Psalm 43

¹Vindicate me, O God,

And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;

Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

²For You are the God of my strength;

Why do You cast me off?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!

Let them lead me;

Let them bring me to Your holy hill

And to Your tabernacle.

⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,

To God my exceeding joy;

And on the harp I will praise You,

O God, my God.

⁵Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Vindicate me, O God,

And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;

Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!”

The cries of every believer who suffers reproach, rebuke, persecution, affliction and or rejection for their faith in Christ at the hands of the nations in which they dwell is heard in this Psalms opening plea! Make no mistake about it as the antichrists degenerate moral agenda takes root in the nation’s civil laws; which is hastening his arrival; those who refuse to submit themselves to it will become the targets of those nations. For in this ungodly world your only free to choose your own moral conscience as long as it aligns with theirs. Therefore, when one holds to sound Biblical moral values and norms, one will be hated and persecuted for doing so. For that is part and parcel in faithfully following Christ. And so, the first part of the Psalm is an appeal to our Sovereign God and Savior to vindicate us against an ungodly nation, which does not believe in Him, and which will never submit themselves to Him, but will hate us who believe in Him for doing so, for they are ever bent on increasing, justifying, and normalizing more and more ungodliness and lawlessness so as to try to take the guilt of sin away, and yet only the Gospel can do that. But the Gospel requires a willing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and a willing submission to Him to do so, for it cannot be imposed on anyone.

Now along with that plea for our vindication, for standing for the truth; (not by force of arms, nor by contention or strife, but by faith in Jesus Christ); there is the plea for our deliverance from the deceitful and unjust man. For Satan always has his man, that deceitful and unjust person who is the willing orchestrator of our troubles. Who watches us (and recruits others to do the same for them), because in rejecting the Lord they now only think and imagine the worst of us. And so just as they hate and fear the Lord Jesus Christ, so they hate and fear us. Therefore, by their cunning and deceit they will get others to hate and fear us as well. For that is what Satan always does he kills, steals, and destroys by stirring up those whom he has the greatest influence over, and then he sets them against all of us who hold fast to the Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and keep God’s commandments. Nonetheless we do not hate them, since they themselves have often only been taken captive by him to do his will (2 Tim. 2:26). Therefore, our defense is not by increasing our numbers, or by strength of arms, it's not by manipulating and turning people to our side as they so skillfully do to use and manipulate them against us. No, our defense is of God who alone knows all these things, (and so much more), for He knows and sees us and them (Psalm 34:15-16; Pr. 15:3; 1 Peter 3:12). But unlike them His judgment is neither skewed, nor perverted, nor debased, nor evil. For He alone judges justly and truthfully, for He alone knows all our thoughts and all the intents of our hearts, and He will vindicate us before them all on His Day when He by His Son the Lord Jesus Christ judges all nations and repays each one according to their works and ways. Therefore, our defense is of God who always saves the upright in heart!

Vs. 2 “For You are the God of my strength.

Why do You cast me off?

Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

 Even though we know that God is our strength and that we have made our appeal to Him to intercede in our just cause, this does not mean that this will occur immediately. Jesus foresaw this when He told us all to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1-8; 21:34-36). Therefore, during times of oppression it is very likely that you will battle with these same kinds of thoughts in trying to understand God's "delay" during them.

Vs. 3 “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!

Let them lead me;

Let them bring me to Your holy hill

And to Your tabernacle.”

The resolution then to our confusion during such times then is to draw nearer to God. For when nothing else makes sense He does! That is why the psalmist cries out to the Lord to send out His light and His truth, so that they might lead him and guide him. That they might bring him to His holy hill and tabernacle; that is the place where He may be found. Which is not now in a building per-say, but in seeking Him though His Word and prayer we will find Him when we draw near to Him.

Vs. 4 “Then I will go to the altar of God,

To God my exceeding joy;

And on the harp I will praise You,

O God, my God.”

In finding God, the God of my exceeding joy, we will once again praise and worship Him, we will sing and make songs of praise to Him (Psalm 32:2; Eph. 5:19; James 5:13)!

Vs. 5 “Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance and my God.”

 In foreseeing the end of his faith, renewed and strong again, the Psalmist now returns to his current plight. And asks the same question that was asked in Psalm forty-two, in verses five and eleven, because melancholy is not easily vanquished. And yet each time the question is asked he always concludes with hope! Therefore, during your trials hope in God as well for you shall yet praise Him all you who are downtrodden and heavy laden. For our Lord Jesus Christ is soon coming! And He is the help of our countenance, He will restore His joy to our hearts and an everlasting smile to our faces, for He is our help and our God!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.