• Home
  • About Us
  • Bible Study
  • Media
  • Giving
  • Knowing God
  • Are You Ready?

Psalms

Psalm 43

By Pastor Doug
Prayer to God in troubled times.

Prayer to God in Time of Trouble


This Psalm is connected to Psalm 42.  It may have originally been part of it.  The Psalmist was downcast, yet he knew the answer.  He knew he was to trust in the Lord.  In this Psalm, he begins to move to a place of faith; placing his trust in the Lord and the Lord's ways.   He is seeking to find his way back to God.


 


1Vindicate me, O God,
         And plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
         Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
The Psalmist uses two legal terms in his plea to God.  These are essentially requests that God be his judge and his defense attorney.  It is difficult to deal with the deceitful and the unjust.  There are no rules for them; they will use sinful and selfish means to accomplish their way.  That's why we should take our case before the Lord and ask for deliverance and vindication instead of using the weapons of this world to fight a spiritual battle.


 


2For You are the God of my strength;
         Why do You cast me off?
         Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
The Psalmist states the fact……… then goes on to ask questions.  We know God, we trust God, we believe the promises of God.  However, there are still many questions we don't have the answer to.  The Psalmist said God was his strength but he didn't understand why he felt cast off.  He didn't understand why his life was full of mourning and oppression.  We live in a sinful world.  Awful things happen, we are left wondering what happened.  The world says, "Where is your God?"  We must be able to say emphatically, He is the God of my strength!  I don't understand why some things have to happen but God does and that's all that matters.


         
 3 Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
         Let them lead me;
         Let them bring me to Your holy hill
         And to Your tabernacle.


The Psalmist proclaims that the God's light and truth are what he needs.  Those things will lead him in his life.  They will bring us to the throne of God.  When the question is asked, "Where is your God?"  It is answered in the Light and Truth, which is Jesus Christ and His word for us.  The holy hill was a place to meet God and to worship him.  For us, that place is at the foot of the crosss.



 4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
         To God my exceeding joy;
         And on the harp I will praise You,
         O God, my God.
When he found his way into the presence of God by the truth and the Light then he would offer his praise to God.  He is our exceeding joy.  He is God; He is 'my' God.


         
 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
         And why are you disquieted within me?
         Hope in God;
         For I shall yet praise Him,
         The help of my countenance and my God


Why was the Psalmist downcast and disquieted?  The world will give you many good reasons.  The world will keep you down cast and ask you where your God is.  As we said in Psalm 42, we need to have that answer before we come to that place where we are downcasts.   The answer was simply stated, Hope in God.  A day is coming when all the grief and discomfort will pass and the psalmist will once again praise Him.  God's face will turn back to us and we will experience the countenance of Him and be able to claim Him as 'my' God.