Why does Psalm 43 have no title?
Like Psalms 10 and 33, it carries no title in the Hebrew text. This, together with the shared refrain, leads many to think it formed a unit with Psalm 42, though that is not certain.
Psalms · psalm 43 of 150
Psalm 43: Summary, Key Verses and Study Questions
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What happens in Psalm 43?
Psalm 43 is the prayer of someone surrounded by unjust and deceitful people who asks God to defend him and vindicate his cause. He asks God to send out his light and truth to lead him to his holy hill and his altar, where he will praise God, his exceeding joy. It ends with the same refrain as Psalm 42: why are you cast down, O my soul? Hope in God.
This psalm has no title, which is why many scholars see it as the conclusion of Psalm 42, with which it shares the refrain, the mood and the images. In some Hebrew manuscripts the two appear joined as a single poem. Even so, the Psalter presents them separately, and Psalm 43 has more the tone of petition than of complaint.
Psalm 43 summary
The psalm opens with a legal petition: vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. God is his stronghold, and so he asks why God has rejected him and why he goes about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy.
Then he asks for direction: send out your light and your truth; let them lead me and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Light and truth are like two messengers that lead him back to God's presence, where the holy hill and the tabernacle are.
Then he will go to the altar of God, to God his exceeding joy, and praise him with the lyre. At the end he repeats the refrain: 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.
Chapter outline
- vv. 1-2: Petition for justice against unjust people; why have you rejected me?
- vv. 3-4: May God's light and truth lead him to the holy hill and the altar.
- v. 5: Final refrain: hope in God, I shall yet praise him.
Key verses in Psalm 43
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Psalm 43:1
The psalmist asks God to defend him and judge his cause against an ungodly and deceitful people. He entrusts his defense to the just judge instead of taking revenge into his own hands.
Psalm 43:3
He asks God to send out his light and truth to lead him to his holy hill and dwelling. Light and truth are not abstract ideas but God's guidance that leads back to his presence.
Psalm 43:4
The psalmist promises to go to the altar of God, whom he calls his exceeding joy, and praise him with the lyre. His final goal is not only to be rescued but to worship again.
Psalm 43:5
The refrain returns: why be cast down and in turmoil, if he can hope in God and praise him. God is salvation and also his personal God.
Main themes
- Justice before a deceitful enemy
- God's light and truth
- Return to God's presence
- God, my exceeding joy
- Hope against discouragement
People and places
- The psalmist
- The Lord, his stronghold
- Ungodly and deceitful people
- The holy hill and the altar
Psalm 43 study questions and answers
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
1. What does the psalmist ask at the start?
Answer: That God vindicate him and defend his cause against an ungodly people. — Psalm 43:1
2. What is God to the psalmist?
Answer: His stronghold. — Psalm 43:2
3. What does he ask God to send out?
Answer: His light and his truth, to lead him. — Psalm 43:3
4. Where does he want light and truth to bring him?
Answer: To God's holy hill and his dwelling. — Psalm 43:3
5. With what instrument does he promise to praise God?
Answer: The lyre. — Psalm 43:4
6. What does the psalm repeat at the end?
Answer: The refrain: hope in God, for I shall again praise him. — Psalm 43:5
Application for today
Psalm 43 teaches us to ask for justice without losing sight of the final goal: to stand before God again. In a small group you can ask what light and truth from God we most need today: a word from Scripture, counsel, a community. Praying for that guidance is a concrete way to apply the psalm.
It also encourages us to recover the joy of worship. The psalmist calls God his exceeding joy. For someone who feels dimmed, returning to prayer and song, even in a small way, is a step of faith toward hoping in God.
Psalm 43 ends with the hope already seen in Psalm 42: I shall yet praise God. Psalm 44 changes the voice: it is no longer an individual but the whole people asking why God seems to have abandoned them.
Frequently asked questions about Psalm 43
What are the light and truth the psalmist asks for?
They are a poetic way of asking for God's guidance. Light illuminates the path and truth makes it secure and faithful. In other psalms, such as 119:105, God's word is a light for the path. The New Testament shows Jesus as light and truth in John 8:12 and 14:6.
What does it mean that God is my exceeding joy?
Literally, the psalmist calls God the gladness of my joy. It expresses that his greatest delight is not in the things God gives but in God himself. It is a central idea of the spirituality of the Psalms.