December 15
Reading: Psalm 43
1 Vindicate me, O God,
and defend my cause against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 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.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43 is a continuation of Psalm 42 and was most certainly written by the Sons of Korah even though there is no prescript. It is as if the authors added another stanza.
The trouble, or distance from God, which is the presenting problem here is that ungodly people are attacking, and the psalmist feels as though God is not showing up to give relief from the oppression.
We live in a society today that increasingly makes people who love the Lord feel attacked, as if we are devoted to something horrible, antagonistic, self-righteous, and wicked. Ungodly people see God as a waste of time. They see us as deluded and dangerous. As a result, Christians who are just seeking to live out the truth and their faith in the Lord are under assault.
What do we do? How do we live? How should we think?
In verse 3 we find a prayer. It is a prayer for the truth that comes from God, that the truth would lead me to where God lives. More than anything else today you and I need truth. We need the truth when we are attacked. We need the truth when we are confused. We need the truth as we live amid lies. The truth from God’s Word clears the air, clears our heads, and makes our way clear before us. This is why you and I need to be in the Bible every day.
Then, in verse 4 we find an action that follows the prayer. The action is to come and worship and praise God. Have you ever noticed what praise and worship does for you when you are lonely, downcast, or under attack? Worship reorients everything and puts God front and center. When God is front and center, everything else is in its proper place. All the problems and opposition become small and insignificant, which they are. God then gives you joy in Him.
Verse 5 is the conclusion, a reprise of the theme running through both Psalm 42 and 43. This verse echoes words from Psalm 42:5, 6, and 11. It is a lament and an answer to the lament. What do you do when your soul is cast down? You make a conscious choice to hope in God and you praise Him for His salvation.