Psalm 43, I will yet praise him!

In many ancient Hebrew manuscripts, Psalms 42 and 43 are joined into one continuous psalm. The two psalms have a common refrain, occuring in Psalm 42: 5, Psalm 42: 11,  and Psalm 43: 5.

Psalm 43:1, Plead my case!

Vindicate me, O God, 

and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; 

rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.

We begin with a plea for safety, indeed for vindication.

Psalm 43:2-4, To your holy mountain

You are God my stronghold. 

Why have you rejected me? 

Why must I go about mourning, 

oppressed by the enemy? 

Send forth your light and your truth, 

let them guide me; 

let them bring me to your holy mountain, 

to the place where you dwell.

Then will I go to the altar of God,

to God, my joy and my delight. 

I will praise you with the harp, 

O God, my God.

The psalmist cries out, first insisting that he has been abandoned and then asking again for the light and truth that God brings. He longs to go to the altar of God and worship.

Psalm 43:5a, Why are you downcast?

Why are you downcast, O my soul? 

Why so disturbed within me?

This plaintive cry, echoing verses 5 and 11 of Psalm 42, clearly links this psalm with the previous one. The psalmist follows each cry with a statement of resolution:

Psalm 43:5b, Hope

Put your hope in God, 

for I will yet praise him, 

my Savior and my God.

Despite the desperate cries that resound through Psalms 42 and 43, the writer ends with a final upbeat statement of trust.