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Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 43:1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. 1 Psalm 42:1-11 , Psalm 43:1-5 THE second book of the Psalter is characterised by the use of the Divine name "Elohim" instead of "Jehovah." It begins with a cluster of seven psalms (reckoning Psalm 42:1-11 ; Psalm 43:1-5 , as one) of which the superscription is most probably regarded as ascribing their authorship to "the sons of Korach." These were Levites, and (according to 1 Chronicles 9:19 seq.) the office of keepers of the door of the sanctuary had been hereditary in their family from the time of Moses. Some of them were among the faithful adherents of David at Ziklag, { 1 Chronicles 12:6 } and in the new model of worship inaugurated by him the Korachites were doorkeepers and musicians. They retained the former office in the second Temple. { Nehemiah 11:19 } The ascription of authorship to a group is remarkable, and has led to the suggestion that the superscription does not specify the authors, but the persons for whose use the psalms in question were composed. The Hebrew would bear either meaning; but if the latter is adopted, all these psalms are anonymous. The same construction is found in Book 1 in Psalm 25:1-22 ; Psalm 26:1-12 ; Psalm 27:1-14 ; Psalm 28:1-9 ; Psalm 35:1-28 ; Psalm 37:1-40 where it is obviously the designation of authorship, and it is naturally taken to have the same force in these Korachite psalms. It has been ingeniously conjectured by Delitzsch that the Korachite psalms originally formed a separate collection entitled "Songs of the Sons of Korach," and that this title afterwards passed over into the superscriptions when they were incorporated in the Psalter. It may have been so, but the supposition is unnecessary. It was not exactly literary fame which psalmists hungered for. The actual author, as one of a band of kinsmen who worked and sang together, would, not unnaturally, be content to sink his individuality and let his song go forth as that of the band. Clearly the superscriptions rested upon some tradition or knowledge, else defective information would not have been acknowledged as it is in this one; but some name would have been coined to fill the gap. The two psalms ( Psalm 42:1-11 , Psalm 43:1-5 ) are plainly one. The absence of a title for the second, the identity of tone throughout, the recurrence of several phrases, and especially of the refrain, put this beyond doubt. The separation, however, is old, since it is found in the LXX. It is useless to speculate on its origin. There is much in the psalms which favours the hypothesis that the author was a Korachite companion of David’s in his flight before Absalom; but the locality, described as that of the singer, does not entirely correspond to that of the king’s retreat, and the description of the enemies is not easily capable of application in all points to his foes. The house of God is still standing, the poet has been there recently, and hopes soon to return and render praise. Therefore the psalm must be pre-exilic; and while there is no certainty attainable as to date, it may at least be said that the circumstances of the singer present more points of contact with those of the supposed Korachite follower of David’s fortunes on the uplands across Jordan than with those of any other of the imaginary persons to whom modern criticism has assigned the poem. Whoever wrote it has given immortal form to the longings of the soul after God. He has fixed forever and made melodious a sigh. The psalm falls into three parts, each closing with the same refrain. Longings and tears, remembrances of festal hours passed in the sanctuary melt the singer’s soul, while taunting enemies hiss continual sarcasms at him as forsaken by his God. But his truer self silences these lamentations, and cheers the feebler "soul" with clear notes of trust and hope, blown in the refrain, like some trumpet clang rallying dispirited fugitives to the fight. The stimulus serves for a moment; but once more courage fails, and once more, at yet greater length and with yet sadder tones, plaints and longings are wailed forth. Once more, too, the higher self repeats its half-rebuke, half-encouragement. So ends the first of the psalms; but obviously it is no real ending, for the victory over fear is not won, and longing has not become blessed. So once more the wave of emotion rolls over the psalmist, but with a new aspect which makes all the difference. He prays now; he had only remembered and complained and said that he would pray before. Therefore now he triumphs, and though he still is keenly conscious of his enemies, they appear but for a moment, and though he still feels that he is far from the sanctuary, his heart goes out in hopeful visions of the gladness of his return thither, and he already tastes the rapture of the joy that will then flood his heart. Therefore the refrain comes for a third time; and this time the