Spurgeon, "David complains of his enemies, and asks the privilege of communion with God as his surest deliverance from them.

1. PSALM 43 COMME

2. TARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
PREFACE
I quote many authors both old and new, and if any I quote do not want their
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I

3. TRODUCTIO

4. 1. Spurgeon, “On account of the similarity of the structure of this Psalm to that of
Psalm forty- two, it has been supposed to be a fragment wrongly separated from the
preceding song; but it is always dangerous to allow these theories of error in Holy
Scripture, and in this instance it would be very difficult to show just cause for such
an admission. Why should the Psalm have been broken? Its similarity would have
secured its unity had it ever been part and parcel of the forty-second. Is it not far
more likely that some in their fancied wisdom united them wrongly in the few MSS
in which they are found as one? We believe the fact is that the style of the poetry
was pleasant to the writer, and therefore in after life he wrote this supplemental
hymn after the same manner. As an appendix it needed no title. David complains of
his enemies, and asks the privilege of communion with God as his surest deliverance
from them.
Division. The psalmist cried to God in prayer, Psalms 43:1-3. Promises praise in the
anticipation of an answer, Psalms 43:4, and chides himself for his despondency,
Psalms 43:5.

5. 1. Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause
against an ungodly nation; rescue me from
deceitful and wicked men.
1. Barnes, “Judge me, O God - This does not mean, Pronounce sentence upon me;
but, Undertake my cause; interpose in my behalf; do justice in the case. He
regarded his own cause as right; he felt that he was greatly wronged by the
treatment which he received from people, and he asks to have it shown that he was
not guilty of what his enemies charged on him; that he was an upright man, and a
friend of God. See Psa_7:8, note; Psa_26:1, note.
And plead my cause - See the notes at Psa_35:1. “Against an ungodly nation.”
Margin, unmerciful. Literally, “from a nation not merciful,” or not; religious. The
idea is, that the nation or people referred to manifested none of the spirit of religion
in their conduct toward him; that he was treated with severity and injustice. This
entire description would agree well with the state of things in the time of the
rebellion of Absalom, when David was driven from his home and his throne: 2 Sam.
15, following.
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man - Margin, as in Hebrew, from a
man of deceit and iniquity. This would apply well to the case and character of
Absalom, or perhaps more directly and properly to the character and counsel of
Ahithophel, among the leading conspirators in the rebellion of Absalom, to whose
counsels much of the rebellion was owing: 2Sa_15:31; compare 2Sa_16:23;
2Sa_17:14, 2Sa_17:23.
2. Clarke, “Judge me, O God, and plead my cause - ריבה ריבי ribah ribi, a forensic
term, properly enough translated, plead my cause, be my counsellor and advocate.
Ungodly nation - The Babylonians; the impious, perfidious, wicked, and deceitful
Babylonians. The deceitful and unjust man -

6. ebuchadnezzar.
3. Gill, “Judge me, O God,.... The Targum adds, with the judgment of truth; see
Rom_2:2; and plead my cause; which was a righteous one; and therefore he could
commit it to God to be tried and judged by him, and could put it into his hands to
plead it for him; See Gill on Psa_35:1; against an ungodly nation; meaning either
the Philistines, among whom he was; or his own nation, when they joined his son
Absalom in rebellion against him: some understand it of the great numbers that
were with Saul, when he was persecuted by him;
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man; either Absalom, who, under
pretence of a vow he had vowed in Hebron, got leave of David to go thither, and

7. then engaged in a conspiracy against him; or Ahithophel, who had been his friend
and acquaintance, but now joined with Absalom. It is true of Saul, who, under
pretence of friendship, sought his ruin, and to whom he expressed himself almost in
the same words here used; see 1Sa_18:17.
4. Henry, “David here makes application to God, by faith and prayer, as his judge,
his strength, his guide, his joy, his hope, with suitable affections and expressions.
I. As his Judge, his righteous Judge, who he knew would judge him, and who
(being conscious of his own integrity) he knew would judge for him (Psa_43:1):
Judge me, O God! and plead my cause. There were those that impeached him;
against them he is defendant, and from their courts, where he stood unjustly
convicted and condemned, he appeals to the court of heaven, the supreme
judicature, praying to have their judgment given against him reversed and his
innocency cleared. There were those that had injured him; against them he is
plaintiff, and exhibits his complaint to him who is the avenger of wrong, praying for
justice for himself and upon them. Observe, 1. Who his enemies were with whom he
had this struggle. Here was a sinful body of men, whom he calls an ungodly or
unmerciful nation. Those that are unmerciful make it appear that they are ungodly;
for, those that have any fear or love of their master will have compassion on their
fellow-servants. And here was one bad man the head of them, a deceitful and unjust
man, most probably Saul, who not only showed no kindness to David, but dealt most
perfidiously and dishonestly with him. If Absalom was the man he meant, his
character was no better. As long as there are such bad men out of hell, and nations
of them, it is not strange that good men, who are yet out of heaven, meet with hard
and base treatment. Some think that David, by the spirit of prophecy, calculated
this psalm for the use of the Jews in their captivity in Babylon, and that the
Chaldeans are the ungodly nation here meant; to them it was very applicable, but
only as other similar scriptures, none of which are of private interpretation. God
might design it for their use, whether David did or no. 2. What is his prayer with
reference to them: Judge me. As to the quarrel God had with him for sin, he prays,
“Enter not into judgment with me, for then I shall be condemned;” but, as to the
quarrel his enemies had with him he prays, “Lord, judge me, for I know that I shall
be justified; plead my cause against them, take my part, and in thy providence
appear on my behalf.” He that has an honest cause may expect that God will plead
it. “Plead my cause so as to deliver me from them, that they may not have their will
against me.” We must reckon our cause sufficiently pleaded if we be delivered,
though our enemies be not destroyed.
5. David Guzik, “a. Vindicate me, O God: The psalmist repeats a familiar theme in
the Psalms - a cry for vindication. He feel unjustly accused and takes that sense of
injustice to the right place - to the throne of God, and he leaves his vindication up to
the Lord.

8. b. Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! It’s hard to deal with deceitful and
unjust people, because they not only do wrong but they also know how to cover it up
with deceit. In such a tough situation, the psalmist does the right thing - he cries out
to God.
6. Constable, “In this prayer the psalmist asked God to lead him back to Jerusalem
so he could worship God there and find refreshment and relief. As I mentioned in
my comments concerning Psalm 42, this psalm may at one time have been the last
part of that one. This psalm is the only one in Book 2 (Pss. 42—72) that does not
have a heading.
1. Prayer for vindication 43:1-3
43:1 The psalmist wrote as though most of the people in his nation had turned
against him. He also referred to one opponent in particular. If David wrote
this psalm, he may have done so when he fled from Absalom.
43:2 God had apparently deserted His servant who relied on Him for strength.
His enemy had the upper hand.
43:3 God's light is the revelation of His will that brings understanding and life.
His truth rests in His Word that reveals that will. The psalmist prayed for
God's guidance through His Word that would bring him back to Mt. Zion,
the place where David's tabernacle stood.
2. Promise to praise 43:4
If God would bring him back to Jerusalem, he vowed to praise God publicly in the
sanctuary.
3. Prompting to trust 43:5
The writer encouraged himself with the confidence that he would yet praise God for
His deliverance. Therefore he should continue to hope in Him (cf. 42:5, 11).
When adversaries falsely accuse us, believers can find comfort and encouragement
in the fact that ultimately God will vindicate us and bring us into His presence.
There we will serve and praise Him.
7. William Kelly, “These are clearly companion psalms, and so under one title. The
prophetic aspect is the remnant cast out or fled: compare with Matt. 24: 15 et seqq.,
Mark 13: 14, etc., Joel 2: 17. The historic occasion is when David and his faithful
following abandoned Jerusalem under Absalom's conspiracy. The closing days of
our Lord had in the highest degree this character, though modified by other
considerations; for what sorrows had not He, the Holy One of God? Yet the former
of the twain is more general and looks at Gentile enemies as much as or more than
any; whereas the force of the later psalm is the complaint against the Jews as "an
ungodly nation." Professedly holy (in the sense here of piety from being the object of
divine mercy), they had none; they were now goi lo-chasid. How true, yet how bitter,
that the driven out godly ones should so speak to God of the chosen people! And so
in fact it will be. The one psalm without the other could not adequately express the
grief of the remnant at this juncture, when the Antichrist sets up the abomination of

