Psalms 43 (ASV)

Chapter Text

43:1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: Oh deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

43:2 For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

43:3 Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me: Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, And to thy tabernacles.

43:4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, Unto God my exceeding joy; And upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.

43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, [Who is] the help of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 44 For the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "judge", "plead", "cause", "against", "ungodly", "nation", and "deliver". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "judge", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "light" and "judge" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "judge" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.