longing, trembling soul continues at the height to which the better self has lifted it, and silently acknowledges that it need not have been cast down. Thus the whole song is a picture of a soul climbing, not without backward slips, from the depths to the heights, or, in another aspect, of the transformation of longing into certainty of fruition, which is itself fruition after a kind. Perhaps the singer had seen, during his exile on the eastern side of Jordan, some gentle creature, with open mouth and heaving flanks, eagerly seeking in dry wadies for a drop of water to cool her outstretched tongue; and the sight had struck on his heart as an image of himself longing for the presence of God in the sanctuary. A similar bit of local colour is generally recognised in Psalm 42:7 . Nature reflects the poet’s moods, and overmastering emotion sees its own analogues everywhere. That lovely metaphor has touched the common heart as few have done, and the solitary singer’s plaint has fitted all devout lips. Injustice is done it, if it is regarded merely as the longing of a Levite for approach to the sanctuary. No doubt the psalmist connected communion with God and presence in the Temple more closely together than they should do who have heard the great charter, "neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem"; but, however the two things were coupled in his mind, they were sufficiently separate to allow of approach by longing and prayer while distant in body, and the true object of yearning was not access to the Temple, but communion with the God of the Temple. The "soul" is feminine in Hebrew, and is here compared to the female deer, for "pants" is the feminine form of the verb, though its noun is masculine. It is better therefore to translate "hind" than "hart." The "soul" is the seat of emotions and desires. It "pants" and "thirsts," is "cast down" and disquieted; it is "poured out"; it can be bidden to "hope." Thus tremulous, timid, mobile, it is beautifully compared to a hind. The true object of its longings is always God, however little it knows for what it is thirsting. But they are happy in their very yearnings who are conscious of the true direction of these, and can say that it is God for whom they are athirst. All unrest of longing, all fever of thirst, all outgoings of desire, are feelers put out blindly, and are only stilled when they clasp Him. The correspondence between man’s needs and their true object is involved in that name "the living God"; for a heart can rest only in one all-sufficient Person, and must have a heart to throb against. Neither abstractions nor dead things can still its cravings. That which does must be living. But no finite being can still them; and after all sweetnesses of human loves and helps of human strengths the soul’s thirst remains unslaked, and the Person who is enough must be the living God. The difference between the devout and the worldly man is just that the one can only say, "My soul pants and thirsts," and the other can add "after Thee, O God." This man’s longing was intensified by his unwilling exile from the sanctuary, a special privation to a door keeper of the Temple. His situation and mood closely resemble those in another Korachite psalm ( Psalm 84:1-12 ), in which, as here, the soul "faints for the courts of the Lord," and as here the panting hind, so there the glancing swallows flitting about the eaves are woven into the song. Unnamed foes taunt the psalmist with the question, "Where is thy God?" There is no necessity to conclude that these were heathens, though the taunt is usually put into heathen lips { Psalm 79:10 ; Psalm 52:2 } but it would be quite as natural from co-religionists, flouting his fervour and personal grasp of God and taking his sorrows as tokens of God’s abandonment of him. That is the world’s way with the calamities of a devout man, whose humble cry, "My God," it resents as presumption or hypocrisy. But even these bitter sarcasms are less bitter than the remembrance of "happier things," which is his "sorrow’s crown of sorrow." Yet, with the strange but universal love of summoning up remembrance of departed joys, the psalmist finds a certain pleasure in the pain of recalling how he. a Levite, led the festal march to the Temple, and in listening in fancy again to the shrill cries of joy which broke from the tumultuous crowd. The form of the verbs "remember" and "pour out" in Psalm 42:4 indicates set purpose. The higher self arrests this flow of self-pity and lamentation. The feminine soul has to give account of her moods to calmer judgment, and to be lifted and steadied by the strong spirit. The preceding verses have given ample reason why she has been dejected, but now she is summoned to repeat them to a judicial ear. The insufficiency of the circumstances described to warrant the vehement emotions expressed is implied in the summons. Feeling has to vindicate its rationality or to suppress itself, and its grounds have often only to be stated to the better self, to