9. desolation in the sanctuary, instigated and protected by the Beast (or Emperor of
the Western powers). See Rev. 13. The thirst here is to drink once more of the
waters, whence the abominable amalgam of Gentile self-will and Jewish apostasy
had driven them out; so they confidently expect from God Who cannot deny
Himself, and loves His people.
8. Spurgeon, “Judge me, O God. Others are unable to understand my motives, and
unwilling to give me a just verdict. My heart is clear as to intent and therefore I
bring my case before thee, content that thou wilt impartially weigh my character,
and right my wrongs. If thou wilt judge, thy acceptance of my conduct will be
enough for me; I can laugh at human misrepresentation if my conscience knows that
thou art on my side; thou art the only one I care for; and besides, thy verdict will
not sleep, but thou wilt see practical justice done to thy slandered servant. And
plead my cause against an ungodly nation. One such advocate as the Lord will more
than suffice to answer a nation of brawling accusers. When people are ungodly, no
wonder that they are unjust; those who are not true to God himself cannot be
expected to deal rightly with his people. Hating the King they will not love his
subjects. Popular opinion weighs with many, but divine opinion is far more weighty
with the gracious few. One good word from God outweighs ten thousand railing
speeches of men. He bears a brazen shield before him whose reliance in all things is
upon his God; the arrows of calumny fall harmlessly from such a buckler. O deliver
me from the deceitful and unjust man. Deceit and injustice are boon companions: he
who fawns will not fear to slander. From two such devils none can deliver us but
God. His wisdom can outwit the craft of the vilest serpent, and his power can over
match the most raging lion. Whether this was Doeg or Ahithophel is small matter,
such double distilled villains are plentiful, and the only way of dealing with them is
to refer the matter to the righteous Judge of all; if we try to fight them with their
own weapons, we shall suffer more serious injury from ourselves than from them. O
child of God, leave these thine enemies in better hands, remembering that vengeance
belongeth not to thee, but to thy Lord. Turn to him in prayer, crying, "O deliver
me," and ere long you shall publish abroad the remembrance of his salvation.”
9. Calvin, “The substance and object of his prayer, indeed, were, that he might be
delivered from the wicked and malicious men by whom he was undeservedly
persecuted. But as it is to the miserable and guiltless, who are wrongfully afflicted,
that God promises his help, David, in the first place, submits himself to be examined
by him, that, having discovered and thoroughly proved the rectitude of his cause, he
may at length grant him aid. And as it is a most cheering source of consolation for
us to find that God disdains not to take cognisance of our cause, so also, it is vain for
us to expect that he will avenge the injuries and wrongs which are done to us, unless
our own integrity be so manifest as to induce him to be favorable to us against our
adversaries. By the unmerciful nation is to be understood the whole company of
David’s enemies, who were cruel, and destitute of all the feelings of humanity. What
follows, concerning the deceitful and wicked man, might indeed be applied to Saul;

10. but it seems rather to be a form of speech in which, by enallage, the singular
number is used for the plural.
10. Treasury of David, “Verse 1. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause, etc.
Believers may appeal to God's justice, and plead God's righteousness.
1. Touching suffering wrongs of men.
2. Touching sin in relation to God's wrath.
3. Touching suffering wrongs of men, believers may appeal upon these three
grounds:
4. The injustice that men do to believers, is as well against God's just nature, as
against the believers' ease. So their appeals to God are agreeable to God's
enmity against injustice; therefore, his enmity concurs with their appeals.
Romans 1:18.
5. Justice in men is according to God's nature, as well as for the believer's
welfare, and, therefore, the disposition and inclination of God's nature
concurs with their prayers for deliverance. Psalms 11:7 Luke 23:6-7.
6. Such wrong God who do wrong his people 2 Chronicles 15:11 Zechariah 2:8
Acts 9:4-5; so that in deliverance God vindicates himself as well as the
believers.
7. Touching sin in relation to God's wrath, a true believer may plead God's
justice or righteousness on these three grounds:
8. Christ our Advocate or Attorney so pleads. John 17:24, etc.

11. ow, the client
may plead the same as the advocate, seeing it is in relation to the same party
and the same issue.
9. Christ hath satisfied God's justice, so that on Christ was laid all the sins of all
believers. He was "wounded" for them.

12. ow, God cannot in justice punish
twice; therefore, seeing Christ was wounded, believers must be healed. Isa
53:1-12.
10.Believers have God's righteousness imputed to them 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 ;
therefore, God must deal with believers as he will deal with his own
righteousness.
Useful is this doctrine two ways.
1. For terror to the enemies of believers. How many prevailing cries to the
justice of God are against such enemies?
2. Their own sins cry. 2. Believers injuries cry. 3. Believer's prayers cry. 4.
Christ's intercession cries over against their prayers and desires Revelation
6:9, compared with Revelation 8:3.
3. The second use is for comfort to believers, that as God's mercy is for them, so
his justice to deliver them, not only from men, but from sin; and in and
through Christ they may humbly plead justice as against sinners, so against
sin; not only against the guilt but against the power, that seeing Christ died,
sin should not live. Condensed from

13. athanael Homes, 1652.

14. Verse 1. Ungodly ... deceitful ... unjust. There are ungodly men who, being destitute
of religious principle, will not scruple to injure us, when they can thereby gratify
their passions or advance their worldly interests. There are deceitful men who will
put on the garb of friendship, and acquire our confidence and esteem, and then
treacherously cheat us out of our property, or our reputation, or our peace. There
are unjust men, who by fraud or by violence, would rob us of our dearest rights and
most valuable possessions, and not only reduce our powers and opportunities of
doing good, but even diminish our means of comfortable subsistence. And there are
oppressors, who taking advantage of our weakness or dependence, and trampling
alike on the maxims of equity and humanity, may exact from us unreasonable
services, impose upon us heavy burdens and cruel restraints, and ply us with insults,
and harassments, and deprivations, from which we can make no escape, and for
which we can find no redress. Andrew Thomson, D.D., in "Lectures on Portions of
the Psalms." 1826.
2. You are God my stronghold. Why have you
rejected me? Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
1. David has a divided heart where he feels both pleasure and pain. He is joyful in
God, and yet sad in his situation. He is feeling the paradox of life that we all feel at
some point. God is good, but life is hard, and we can’t get it altogether on the
positive side, for the negative keeps gnawing at our heart. John Piper stated it when
he wrote, “I think this is not an uncommon condition among Christians today—a
divided heart, a torn heart. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, or that we should have
this experience. I am just saying most Christians do. In fact, I think I would say,
“All Christians do at some point.” You can see it in the words of the man in Mark
9:24, “I believe, help my unbelief.” You can see it in Paul’s struggles in Romans
7:19, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on
doing.” So my guess is that many of you know this experience first hand.”
He shows signs of depression, for he is asking the why question, and especially why
God has not yet delivered him from what is dragging him down. It seems like God
does not care by leaving him in this negative state.
2. Barnes, “For thou art the God of my strength - See Psa_18:2, note; Psa_28:7,
note.
Why dost thou cast me off? - As if I were none of thine; as if I were wholly
abandoned. Compare the notes at Psa_22:1. The word rendered “cast off” - זנח
zânach - is a word which implies strong disgust or loathing: “Why dost thou cast me

15. off as a loathsome or disgusting object?” Compare Rev_3:16. The Hebrew word
means properly to be foul, to be rancid, to stink: then, to be loathsome or
abominable; and then, to treat or regard anything as such. Compare Hos_8:3,
Hos_8:5; Isa_19:6.
Why go I mourning ... - See the notes at Psa_42:9. This expression, with others of
a similar character, renders it morally certain that this psalm was composed by the
same person, and with reference to the same circumstances, as the former.
3. Clarke, “For those art the God of my strength - The psalmist speaks here, as in
other places in the person of the whole Israelitish people then captive in Babylon.
We still acknowledge thee for our God. Why are we cast off?

16. ow that we are
humbled and penitent, why are we not enlarged? Why are we not saved from this
oppression of the Babylonians?
4. Gill, “For thou art the God of my strength,.... Who being the strong and mighty
God was able to deliver and save him, as well as to plead his cause; and was the
author and giver of strength, natural and spiritual, to him; and was the strength of
his heart, life and salvation; and is a good reason why he committed his cause unto
him;
why doest thou cast me off? this is the language of unbelief: it being what was not in
reality, only in appearance: the psalmist was ready to conclude he was cast off and
rejected of God, because he was afflicted and left in a desolate condition by him, and
he did not immediately arise to his help and deliverance, and had withdrawn the
light of his countenance from him; but God does not cast off or reject any of his
people; they always continue in his love, and in his covenant, and in the hands of his
Son; they are always in his sight and family, and shall never perish eternally; and
whoever casts them off, or casts them out, he will not;
why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? See Gill on Psa_42:9.
5. Henry, “As his strength, his all-sufficient strength; so he eyes God (Psa_43:2):
“Thou art the God of my strength, my God, my strength, from whom all my strength is
derived, in whom I strengthen myself, who hast often strengthened me, and without
whom I am weak as water and utterly unable either to do or suffer any thing for
thee.” David now went mourning, destitute of spiritual joys, yet he found God to be
the God of his strength. If we cannot comfort ourselves in God, we may stay
ourselves upon him, and may have spiritual supports when we want spiritual
delights. David here pleads this with God: “Thou art the God on whom I depend as
my strength; why then dost thou cast me off?” This was a mistake; for God never
cast off any that trusted in him, whatever melancholy apprehensions they may have
had of their own state. “Thou art the God of my strength; why then is my enemy too
strong for me, and why go I mourning because of his oppressive power?” It is hard
to reconcile the mighty force of the church's enemies with the almighty power of the
church's God; but the day will reconcile them when all his enemies shall become his
footstool.

