NOTES for Psa 43

¹Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

²For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

⁴Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

⁵Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

This psalm is connected with the preceding one; their refrain even allows them to be joined together. But a new tone is also heard here. We could join the two psalms and then see how a new mood gradually grows. Or we can perceive this psalm separately from the preceding one.

If the preceding hymn reflected the sorrow of abandonment by God, overcome through faith and hope in the Lord, here one senses vigor and sees a determination to follow the Lord actively along the paths of His truth, even to the point of readiness to defend that truth in court before the wicked.

The very cry addressed to God—Why have You rejected me?—is no longer the cry of a bewildered person, but the question of one who follows the Lord steadfastly. The one who walks with a confident step is heading toward the Lord, certain that He will not only give an answer, but also will not reject the one who asks and will receive him on His mountain. Even the address to the troubled soul—Why are you cast down?—sounds more vigorous here: there is no reason to be discouraged; forward and upward! We have Someone toward whom to strive, and He does not abandon us.

Other notes

For

¹Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

²For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

³O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

⁴Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

⁵Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

It is as though this psalm arose not in the remote past, but in the middle of the twentieth century, after many centuries of the most brutal persecutions... Read more

It is as though this psalm arose not in the remote past, but in the middle of the twentieth century, after many centuries of the most brutal persecutions. In the thousands of years since it was first heard, its prophetic resonance has in no way diminished. Centuries pass and circumstances change, but the tragic story continues again and again—and who can claim that the bloody cycle has run its course? Evil has not disappeared from the world.

But the Lord is the same now as He was before, and He is with us in the most difficult circumstances. Of course, it is easy to reason about suffering and trials when they are not directly gripping us by the throat. Nevertheless, in every situation the Lord asks us to remain faithful to Him and to His commandments. It is difficult never to yield to the pressure of circumstances, but the Lord never said that keeping the commandments presupposes comfortable living conditions.

And if we can stand firm in faithfulness—not necessarily in the face of persecution, but at least in the face of everyday temptations—we will be able, with a clear conscience, to call ourselves brothers and sisters of those martyrs who confirmed their faithfulness at the highest price.

John 13:36-38

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NOTES for Psa 43

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Readings for 11 April 2017

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