be found altogether disproportioned to the storm they have raised. It is a very elementary but necessary lesson for the conduct of life that emotion of all sorts, sad or glad, religious or other, needs rigid scrutiny and firm control, sometimes stimulating and sometimes chilling. The true counterpoise to its excess lies in directing it to God and in making Him the object of hope and patient waiting. Emotion varies, but God is the same. The facts on which faith feeds abide while faith fluctuates. The secret of calm is to dwell in that inner chamber of the secret place of the Most High, which whoso inhabits "heareth not the loud winds when they call," and is neither dejected nor uplifted, neither disturbed by excessive joys nor torn by anxieties. Psalm 42:5 has the refrain in a form slightly different from that of the other two instances of its occurrence. { Psalm 42:11 and Psalm 43:5 } But probably the text is faulty. The shifting of the initial word of Psalm 42:6 to the end of Psalm 42:5 , and the substitution of My for His, bring the three refrains into line, and avoid the harsh expression "help of His countenance." Since no reason for the variation is discernible, and the proposed slight change of text improves construction and restores uniformity, it is probably to be adopted. If it is, the second part of the psalm is also conformed to the other two in regard to its not beginning with the Divine name. The break in the clouds is but momentary, and the grey wrack fills the sky once more. The second part of the psalm takes up the question of the refrain, and first reiterates with bitter emphasis that the soul is bowed down, and then pours out once more the stream of reasons for dejection. But the curb has not been applied quite in vain, for throughout the succeeding verses there is a striking alternation of despondency and hope. Streaks of brightness flash through the gloom. Sorrow is shot with trust. This conflict of opposite emotions is the characteristic of the second part of the psalm, while that of the first part is an all but unrelieved predominance of gloom, and that of the third an all but undisputed victory of sunshine. Naturally this transition strophe is marked by the mingling of both. In the former part, memory was the handmaid of sorrow, and came involuntarily, and increased the singer’s pain; but in this part he makes an effort of will to remember, and in remembrance finds an antidote to sorrow. To recall past joys adds stings to present grief, but to remember God brings an anodyne for the smart. The psalmist is far from the sanctuary, but distance does not hinder thought. This man’s faith was not so dependent on externals that it could not come close to God while distant from His temple. It had been so far strengthened by the encouragement of the refrain that the reflux of sadness at once rouses it to action. "My soul is cast down; therefore let me remember Thee." With wise resolve he finds in dejection a reason for nestling closer to God. In reference to the description of the psalmist’s locality, Cheyne beautifully says, "The preposition ‘from’ is chosen (rather than ‘in’) with a subtle purpose. It suggests that the psalmist’s faith will bridge over the interval between himself and the sanctuary: ‘I can send my thoughts to Thee from the distant frontier"’ ( in loc .). The region intended seems to be "the northeastern corner of Palestine, near the lower slopes of Hermons" (Cheyne. u.s.). The plural "Hermons" is probably used in reference to the group of crests. "Mizar" is probably the name of a hill otherwise unknown, and specifies the singer’s locality more minutely, though not helpfully to us. Many ingenious attempts have been made to explain the name either as symbolical or as a common noun, and not a proper name, but these need not be dealt with here. The locality thus designated is too far north for the scene of David’s retreat before Absalom, unless we give an unusual southward extension to the names; and this makes a difficulty in the way of accepting the hypothesis of the author’s having been in his retinue. The twofold emotions of Psalm 42:6 recur in Psalm 42:7-8 , where we have first renewed despondency and then reaction into hope. The imagery of floods lifting up their voices, and cataracts sounding as they fall, and breaking waves rolling over the half-drowned psalmist has been supposed to be suggested by the scenery in which he was; but the rushing noise of Jordan in its rocky bed seems scarcely enough to deserve being described as "flood calling to flood," and "breakers and rollers" is an exaggeration if applied to any commotion possible on such a stream. The imagery is so usual that it needs no assumption of having been occasioned by the poet’s locality. The psalmist paints his calamities as storming on him in dismal continuity, each "flood" seeming to summon its successor. They rush upon him, multitudinous and close following; they pour down on him as with the thunder of descending cataracts; they overwhelm