Lord (Psalm 43:5).

Chapter Context
Intricately connected in themes and phrases, Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 might have originally been a single song. Many Hebrew manuscripts render the two as one. In Psalm 43 the psalmist asks the Lord to lead him back to Jerusalem, where he could once again joyfully worship Him. This continues to express Psalm 42‘s concepts of discouragement overcome by purposeful faith in God.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. Vindicate me, O God, and defend my causeagainst an ungodly people,from the deceitful and unjust mandeliver me!

Because Psalm 43 shares themes—even some exact phrases—with Psalm 42, scholars believe they may have originally been a single work. This segment starts with an appeal for God to deliver righteous justice, in the face of sinful oppression. In an Old Testament context, use of the phrase “ungodly people” suggests Gentiles. Some commentators believe the psalmist was an exile in Babylon; others believe he was an exile in the northern region of the Jordan. Psalm 42:6 weighs heavily in favor of the latter view, because the psalmist says, “I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon.”

Whatever his location, the writer longs to return to Jerusalem and asks the Lord to “vindicate” him. The psalmist’s situation and plea for vindication may foreshadow righteous Jews in the tribulation. They will be persecuted by unrighteous Gentiles, who are led by an ungodly and unjust man who poses as Israel’s messiah. He is portrayed in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 as “the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Context Summary
Psalm 43:1–4 asks God to come to the psalmist’s assistance and defend his cause against the wicked. He expresses faith in the Lord but struggles with the feeling that God has rejected him. He prays for guidance to bring him back to the temple, where he anticipates worshiping God joyfully.

Verse 2. For you are the God in whom I take refuge;why have you rejected me?Why do I go about mourningbecause of the oppression of the enemy?

Discouragement is a natural result of hardship. This verse continues a pattern of describing the psalmist’s frustrations. These alternate with expressions of hope in God’s eventual rescue (Psalm 43:4). In this moment of struggle, the writer’s focus was on difficult circumstances instead of God. This led him to an attitude of grief and a suspicion that God had abandoned him.

A believer today may focus on adverse circumstances instead of God and be tempted to despair. Often the outlook looks bleak. Yet looking to a hopeful future with God brings comfort, hope, and joy. The writer to the Hebrews encourages believers to look “to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Despite persecution, the psalmist acknowledged that God was his refuge. He sheltered in God amid stormy oppression from his enemy. Believers are securely sheltered in God. Jesus said no one can tear believers from His Father (John 10:29). Paul writes that the believer’s life is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

Verse 3. Send out your light and your truth;let them lead me;let them bring me to your holy hilland to your dwelling!

This echoes a reference seen in the prior psalm (Psalm 42:4) which seems to refer to the temple in Jerusalem. The “holy hill” is also referred to elsewhere in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 48:1; 87:1; 99:9). The tabernacle was erected there, and later Solomon built the temple in the same spot. God met with His people at the tabernacle and then at the temple. Habakkuk 2:20 affirms that “the LORD is in his holy temple.”

Biblical references to “light” imply truth, knowledge, goodness, and life (2 Samuel 23:4; Psalm 18:28; 27:1; 97:11; John 8:12). “Truth,” in the Psalms, often refers to the recorded Word of God: to Scripture (Psalm 25:5; 86:11; 119:160). In this case, the psalmist may also have been thinking of the remarkable guidance the Lord provided during Israel’s journey through the wilderness. He provided a cloud to lead them by day and a pillar of fire to lead them by night (Exodus 13:21–22). Today God’s Spirit guides believers by granting them understanding through God’s truth, His holy Word. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things (John 14:26; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:6–16), and He identified God’s Word as truth (John 17:17).

Verse 4. Then I will go to the altar of God,to God my exceeding joy,and I will praise you with the lyre,O God, my God.

Believing that God would bring him again to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, the psalmist anticipates a hopeful future. He looks forward to approaching the altar and praising God with music. He addresses God in a personal way as “my God.” Such acts of worship would be appropriate after being delivered from enemies and pain. The writer has been honest about his struggles with discouragement (Psalm 42:9; 43:2). Yet he expects his self-pity to vanish, replaced by gratitude for God’s.

The “lyre” described here was a small, U-shaped instrument with strings made from the small intestines of sheep. The strings stretched across a sounding board over an empty space and were attached to a cross bar. Modern readers would likely think of this as a small harp. The psalmist seems to have been a musician in the worship of God at the sanctuary. Although many gifted musicians enhance today’s worship, all believers can joyfully praise the Lord by “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

Verse 5. Why are you cast down, O my soul,and why are you in turmoil within me?Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,my salvation and my God.

The psalmist repeats his refrain from Psalm 42:5 and 11 in the closing verse of Psalm 43. The statement made here is not inquiring, even though it is phrased as a question. This “rhetorical” technique is used when the answer should seem obvious. If we understand the power and faithfulness of God, we have no reason to be anxious or afraid. Of course, as limited people, those are natural temptations. Psalms such as this are helpful reminders of the great hope we have in the Lord. Instead of looking around into the world, letting difficult circumstances dismay him, the psalmist chose to look above, to his God, who would deliver him and return him to the sanctuary in Jerusalem.

First-century believers were hounded and hunted, chased out of their homes, and scattered throughout the Mediterranean region, but the apostle Peter fixed their hope on Christ and their glorious future. He writes: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4).

Context Summary
Psalm 43:5 repeats a statement made twice in the prior psalm. This moves away from a dejected attitude which questions God and assumes abandonment. This turns the writer’s focus from his enemy’s oppression to hope and optimism in the Lord.

End of Psalm 43

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