17. 6. William Heslop, “In only five verses there are four questions. "Why . . . why . . .
why . . . and why?" Heaviness through manifold temptations may cause the soul to
wonder and question. Failure to confess CHRIST before men will plunge the soul
into the slough of doubt and sometimes despair. Disobedience will bring darkness.
Whatever the cause, there is one thing sure. If we will walk in the light and follow
the truth wherever it may lead (verse 3), and then "hope in God" (verse 5), we shall
soon begin to shout the praises of GOD.
The steps to certainty and assurance are clearly marked in this song:
(1) Commit yourself to GOD. "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause."
(2) Pray. "O deliver me."
(3) Trust. "For thou art the God of my strength."
(4) Seek light and walk in it. "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me."
(5) Praise the Lord. "Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding
joy: yea,upon the harp will I praise thee."
(6) Hope. "Hope in God."
Here are six helps to happiness, health and holiness. "I shall yet praise him, who is
the healthof my countenance, and my God." Harlan Page once went through his
Sunday school to get the spiritual census of the school. Coming to one of the
teachers, he said, "Shall I put you down as having hope in CHRIST?" The
teacher replied, "

18. o." - "Then," said he very tenderly, "I will put you down as
having no hope." He closed his little book, and left him. That was enough. GOD
gave that young man's soul no rest till he found hope through the cross.
7. Spurgeon, “For. Here is argument, which is the very sinew of prayer. If we
reasoned more with the Lord we should have more victories in supplication. Thou
art the God of my strength. All my strength belongs to thee -- I will not, therefore,
use it on my own behalf against my personal foes. All my strength comes from thee,
I therefore seek help from thee, who art able to bestow it. All my strength is in thee,
I leave therefore this task of combating my foes entirely in thy hands. Faith which
leaves such things alone is wise faith.

19. ote the assurance of David, thou art, not I
hope and trust so, but I know it is so; we shall find confidence to be our consolation.
Why dost thou cast me off? Why am I treated as if thou didst loathe me? Am I
become an offence unto thee? There are many reasons why the Lord might cast us
off, but no reason shall prevail to make him do so. He hath not cast off his people,
though he for awhile treats them as cast offs. Learn from this question that it is well
to enquire into dark providences, but we must enquire of God, not of our own fears.
He who is the author of a mysterious trial can best expound it to us.
"Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain."

20. Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Why do I wander
hither and thither like a restless spirit? Why wear I the weeds of sorrow on my
body, and the lines of grief on my face? Oppression makes a wise man mad; why,
Lord, am I called to endure so much of it for so long a time? Here again is a useful
question, addressed to the right quarter. The answer will often be because we are
saints, and must be made like our Head, and because such sorrow is chastening to
the spirit, and yieldeth comfortable fruit. We are not to cross question the Lord in
peevishness, but we may ask of him in humility; God help us to observe the
distinction so as not to sin through stress of sorrow.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 2. Thou art the God of my strength. The godly man
hath from God a threefold strength, namely, natural, providential, and spiritual.
1.

21. atural, Acts 17:28. This is twofold: of body, of mind. Of robustness,
hardness, and agility of body; of wit, invention, and valour of mind.

22. ow,
these donations of corporal and mental natural endowments are God's gifts.
Ps 18:34,39 ...
2. Providential strength, which is threefold:
3. God's donation of strengthening mercies.
1. Corporal: wine to make glad, and bread to strengthen. Psalms 104:15.
2. Mental, common gifts; as Paul had a singular gift of language and
single life; Apollos of elocution, argument, power of convincing. 2.
Providential strength is God's making way for his people to act and
put forth their strength. Psalms 78:50.
4. Providential strength is God's concurrence with our lawful human acting.
Psalms 18:29.
5. The third sort of power is spiritual: God is the godly man's spiritual power.
1 John 2:14 : "I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong,"
namely, with spiritual strength, for it follows, "The word of God abideth in
you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." This is the main strength of a
godly man; as that text hints, namely, young men are naturally strong, but
St. John takes no notice of that, but commends them for their spiritual
strength. This spiritual strength is from the word of the Spirit, and from the
Spirit of the word, that is, from the Spirit accompanying the word.
6. From the word of the Spirit, the word of God. Psalms 119:50: "This is my
comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me." To be
"quickened," i.e., enlivened, is to be full of vigour and spirit and to act
mightily, and to "comfort" is, as the word signifies, to make strong; for when
a man is most cheerful with sobriety, he is most strong. St. John in that place
fore quoted, saith the young men to whom he wrote were strong because the
word of God abode in them. For Pr 12:25 "whereas sorrow in the heart of
man maketh it stoop" -- makes it sickly, weak, drooping -- "a good word
maketh it glad," cheerful, strong, vigorous. And so if the word of a wise
friend, how much more the word of God, with its many strengthening
promises? Psalms 20:2 119:28. The word of God is the very mind and will of

23. God, and power of God, and with the word God created the world, therefore,
he that receives this word must needs receive a great deal of strength.
Romans 1:16.
Verse 2. The Spirit of the word, the Holy Spirit that useth to accompany the word to
them that receive it. By his Spirit God is in a believer 1 Corinthians 6:9 Ephesians
2:1-22; and this is the spirit of strength and power. Ephesians 3:16 2 Timothy 1:7 .
As a powerful, active soul makes a vigorous body, so the Spirit in the soul makes the
soul powerful and strong, being the soul of the soul of a believer. We read more than
once or twice in the Scriptures, that when believers did any eminent act, it is said,
the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they did so and so, i.e., the Spirit of God
in them did them put forth its power to make them act powerfully. Condensed from

24. athanael Homes.
9. Calvin, “He considered it absolutely certain that his enemies had no power to do
him harm except in so far as the Lord permitted them; and therefore he asks, as if it
were something altogether unaccountable, how it happened that his enemies
prevailed against him whilst he was under the assured protection and guardianship
of God. From this he gathers courage to pray, that God would be pleased again to
manifest his favor, which he seemed to have hid from him for a time. The term light
is to be understood as denoting favor; for as adversities not only obscure the face of
God, but also overcast the heavens, as it were, with clouds and fogs, so also, when we
enjoy the divine blessing which makes rich, it is like the cheerful light of a serene
day shining around us; or rather the light of life, dispelling all that thick obscurity
which overwhelmed us in sorrow. By this word the Psalmist intimates two things;
first, that all our miseries arise from no other source than this, that God withdraws
from us the tokens of his paternal love; and, secondly, that as soon as he is pleased
to manifest towards us his serene and gracious countenance, deliverance and
salvation also arise to us. He adds truth, because he expected this light only from the
promises of God. The unbelieving desire the favor of God, but they do not raise
their eyes to his light; for the natural disposition of man always tends towards the
earth, unless his mind and all his feelings are raised up on high by the word of God.
In order, then, to encourage himself in the hope of obtaining the grace of God,
David rests with confidence in this, that God, who is true, and cannot deceive any,
has promised to assist his servants. We must therefore explain the sentence thus:
Send forth thy light, that it may be a token and testimony of thy truth, or that it
may really and effectually prove that thou art faithful and free from all deceit in thy
promises. The knowledge of the divine favor, it is true, must be sought for in the
Word of God; nor has faith any other foundation on which it can rest with security
except his word; but when God stretches out his hand to help us, the experience of
this is no small confirmation both of the word and of faith. David declares what was
the chief object of his desire, and what end he had in view in seeking deliverance
from his calamities, when he says, Let them direct me, and lead me to thy holy hill. As
the chief cause of his sorrow consisted in his being banished from the congregation
of the godly, so he places the height of all his enjoyments in this, that he might be at

25. liberty to take part in the exercises of religion, and to worship God in the sanctuary.
Tacitly, indeed, David makes a vow of thanksgiving to God; but there can be no
doubt, that by these words he intimates, that the end which he had in view in
seeking deliverance from his afflictions was, that as formerly he might be at liberty
to return to the sanctuary, from which he was driven by the tyranny of his enemies.
And it deserves to be particularly noticed, that although he had been deprived of his
wife, spoiled of his goods, his house, and all his other earthly comforts, yet he always
felt such an ardent desire to come to the temple, that he forgot almost every thing
else. But it is enough for me at present briefly to notice this, as in the preceding
psalm I have treated at greater length of this holy desire of David, which ought to be
imitated by all the faithful. Still, however, it might be asked, How it is that mention
is here made of Mount Sion, which was not appointed to the service of God till after
the death of Saul? The only solution of this difficulty which I can give is, that David,
composing this psalm at an after period of his life, employs, in accordance with the
revelation which had subsequently been given to him, language which otherwise he
would have used more generally in speaking only of the tabernacle, and without at
all specifying the place. In this I see no inconsistency.
3. 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.
1. Barnes, “O send out thy light and thy truth - Send them forth as from thy
presence; or, let them be made manifest. The word light here is equivalent to favor
or mercy, as when one prays for the “light of God’s countenance” (see the notes at
Psa_4:6); and the idea is, that now, in the time of darkness and trouble, when the
light of God’s countenance seemed to be withdrawn or hidden, he prays that God
would impart light; that he would restore his favor; that he would conduct him back
again to his former privileges. The word truth here is equivalent to truthfulness or
faithfulness; and the prayer is, that God would manifest his faithfulness to him as
one of his own people, by restoring him to the privileges and blessings from which
he had been unjustly driven. Compare the notesat Psa_25:5.
Let them lead me - That is, Let them lead me back to my accustomed privileges;
let me go under their guidance to the enjoyment of the blessings connected with the
place of public worship.

26. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill - Mount Zion; the place where the worship
of God was then celebrated, and hence called the “holy hill” of God.
And to thy tabernacles - The tabernacle was the sacred tent erected for the
worship of God (see the notes at Psa_15:1), and was regarded as the place where
Yahweh had his abode. The tabernacle was divided, as the temple was afterward,
into two parts or rooms, the holy and the most holy place (see the notes at Heb_9:1-
5); and hence the plural term, tabernacles, might be employed in speaking of it. The
language here implies, as in Psa_42:1-11, that the author of the psalm was now
exiled or banished from this, and hence, also it may be inferred that the two psalms
were composed by the same author, and with reference to the same occasion. If the
reference here, moreover, is to Mount Zion as the “holy hill,” it may be observed
that this would fix the composition of the psalm to the time of David, as before his
time that was not the place of the worship of God, but was made “holy” by his
removing the ark there. After his time the place of worship was removed to Mount
Moriah, where the temple was built. It cannot be demonstrated, however, with
absolute certainty that the reference here is to Mount Zion, though that seems in
every way probable. Compare Psa_2:6, note; Psa_3:4, note; compare 2Sa_5:7-9;
2Sa_6:17.
2. Clarke, “O send out thy light and thy truth - We are in darkness and distress, O
send light and prosperity; we look for the fulfillment of thy promises, O send forth
thy truth. Let thy fight guide me to thy holy hill, to the country of my fathers; let thy
truth lead me to thy tabernacles, there to worship thee in spirit and in truth.
3. Gill, “ O send out thy light and thy truth,.... By light is meant, not the law, as
Arama; but rather, as some Jewish (p) interpreters understand it, the Messiah, the
sun of righteousness, and light of the world; who is the author of all light, natural,
spiritual, and eternal; and whose coming into the world is often signified by being
sent into it. The Spirit of God also is the enlightener of men, both at first conversion
and afterwards, and is sent down into their hearts as a comforter of them, by being
the Spirit of adoption. The Gospel of Christ is a great and glorious light, which, with
the Holy Ghost, is sent down from heaven; though perhaps here rather may be
meant the light of God's countenance, the discoveries of his favour and
lovingkindness, which produce light, life, joy, peace, and comfort: and by "truth"
may be meant, either Christ himself, who is the truth; or the Gospel the word of
truth; or rather the faithfulness of God in the fulfilment of his promises; and so the
words are a petition that God would show forth his lovingkindness, and make good
his word, which would be of the following use:
let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles; that
is, to the place of public worship, where the tabernacle was, the "hill" where it was,
which seems to be Mount Zion; and is called "holy"; not that there was any real

27. holiness in it; only relative, because of the worship of God in it; and the
"tabernacle" is called "tabernacles", because of the holy place and the most holy
place in it; the one being the first, the other the second tabernacle, as in Heb_9:2;
and this hill and tabernacles represented the church and ordinances of God, to
which such who are possessed of light and truth are led.
4. Henry, “As his guide, his faithful guide (Psa_43:3): Lead me, bring me to thy holy
hill. He prays, 1. That God by his providence would bring him back from his
banishment, and open a way for him again to the free enjoyment of the privileges of
God's sanctuary. His heart is upon the holy hill and the tabernacles, not upon his
family-comforts, his court-preferments, or his diversions; he could bear the want of
these, but he is impatient to see God's tabernacles again; nothing so amiable in his
eyes as those; thither he would gladly be brought back. In order to this he prays,
“Send out thy light and thy truth; let me have this as a fruit of thy favour, which is
light, and the performance of thy promise, which is truth.” We need desire no more
to make us happy than the good that flows from God's favour and is included in his
promise. That mercy, that truth, is enough, is all; and, when we see these in God's
providences, we see ourselves under a very safe conduct.

28. ote, Those whom God
leads he leads to his holy hill, and to his tabernacles; those therefore who pretend to
be led by the Spirit, and yet turn their backs upon instituted ordinances, certainly
deceive themselves. 2. That God by his grace would bring him into communion with
himself, and prepare him for the vision and fruition of himself in the other world.
Some of the Jewish writers by the light and truth here understand Messiah the
Prince and Elias his forerunner: these have come, in answer to the prayers of the
Old Testament; but we are still to pray for God's light and truth, the Spirit of light
and truth, who supplies the want of Christ's bodily presence, to lead us into the
mystery of godliness and to guide us in the way to heaven. When God sends his light
and truth into our hearts, these will guide us to the upper world in all our devotions
as well as in all our aims and expectations; and, if we conscientiously follow that
light and that truth, they will certainly bring us to the holy hill above.
5. John Piper, “O how many people come to me for prayer pointing to their head
and say, “I know that God is true. I know that he loves me. I know that promises
never to leave me or forsake me.” And then they point to their heart, and say, “But I
don’t feel it.” That’s what this man is experiencing. God is his refuge objectively.
But subjectively he feels rejected and forsaken.
He knows the cause of this is darkness. He is spiritually blind to something. So the
first stage of his prayer is for light and truth. This is the way Paul prayed for us, in
Ephesians 1:18, “[May] the eyes of your hearts [be] enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope to which he has called you.” The eyes of the heart—remember
where the people were pointing when they could not feel the wonders they knew—
the eyes of the heart need light. Spiritual light. Light from God.

29. He is praying for spiritual light. It’s not physical light. Physical light helps physical
eyes see physical reality. Spiritual light lets spiritual eyes—the eyes of the heart—see
spiritual reality. And see it for what it is, namely, beautiful. So he is praying that
God would rescue him not from his enemies but from a far more dangerous enemy:
a darkness that causes the world to look much more attractive than it is and causes
the greatness and beauty of God to fade out of sight.
O God, he prays, send me light. And I think he adds “truth” because this is what
you see when light comes. Truth is what’s real, what’s substantial. Send light to my
soul. Let me see the true substance and reality of things. O God, banish illusions
from my heart.

30. ot just intellectual illusions from my head, but emotional illusions
from my heart.”
6. Guide and Guard by Dr. Warren Wiersbe, “We all have days when we feel as
though God has forsaken us, when it seems as if the Enemy is winning and we are
losing. On such a day the psalmist prayed, "Oh, send out Your light and Your
truth!" (v. 3). These words represent the deep desire of the psalmist to know and do
the will of God. He was not having an easy time.
I like the words light and truth. We live in a world smothered in moral and spiritual
darkness. "Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light"
(John 3:20).

