Psalm 43 Written by the sons of Korah. Psalms 42 and 43 go together. They share the same refrain.
1 Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked.
2 You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
SECTIONS:
I Righting Wrongs (1-2)
II Restoring Rights (3-4)
III Exhortation (5)
IV Encouragement
THEME: Longing and regret of despondency turn to trust and assurance.
QUESTIONS:
The psalmist wants God to plead his case against whom?
From whom does he wants deliverance from-to be rescued from?
Why is he mourning?
Why does he want light and truth?
Why do you think he wants that to be led to the Holy Mountain?
Can you see the connection between psalm 42 and 43? What refrain is the same?
I think the ungodly nation spoken about in this psalm is not a foreign entity. It’s safe to assume that the psalmist is speaking of his own people, Israel. The psalmist is depressed because his own people – not some foreign entity – are oppressing him. They’re deceitful and evil and oppressive. We can identify with what that’s like – to live in a country marked by lying, evil, and oppression of those who love the Lord. But what’s the solution to the psalmist’s depression?
What he needs at a very basic and foundational level for help with his depression is for God to act decisively. He needs God to judge or vindicate him. It’s like he’s being put on trial and needs to be exonerated – probably from these men who are lying about him. He needs God to plead his cause against his whole nation – which is acting in a very ungodly manner. He begs God for deliverance.
In verse 3 he asks God to send out his light and truth. In connection with the altar in verse 4, he’s going to praise God on the harp. I think we know by experience that when we praise God this tends to dive away depression. In difficult trials and despair, can ask ourselves – Soul, why are you depressed and cast down? Hope in God. Praise him!
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2197
The opening stanza begins with the striking image of the deer thirsting for water when there is none. Just as water is necessary for life, so is the divine presence. The speaker remembers powerful worship with God and yearns again for that. Verse 2 remembers God, but in the context of the waves of the current crisis overwhelming the speaker. Verse 3petitions God to act as a defense attorney in the face of enemies-the call is for justice.
God’s light and truth are in contrast to the darkness the enemies bring. The psalmist wants to encounter the light of divine presence found in the sacred place of worship. This light elicits praise. The praise recounts God’s deliverance from the crisis. The final word is not the chaos of the crisis but a word of hope and trust.
The concluding refrain continues the dialogue with the self, identified with the Hebrew term often translated “soul.” People today often speak of having a soul, but the Hebrew Scriptures view a person as a soul — a living, breathing self with various dimensions (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual). The Older Testament — and Psalm 42-43 — views the person in a holistic way. Some speak of dividing a person into mind, body, and soul . They speak of the immortality of the soul, a soul that returns to immortality at death. Leaders of the church have at various times suggested that the task of the church is to save “souls” and ignore other dimensions of life. These views are not in line with the holistic view of life found in the Bible and in particular in the Older Testament.
Many today experience seasons of crisis, and our culture suggests that we depend upon ourselves for help rather than upon God. The result is isolation and fear. The psalmist yearns to be surrounded by the believing and worshiping community: to participate in the worship services of the Temple and to celebrate with the people the presence of God in their midst. It ends with hope and praise. The text’s water imagery and the divine quenching of thirst fit the occasion. Life is dependent upon God just as life is dependent upon water.
SONG: Faith is the Victory, Faith of our Fathers, The Solid Rock, Rock of Ages