31. ot only is our world dark, but it's also deceived. People love and
believe lies. Mark Twain used to say that a lie runs around the world while truth is
putting on her boots! But we have God's light and truth to guide and guard us. We
must pray, "Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!"
Where do we find God's light and truth? In His Word. "Your word is a lamp to my
feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105). God's Word is truth. "Sanctify them by
Your truth. Your word is truth," Jesus said (John 17:17). The Word of God guides
His children on the path He has chosen. And that path ultimately leads to Him. "Let
them [light and truth] bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle" (v. 3).
The psalmist is talking about the location of the tabernacle, the house of God. When
we are in the will of God, it's as though we are dwelling in His house.
You live in a dark and deceived world. But God has promised to guide and guard
you through His Word. The Bible is a spiritual treasure, and without it, you soon
lose your way and become vulnerable. Do you feed daily on the truth of His Word?
If not, begin a program of daily meditation in Scripture.
7. Spurgeon, “O send out thy light and thy truth. The joy of thy presence and the
faithfulness of thy heart; let both of these be manifest to me. Reveal my true
character by thy light, and reward me according to thy truthful promise. As the sun

32. darts forth his beams, so does the Lord send forth his favour and his faithfulness
towards all his people; and as all nature rejoices in the sunshine, even so the saints
triumph in the manifestation of the love and fidelity of their God, which, like the
golden sunbeam, lights up even the darkest surroundings with delightful splendour.
Let them lead me. Be these my star to guide me to my rest. Be these my Alpine
guides to conduct me over mountains and precipices to the abodes of grace. Let
them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. First in thy mercy bring
me to thine earthly courts, and end my weary exile, and then in due time admit me
to thy celestial palace above. We seek not light to sin by, nor truth to be exalted by
it, but that they may become our practical guides to the nearest communion with
God: only such light and truth as are sent us from God will do this, common light is
not strong enough to show the road to heaven, nor will mere moral or physical
truths assist to the holy hill; but the light of the Holy Spirit, and the truth as it is in
Jesus, these are elevating, sanctifying, perfecting; and hence their virtue in leading
us to the glorious presence of God. It is beautiful to observe how David's longing to
be away from the oppression of man always leads him to sigh more intensely for
communion with God.
8. Treasury of David, “Verse 3. O send out thy light and thy truth. Possibly there may
be an allusion to the Urim and Thummim, as the symbol of light and truth. J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. Light and truth. Delightful and all comprehensive words. Thy contain all
the salvation and all the desire of a believing, confiding soul. But it is only when thus
combined -- separated they are no longer a ground of trust and joy. For what would
favour avail without faithfulness? It would be no more than the uncertain
friendship of men, who smile today and reproach tomorrow; who make large
promises, but do not perform them. Even the light which angels and glorified spirits
enjoy in heaven would be insufficient to banish all fear and to fill them with
satisfaction, were it not for their confidence in the truth of God. How much more,
then, must this be the case with erring, sinful, mortals on earth? When the humble
spirit is bowed down under a sense of its utter unworthiness and innumerable
weaknesses and defilements, its negligences, follies, and wanderings, what should
save from despair but the confidence that he who has been merciful will also be
faithful; that God is truth as well as light; that he hath said, "I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee;" that he "cannot lie," and that, therefore, "his mercy endureth for
ever?" On the other hand, truth without light, faithfulness without grace, would be
only the dreadful execution of terrible but just denunciations on the transgressors of
the holy law. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Adam ate,
and in that day became the subject of sin and death. This was truth executing
judgment. But light arose around the darkness; beams of mercy tempered the heavy
cloud. The promise of the Great Deliverer was given; then faithfulness was enlisted
on the side of grace, and became engaged for its bestowment; "mercy and truth met
together; righteousness and peace kissed each other." Since then, all humble and
trusting souls have beheld them united, and have made their union the ground of
their confidence and joy. Henry March.

33. Verse 3. Thy tabernacles. There were two tabernacles, one at Zion, where the ark
stood, and another at Gibeon. 1 Chronicles 16:37,39 . It is not to this fact that the
psalmist alludes, however, but to the circumstance, in all probability of the different
parts of the tabernacle. There was, first the holiest of all, then the sanctuary, and
then the tabernacle of the convocation. Hebrews 9:1-8. John Morison.
9. Stedman, “What a word of triumph!

34. ow he understands that what God is doing
is driving him step by step to the ultimate refuge of any believer in any time of
testing: the word of God. It is the truth of God coupled with the light. The truth is
God's word; the light is your understanding of it. What he is crying out for is an
understanding of the word as he reads it; light, breaking out of these marvelous
promises, to encourage and strengthen his heart. He says, "If you will do that, God,
then my heart will be filled with joy and with gladness, and I will praise you with
the harp; for you, O God, are my God, my personal God." What a revelation that is.
There comes a time in all of our lives when we discover for ourselves that the
ultimate refuge of any believer is in the word of God, what God has said. I
remember such a time in my early ministry. I had just begun my work at Peninsula
Bible Church when there came to me a young man who was having severe marital
problems. He was in his twenties, and his wife had just divorced him. He was left
with a boy about five years of age. He came to me for help, and I tried to help him as
best I could, and, through the circumstances, led him to Christ. For a few weeks
there was a real change in this young man's life. He gained firm hold on God. But,
as often happens, there came a time of testing of his faith, and he was plunged into
despair. One Sunday morning he called me up just before church and asked me
over the phone for help and prayer. I counseled with him and we prayed together. I
told him that as soon as the church service was over I would come to see him. When
the service ended I did go over to see him. I went up to the house and knocked but
there was no answer. I knew he should be there, so I knocked again, but still no
answer. Finally I tried the door, saw it was open, and went in. He was nowhere to be
found until I went into the bedroom. There I found him lying in a spreading pool of
blood, dead by his own hand.
It was a shock, a most terrible shock. I called the police, and made arrangements,
and then went home. The rest of that day I was shaken, unnerved, and did not know
what to do. I was experiencing a combination of the emotions of fear, anger, sorrow,
and grief. I was upset, and did not know whether I wanted to continue in the
ministry; it seemed so senseless and useless. I tried every way to find help. I prayed,
but it did not seem to relieve me. I talked with others, tried to keep busy, but
nothing worked. Finally, that night, fearing that I would lie sleepless all night long,
my wife and I together took our Bibles and began to read. I do not to this day know
what we read, but I remember that every word came like balm, like healing salve, to
my heart. I have thought since of that marvelous phrase in Psalm 107, "He sent his

35. word, and healed them," {Psa 107:20a RSV}. In that time of deep, dark despair and
frustration, the reading of the word healed my heart.
That is what this Psalmist is saying. When you can't shake the blues, and you have a
depression of spirit that nothing seems to relieve; when you have tried to remember
the past, and tried to recall the unshakable, unchangeable relationships that exist
between you and God, but nothing helps; then there is nothing left but to rest upon
his word, his truth, and to allow that to heal the heart. So the Psalmist closes again
with the refrain that catches up the whole meaning of this song.
4. 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.
1. Barnes, “Then will I go unto the altar of God - The altar on Mount Zion, where
sacrifices were offered: 2Sa_6:17. The meaning is, that he would again unite with
others in the public and customary worship of God. Compare the notes at Psa_42:4.
Unto God - Into the immediate presence of God; the place where he was
worshipped.
My exceeding joy - Margin, the gladness of my joy. The Septuagint renders this,
“who makes my youth joyous:” or, “the joy of my youth,” (Thompson) The Hebrew
is, the gladness of my joy; meaning, that God was the source of his joy, so that he
found all his happiness in Him.
Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee - Compare the notes at Psa_33:2-3.
Instruments of music were commonly used in the worship of God, and David is
represented as excelling in the music of the harp. Compare 1Sa_16:16-23.
O God, my God - It was not merely God as such that he desired to worship, or to
whom he now appealed, but God as his God, the God to whom he had devoted
himself, and whom he regarded as his God even in affliction and trouble. Compare
the notes at Psa_22:1.
2. Clarke, “Then will I go unto the altar - When thy light - a favorable turn on our
affairs, leads us to the land of our fathers, and thy truth - the fulfillment of thy
gracious promises, has placed us again at the door of thy tabernacles, then will we
go to thy altar and joyfully offer those sacrifices and offerings which thy law
requires, and rejoice in thee with exceeding great joy.

36. 3. Gill, “Then will I go unto the altar of God,.... Which was in the tabernacle, either
of burnt offerings, or of incense, there to offer up the sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving for mercies received. The altar under the Gospel dispensation is
Christ, on which such sacrifices being offered, are acceptable to God, Heb_13:10;
unto God my exceeding joy; as over the mercy seat, upon a throne of grace, and as
his covenant God; or this is exegetical of the altar, which is Christ, God over all,
blessed for ever; and who is the object of the unspeakable joy of his people, in his
person, righteousness, and salvation;
yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God: the harp is a musical
instrument, used in that part of public worship which concerned the praise of God
under the former dispensation, and was typical of that spiritual melody made in the
hearts of God's people when they sing his praise, see Rev_5:8.
4. Henry, “As his joy, his exceeding joy. If God guide him to his tabernacles, if he
restore him to his former liberties, he knows very well what he has to do: Then will I
go unto the altar of God, Psa_43:4. He will get as near as he can unto God, his
exceeding joy.

37. ote, 1. Those that come to the tabernacles should come to the altar;
those that come to ordinances should qualify themselves to come, and then come to
special ordinances, to those that are most affecting and most binding. The nearer we
come, the closer we cleave, to God, the better. 2. Those that come to the altar of God
must see to it that therein they come unto God, and draw near to him with the heart,
with a true heart: we come in vain to holy ordinances if we do not in them come to
the holy God. 3. Those that come unto God must come to him as their exceeding joy,
not only as their future bliss, but as their present joy, and that not a common, but
an exceeding joy, far exceeding all the joys of sense and time. The phrase, in the
original, is very emphatic - unto God the gladness of my joy, or of my triumph.
Whatever we rejoice or triumph in God must be the joy of it; all our joy in it must
terminate in him, and must pass through the gift to the giver. 4. When we come to
God as our exceeding joy our comforts in him must be the matter of our praises to
him as God, and our God: Upon the harp will I praise thee, O God! my God. David
excelled at the harp (1Sa_16:16, 1Sa_16:18), and with that in which he excelled he
would praise God; for God is to be praised with the best we have; it is fit he should
be, for he is the best.
5. Piper, “On this side of the cross of Jesus Christ today we know where the altar of
God is. It’s not in the temple. It’s not in any house made with hands. Hebrews 13:10
says, “We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.”
Our altar is Jesus Christ crucified and risen and standing before the throne of God.
“Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea”—Christ our
High Priest, our sacrifice, our altar.

38. The light of God that leads us is today “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”
(2 Corinthians 4:4). The light of the gospel leads us to Christ, to the altar, to the
cross. And there our hearts are further illumined to see our sin and our wonderful
forgiveness.
“Then, the third stage of his prayer is that this light and truth would lead him to
God as his exceeding joy. Verse 4: “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my
exceeding joy.” The final goal of life is not forgiveness or any of God’s good gifts.
The final goal of life is God himself, experienced as your exceeding joy. Or very
literally from the Hebrew, “God, the gladness of my rejoicing.” That is, God, who in
all my rejoicing over all the good things that he had made, is himself, in all my
rejoicing, the heart of my joy, the gladness of my joy. Every joy that does not have
God as the central gladness of the joy is a hollow joy and in the end will burse like a
bubble.
C. S. Lewis says in his book on the Psalms, “we delight to praise what we enjoy
because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its
appointed consummation.”1 It’s not wrong to say, “We were made for God.” It’s not
wrong to say, “We were made for joy.” It’s not wrong to say, “We were made to
praise.” But it is more fully true to say, “We were made to enjoy God with
overflowing praise.” This is the ultimate goal of life.

39. ow mark this: we have been describing the prayer of a divided heart. The psalmist
would like to know a constant uninterrupted experience of God as his exceeding joy.
But in reality there are times when he feels forsaken. He knows in his head that God
has not forsaken him. But it feels like he has. So his deepest strategy to escape this
most dangerous condition is to pray, “Send out your light and your truth; let them
lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! 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.”
6. Guzik, “a. I will go to the altar of God: Full of faith, the psalmist anticipates
God’s answer to his prayer, and declares that he will sacrifice (go to the altar) when
the answer comes. This wouldn’t be a sacrifice of atonement for sin, but for
gratitude and celebration of fellowship with God.
i. This is the third stop on the procession of praise: the altar. “The way to God is
ever the way of the altar. The way to the altar is opened by the sending out of light
and truth from God.” (Morgan) When we follow the light and truth of the LORD, it
will lead us to His altar - the cross where Jesus was given as a sacrifice for our sins.
ii. Under the

40. ew Covenant we no longer offer animal sacrifices, but we still bring
the sacrifice of praise. Hebrews 13:15 tells us how: Therefore by Him let us
continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to His name. Our words and songs of praise become a sweet-smelling
sacrifice unto the Lord.

41. b. On the harp I will praise You: The psalmist will not only praise God with animal
sacrifice, but also with music and song. He has reached his destination on the
procession of praise - led by the light and truth of the Lord, he came to the house of
God, to the altary of God, and then it culminated in praise.
7. Calvin, “Here he promises to God a solemn sacrifice, in commemoration of the
deliverance which he should obtain from him; for he speaks not only of the daily or
ordinary service, but in making mention of the altar on which it was customary to
offer the peace-offerings, he expresses the token of gratitude and thanksgiving of
which I have spoken. For this reason, also, he calls God the God of his joy, because,
being delivered from sorrow, and restored to a state of joy, he resolves to
acknowledge openly so great a benefit. And he calls him the joy of his rejoicing, that
he may the more illustriously set forth the grace of his deliverance. The second word
in the genitive is added by way of an epithet, and by it he signifies that his heart had
been filled with joy of no common kind, when God restored him, contrary to the
expectation of all. As to the fifth verse, I have already treated of it sufficiently in the
preceding psalm, and therefore deem it superfluous to speak of it here.
8. Spurgeon, “Then will I go unto the altar of God. If David might but be favoured
with such a deliverance as would permit his return, it would not be his own house or
heritage which would be his first resort, but to the altar of God his willing feet
should conduct him. His whole heart would go as sacrifice to the altar, he himself
counting it his greatest happiness to be permitted to lie as a burnt offering wholly
dedicated to the Lord. With what exultation should believers draw near unto Christ,
who is the antitype of the altar! clearer light should give greater intensity of desire.
Unto God my exceeding joy. It was not the altar as such that the psalmist cared for,
he was no believer in the heathenism of ritualism: his soul desired spiritual
fellowship, fellowship with God himself in very deed. What are all the rites of
worship unless the Lord be in them; what, indeed, but empty shells and dry husks?

42. ote the holy rapture with which David regards his Lord! He is not his joy alone,
but his exceeding joy; not the fountain of joy, the giver of joy, or the maintainer of
joy, but that joy itself. The margin hath it, "The gladness of my joy," i.e., the soul,
the essence, the very bowels of my joy. To draw near to God, who is such a joy to us,
may well be the object of our hungering and thirsting. Yea, upon the harp will I
praise thee. His best music for his best love. When God fills us with joy we ought
ever to pour it out at his feet in praise, and all the skill and talent we have should be
laid under contribution to increase the divine revenue of glory. O God, my God.
How he dwells upon the name which he loves so well! He already harps on it as
though his harp music had begun. What sweeter sounds can music know than these
four words? To have God in possession, and to know it by faith, is the heart's
heaven -- a fulness of bliss lies therein.
9. Treasury of David, “Verse 4. Then will I go unto the altar of God. Let us
remember that the approach to God in the holy place is by means of the altar,
whence eternally ascendeth the fragrance and the preciousness of the one whole,
perfect burnt offering, and where for ever and ever the divine holiness resteth and

43. feedeth with its pure fire with infinite satisfaction, with inconceivable delight. Oh,
what a holy, a divine, a wondrous place is this altar of God! That altar now means
all the value and everlasting efficacy of the one offering of Christ unto God for us;
and it is in the full power and blessedness thereof that we draw nigh to God. To this
point, to this unspeakably blessed position, the light and the truth of God will
attract the child of God. Toward this altar all the rays of the light of divine favour
and grace, and of divine truth and holiness, have from eternity converged; and from
this point they shine forth toward and upon the soul and heart of the poor, far off
penitent, attracting him to that altar where he may meet his God. Let us then come
to the altar of God; let us enter the cloud of holy incense that filleth the tabernacle
of the Most High; let us realise how perfectly God is satisfied with that which Christ
has done, with his obedience in dying to meet the claims of divine justice on the
sinner, and to complete the perfect surrender of himself as our exceeding joy, even
the gladness of our joy, the heart, essence, substance, and reality of our joy. John
Offord, 1868.
Verse 4. Then will I go unto the altar of God. He would with cheerfulness run and
offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving to his gracious deliverer; he would take his
own soul as the burnt offering, and kindle and burn it up with the fire of a vigorous
love and raised affections terminating upon God, the flames whereof should ascend
to him alone ... Unto God my exceeding joy, or, as the Hebrew is more exactly
translated, unto God the gladness of his joy -- that which gave a relish to every other
comfort, which was the soul and life of his pleasures, and could only make them real
and lasting; it was God who raised his joy to fulness of satisfaction and contentment.
William Dunlop.
Verse 4. Then will I go ... unto God. The expression of going to God implies
SUBMISSIO

44. and FRIE

45. DSHIP
1. Submission. I will go and pay my homage to him, as my Sovereign; I will go
and hear what he says; I will go and receive his orders.
2. Friendship. I will go and consult him, and converse with him as a friend; and
be thankful that, in such a troublesome and ensnaring world, I have such a
friend to advise with.
3. I will go and tell him my griefs; how greatly I am distressed with some
particular disorder in my body, or with some disturbance in my family, or
with some disappointment in my worldly circumstances, or (which is worse
than all of them together) with a sad darkness in my soul. 2. I will go and tell
him my joys, for even in this vale of tears "my heart is" sometimes "glad,
and my glory rejoiceth." 3. I will go and tell him of my sins. He knows them,
indeed, already, but he shall hear them from me. 4. I will go and tell him my
fears; how greatly I am distressed at times, when I perceive this or the other
corruption so strong, which I thought had received its death wound ... how I
tremble when I have by my folly provoked the Lord to leave me, for fear he
will never return again, etc. 5. I will go and tell him my hopes, for some hope
I have amidst all my discouragements ... I will go and tell him all this; I will

46. unbosom and unburden my whole heart to him; and if my necessities did not
drive me to him, I should go to him from inclination. Condensed from
Samuel Lavington.
Verse 4. Unto God. Believers are not satisfied in the use of religious duties, unless
they arrive at God himself in those duties. We speak not here of that arrival at God
himself which is by and after all duties, to a beatific vision of God in glory, but we
speak of that arrival at God himself which is to be had in duties, while we are in the
exercise of duties; namely, to attain to God's special presence in them, in an actual
communion, communication and conversing with God, so that we are spiritually
sensible he is with us therein. I say God's special presence and actual communion, to
distinguish it from that ordinary habitual presence and communion of God's being
with a believer at all times. John 14:16.

47. athanael Homes.
Verse 4. My exceeding joy. The psalmist might well call God his exceeding joy, for it
infinitely exceeds all other joy in its nature, degree, and duration. Samuel
Lavington.
Verse 4. My exceeding joy. As faith acquires more strength, we come to think of God
and address him in more endearing terms. J. P. Lange.
Verse 4. Exceeding joy. This can be said of no other joy. All other beauties have their
boundaries, all other glories have their glooms. This is that illimitable sea, God. E.
Paxton Hood.
10. Steven Cole, “Seek the praise of God (42:8; 43:4). When you’re depressed, the
last thing you feel like doing is praising the Lord. But, praise is a command, not a
feeling. If we obey, we often feel better. The song drives the darkness away. To
praise God is to focus on His attributes and actions. As we deliberately direct our
thoughts to God’s saving grace toward us in Christ, that He, by His mercy, drew us
out of a horrible pit, our spirits will be lifted.
(4) Seek the precepts of God (43:3). God’s light and truth from His Word will show
us the way back. Again, even if you don’t feel like it when you’re depressed, read
God’s Word and ask His Holy Spirit to shine His light into your darkened heart.
God’s light and truth are threatening to the soul who does not want to confront his
own sin and self-focus, but God’s truth will lead you to His dwelling place where
you will find God Himself to be your exceeding joy (43:3-4).
(5) Seek God with the people of God (42:4; 43:3-4). The psalmist seems isolated in
his depression, which is often the case. But he realizes that the place of joy where the
need of his soul would be met is in corporate worship with God’s people. When
you’re depressed, you often want to avoid people, especially gathering with God’s
people. But that’s what you need. Go against your feelings and force yourself to
gather with God’s people to seek Him. There is something about corporate worship
that cannot be experienced in individual worship.
Conclusion

48. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his solid book, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
(Eerdmans], pp. 20-21), comments, Have you not realized that most of your
unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of
talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up
in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they
bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to
you? Your self is talking to you.

49. ow this man’s treatment was this; instead of
allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself....
The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You
have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself,
question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’--what
business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself,
condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’--instead
of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind
yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what
God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy
yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say
with this man: “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also
the health of my countenance and my God”.
Is God Himself “your exceeding joy” today (43:4)? If not, don’t rest until it is true.
Your need is not happiness; your need is not relief from your pain; your need is
God! Thirst after God! Rouse yourself to seek Him as your only source of hope and
help, no matter how despairing your circumstances. Hope in God! You
shall again praise Him, the help of your countenance and your God!
5. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so
disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I
will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
1. Barnes, “Why art thou cast down?... - See Psa_42:5, note; Psa_42:11, note. The
sameness of this verse with Psa_42:5, Psa_42:11 proves, as has been already
remarked, that this psalm was composed by the same writer, and with reference to
the same subject as the former. The doctrine which is taught is the same - that we
should not be dejected or cast down in the troubles of life, but should hope in God,
and look forward to better times, if not in this world, certainly in the world to come.
If we are his children, we shall “yet praise him;” we shall acknowledge him as the

50. “health” or the salvation (Hebrew) of our countenance; as one who by giving
“salvation” diffuses joy over our countenance; as one who will manifest himself as
our God. He who has an eternity of blessedness before him - he who is to dwell
forever in a world of peace and joy - he who is soon to enter an abode where there
will be no sin, no sadness, no tears, no death - he who is to commence a career of
glory which is never to terminate and never to change - should not be cast down -
should not be overwhelmed with sorrow.
2. Clarke, “Why art thou cast down - Though our deliverance be delayed, God has
not forgotten to be gracious. The vision, the prophetic declaration relative to our
captivity, was for an appointed time. Though it appear to tarry, we must wait for it.
In the end it will come, and will not tarry; why then should we be discouraged? Let
us still continue to trust in God, for we shall yet praise him for the fullest proofs of
his approbation in a great outpouring of his benedictions.
3. Henry, “As his hope, his never-failing hope, Psa_43:5. Here, as before, David
quarrels with himself for his dejections and despondencies, and owns he did ill to
yield to them, and that he had no reason to do so: Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? He then quiets himself in the believing expectation he had of giving glory to
God (Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him) and of enjoying glory with God: He is
the health of my countenance and my God. That is what we cannot too much insist
upon, for it is what we must live and die by.
4. Piper, “So here they are, the two great practical steps you can take when you feel
forsaken: pray to God and preach to yourself.

51. othing is more important in your
mind than preaching the gospel to yourself.2 Preaching hope when all your
circumstances are preaching despair.”
5. Spurgeon, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? If God be thine, why this
dejection? If he uplifts thee, why art thou so near the ground? The dew of love is
falling, O withering heart, revive. And why art thou disquieted within me? What
cause is there to break the repose of thy heart? Wherefore indulge unreasonable
sorrows, which benefit no one, fret thyself, and dishonour thy God? Why
overburden thyself with forebodings? Hope in God, or wait for God. There is need
of patience, but there is ground for hope. The Lord cannot but avenge his own elect.
The heavenly Father will not stand by and see his children trampled on for ever; as
surely as the sun is in the heavens, light must arise for the people of God, though for
awhile they may walk in darkness. Why, then, should we not be encouraged, and lift
up our head with comfortable hope? For I shall yet praise him. Times of complaint
will soon end, and seasons of praise will begin. Come, my heart, look out of the
window, borrow the telescopic glass, forecast a little, and sweeten thy chamber with
sprigs of the sweet herb of hope. Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
My God will clear the furrows from my brow, and the tear marks from my cheek;
therefore will I lift up my head and smile in the face of the storm. The Psalm has a

52. blessed ending, such as we would fain imitate when death puts an end to our mortal
existence.
6. Treasury of David, “Verse 5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul. He comes to his
former remedy; he had stilled his grief once before with the same meditation and
upbraiding of his own soul, and chiding himself; but he comes to it here as a
probatum est, as a tried remedy; he takes up his soul very short, Why art thou so
cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? You see how David's
passions here are interlaced with comforts, and his comforts with passions, till at
last he gets the victory of his own heart. Beloved, neither sin nor grief for sin, are
stilled and quieted at the first. You have some short spirited Christians, if all be not
quiet at the first, all is lost with them; but it is not so with a true Christian soul, with
the best soul living. It was not so with David when he was in distemper; he checks
himself, the distemper was not yet stilled; he checks himself again, then the
distemper breaks out again; he checks himself again, and all little enough to bring
his soul to a holy, blessed, quiet, temper, to that blessed tranquillity and rest that the
soul should be in before it can enjoy its own happiness, and enjoy sweet communion
with God. As you see in physic, perhaps one purge will not carry away the peccant
humour, then a second must be added; perhaps that will not do it, then there must
be a third; so when the soul hath been once checked, perhaps it will not do, we must
fall to it again, go to God again. And then it may be there will be breaking out of the
grief and malady again; we must to it again, and never give over, that is the right
temper of a Christian. Richard Sibbes.
Verse 5. Hope in God. The more terrible the storm, the more necessary is the
anchor. Hebrews 6:19. William S. Plumer.
Verse 5. Hope in God. The complete and perfect state of God's children here is not in
re, but in spe: as Christ's kingdom is not of this world, so is not our hope. The
worldling's motto is, "a bird in the hand." Give me today, say they, and take
tomorrow whoso will. But the word of believers is, spero meliora -- my hopes are
better than my present possessions. Elnathan Parr.
Verse 5. The varied conflicts of the soul afford occasion for the exercise of the graces,
and thus, through the divine wisdom and goodness, are made the means of eventual
good. Henry March.
7. Guzik, “a. Why are you cast down, O my soul? The psalmist has hope of God’s
redemption, but it hasn’t come yet. In the meantime, he will not “give in” to his
feelings of depression and discouragement. Instead, he will challenge them and
bring them before the Lord. He says to those “cast down” and “disquieted” feelings,
“Hope in God. He will come through again, because He has before.”
i. We see that at the end of the psalm none of the circumstances of the psalmist have
changed - only his attitude, and what a difference that makes! “

53. ot yet has the
answer come. The darkness and the mystery are still about him, but the shining way

54. is seen; and again the soul is forbidden to despair and hope is encouraged in God.”
(Morgan)
b. The help of my countenance: The psalmist knew his countenance needed help -
and God was just the one to bring it. Many times our face needs help, and we turn
away from God.
8. Maclaren, THE PSALMIST’S REMO

55. STRA

56. CE WITH HIS SOUL
‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope
in God: for I shall yet praise Him, the health of my countenance, and my God.’—
This verse, which closes this psalm, occurs twice in the previous one. It is a kind of
refrain. Obviously this little psalm, of which my text is a part, was originally united
with the preceding one. That the two made one is clear to anybody that will read
them, by reason of structure, and tone, and similarity of the singer’s situation, and
the recurrence of many phrases, and especially of these significant words of my text.
The Psalmist is in circumstances of trouble and sorrow. We need not enter upon
them particularly, but the thing that I desire to point out is that three times does the
Psalmist take himself to task and question himself as to the reasonableness of the
emotions that are surging in his soul, and checks these by higher considerations.
Thrice he does it; twice in vain, for the trouble and anxiety come rolling back upon
him in spite of the moment’s respite, but the third time he triumphs.
I. We note, then, first, that moods and emotions should be examined and governed
by a higher self.
In the Psalmist’s case, his gloom and despondency, which could plead good reasons
for their existence, had everything their own way at first, and swept over his soul
like the first rush of waters which have burst their bounds. But, presently, the ruling
part of his nature wakes, and brings the feebler lower soul to its tribunal, and says,
in effect, ‘

57. ow! now that I am here, what hast thou to say about these sorrows that
thou hast been complaining about? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art
thou disquieted? . . . Hope in God!’
I shall have a word or two to say presently about the details of this remonstrance,
but the main point that I make, to begin with, is just this, that however strong and
reasonably occasioned by circumstances a man’s emotions and feelings, either of the
bright or the dark kind, may be, they are not to be indulged, unless they have passed
muster and examination by that higher and better self. It is necessary to keep a very
tight hand upon all our feelings, whether they be the natural desires of the sensuous
part of our nature, or whether they be the sentiments of sadness, or doubt, or
anxiety, or perplexity, which are the natural results of outward circumstances of
trial; or whether, on the contrary, they be the bright and buoyant ones which come,
like angels, along with prosperous hours. But that necessity, commonplace as it is of
all morals and all religion, is yet a thing which, day by day, we so forget that we
need to be ever and anon reminded of it.

58. There are hosts of people who, making profession of being Christians, do not
habitually put the brake on their moods and tempers, and who seem to think that it
is a sufficient vindication of gloom and sadness to say that things are going badly
with them in the outer world, and who act as if they supposed that no joy can be too
exuberant and no elation too lofty if, on the other hand, things are going rightly. It is
a miserable travesty of the Christian faith to suppose that its prime purpose is
anything else than to put into our hands the power of ruling ourselves because we let
Christ rule us.
And so, dear brethren! though it be the A B C of Christian teaching, suffer this
word of exhortation. It is only ‘milk for babes,’ but it is milk that the babes are very
unwilling to take. Learn from this verse before us the solemn duty of rigid control,
by the higher self, of the tremulous, emotional lower self which responds so
completely to every change of temperature or circumstances in the world without.
And remember that there should be a central heat which keeps the temperature
substantially the same, whatever be the weather outside. As the wheel-house, and
the steering gear, and the rudder of the ship proclaim their purpose of guidance and
direction, so eloquently and unmistakably does the make of our inward selves tell us
that emotions and moods and tempers are meant to be governed, often to be
crushed, always to be moderated, by sovereign will and reason. In the Psalmist’s
language, ‘My soul’ has to give account of its tremors and flutterings to ‘Me,’ the
ruling Self, who should be Lord of temperament, and control the fluctuations of
feeling.
II.

59. ote that there are two ways of looking at causes of dejection and disquiet.
The whole preceding parts of both the psalms, before this refrain, are an answer to
the question which my text puts. ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ ‘My soul’
has been talking two whole psalms, to explain why it is cast down. And after all the
eloquent torrent of words to vindicate and explain its reasons for sadness—
separation from the sanctuary, bitter remembrances of bright days, which the poet
tells us are ‘a sorrow’s crown of sorrow,’ taunts of enemies and the like—after all
these have been said over and over again, the Psalmist says to himself: ‘Come now,
let us hear it all once more. Why art thou cast down? Why art thou disquieted
within me? Thou hast been telling the reasons abundantly. Speak them once again,
and let us have a look at them.’
There is a court of appeal in each man, which tests and tries his reasons for his
moods; and these, which look very sufficient to the flesh, turn out to be very
insufficient when investigated and tested by the higher spirit or self. We should
‘appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober.’ And if a man will be honest with himself,
and tell himself why he is in such a pucker of terror, or why he is in such a rapture
of joy, nine times out of ten the attempt to tell the reasons will be the condemnation
of the mood which they are supposed to justify. If men would only bring the causes
or occasions of the tempers and feelings which they allow to direct them, to the bar
of common sense, to say nothing of religious faith, half the furious boilings in their
hearts would stop their ebullition. It would be like pouring cold water into a kettle
on the fire. It would end its bubbling. Everything has two handles. The aspect of any
event depends largely on the beholder’s point of view. ‘There’s nothing either good
or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art

60. thou disquieted within me?’ The answer is often very hard to give; the question is
always very salutary to ask.
III.

61. ote that no reasons for being cast down are so strong as those for elation and
calm hope.
‘Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance
and my God.’ I need not deal here with the fact that the first of the three
occurrences of this refrain is, in our Bible, a little different from the other two. That
is probably a mistake in the text. In all three cases the words ought to stand the
same.
Try to realise what God is to yourselves—‘My God’ and ‘the health of my
countenance.’ That will stimulate sluggish feeling; that will calm disturbed emotion.
He that can say ‘My God!’ and in that possession can repose, will not be easily
moved, by the trivialities and transitorinesses of this life, to excessive disquiet,
whether of the exuberant or of the woful sort. There is a wonderful calming power
in realising our possession of God as our portion—not stagnating, but quieting. I am
quite sure that the troubles of our lives, and the gladnesses of our lives, which often
distract, would be far less operative in disturbing, if we felt more that God was ours
and that we were God’s.
Brethren! ‘there is no joy but calm.’ To be at rest is better than rapture. And there
is no way of getting and keeping a fixed temper of still tranquillity unless we go into
that deep and hidden chamber, in the secret place of the Most High, where we
cannot ‘hear the loud winds when they call,’ but dwell in security, whatever storms
harass the land. ‘Why art thou cast down,’ or lifted ‘up,’ and, in either case,
‘disquieted’? ‘Hope in God,’ and be at rest.
IV.

62. ote that the effort to lay hold on the truth which calms is to be repeated in spite
of failures.
The words of our text are thrice repeated in these two psalms. In the two former
instances they are followed by a fresh burst of pained feeling. A moment of
tranquillity interrupts the agitation of the Psalmist’s soul, but is soon followed by
the recurrence of ‘the horrible storm’ that ‘begins afresh.’ A tiny island of blue
appears in his sky, and then the pale, ugly, grey rack drives across it once more. But
the guiding self keeps the hand firm on the tiller, notwithstanding the wash of the
water and the rolling of the ship, and the dominant will conquers at last, and at the
third time the yielding soul obeys and is quiet, because the Psalmist’s will resolved
that it should be quiet, and it hopes in God because He, by a dead lift of effort, lifts
it up to hope.

63. o effort at tranquillising our hearts is wholly lost; and no attempt to lay hold upon
God is wholly in vain. Men build a dam to keep out the sea, and the winter storms
make a breach in it, but it is not washed away altogether, and next season they will
not need to begin to build from quite so low down; but there will be a bit of the
former left, to put the new structure upon, and so by degrees it will rise above the
tide, and at last will keep it out.
Did you ever see a child upon a swing, or a gymnast upon a trapeze? Each
oscillation goes a little higher; each starts from the same lowest point, but the
elevation on either side increases with each renewed effort, until at last the destined
height is reached and the daring athlete leaps on to a solid platform. So we may, if I

64. might say so, by degrees, by reiterated efforts, swing ourselves up to that steadfast
floor on which we may stand high above all that breeds agitation and gloom. It is
possible, in the midst of change and circumstances that excite sad emotions,
anxieties, and fears—it is possible to have this calmness of hope in God. The
rainbow that spans the cataract rises steadfast above the white, tortured water
beneath, and persists whilst all is hurrying change below, and there are flowers on
the grim black rocks by the side of the fall, whose verdure is made greener and
whose brightness is made brighter, by the freshening of the spray of the waterfall.
So we may be ‘as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing,’ and may bid dejected and
disquieted souls to hope in God and be still.
All OF MY COMME

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