him like the breakers and rollers of an angry ocean. The bold metaphors are more striking when contrasted with the opposite ones of the first part. The dry and thirsty land there and the rush of waters here mean the same thing, so flexible is nature in a poet’s hands. Then follows a gleam of hope, like a rainbow spanning the waterfall. With the alternation of mood already noticed as characteristic, the singer looks forward, even from the midst of overwhelming seas of trouble, to a future day when God will give His angel, Mercy or Lovingkindness, charge concerning him and draw him out of many waters. That day of extrication will surely be followed by a night of music and of thankful prayer (for supplication is not the only element in prayer) to Him who by His deliverance has shown Himself to be the "God of" the rescued man’s "life." The epithet answers to that of the former part, "the living God," from which it differs by but one additional letter. He who has life in Himself is the Giver and Rescuer of our lives, and to Him they are to be rendered in thankful sacrifice. Once more the contending currents meet in Psalm 42:9 and Psalm 42:10 , in the former of which confidence and hope utter themselves in the resolve to appeal to God and in the name given to Him as "my Rock"; while another surge of despondency breaks, in the question in which the soul interrogates God, as the better self had interrogated her, and contrasts almost reproachfully God’s apparent forgetfulness, manifested by His delay in deliverance with her remembrance of Him. It is not a question asked for enlightenment’s sake but is an exclamation of impatience, if not of rebuke. Psalm 42:10 repeats the enemies’ taunt, which is there represented as like crushing blows which broke the bones. And then once more above this conflict of emotion soars the clear note of the refrain, summoning to self-command, calmness, and unfaltering hope. But the victory is not quite won, and therefore Psalm 43:1-5 , follows. It is sufficiently distinct in tone to explain its separation from the preceding, inasmuch as it is prayer throughout, and the note of joy is dominant, even while an undertone of sadness links it with the previous parts. The unity is vouched by the considerations already noticed, and by the incompleteness of Psalm 42:1-11 without such triumphant close and of Psalm 43:1-5 without such despondent beginning. The prayer of Psalm 43:1-2 , blends the two elements, which were at war in the second part; and for the moment the darker is the more prominent. The situation is described as in the preceding parts. The enemy is called a "loveless nation." The word rendered "loveless" is compounded of the negative prefix and the word which is usually found with the meaning of "one whom God favours," or visits with lovingkindness. It has been much disputed whether its proper signification is active (one who shows lovingkindness) or passive (one who receives it). But, considering that lovingkindness is in the Psalter mainly a Divine attribute, and that, when a human excellence, it is regarded as derived from and being the echo of experienced Divine mercy, it is best to take the passive meaning as the principal, though sometimes, as unmistakably here, the active is more suitable. These loveless people are not further defined, and may either have been Israelites or aliens. Perhaps there was one "man" of special mischief prominent among them, but it is not safe to treat that expression as anything but a collective. Psalm 43:2 looks back to Psalm 42:9 , the former clause in each verse being practically equivalent, and the second in 43 ( Psalm 43:2 ), being a quotation of the second in Psalm 42:9 , with a variation in the form of the verb to suggest more vividly the picture of weary, slow, dragging gait, fit for a man clad in mourning garb. But the gloomier mood has shot its last bolt. Grief which finds no fresh words is beginning to dry up. The stage of mechanical repetition of complaints is not far from that of cessation of them. So the higher mood conquers at last, and breaks into a burst of joyous petition, which passes swiftly into realisation of the future joys whose coming shines thus far off. Hope and trust hold the field. The certainty of return to the Temple overbears the pain of absence from it, and the vivid realisation of the gladness of worshipping again at the altar takes the place of the vivid remembrance of former festal approach thither. It is the prerogative of faith to make pictures drawn by memory pale beside those painted by hope. Light and Troth- i.e. , Lovingkindness and Faithfulness in fulfilling promises-are like two angels, despatched from the presence-chamber of God, to guide with gentleness the exile’s steps. That is to say, because God is mercy and faithfulness, the return of the psalmist to the home of his heart is sure. God being what He is, no longing soul can ever remain unsatisfied. The actual return to the Temple is desired because thereby new praise will be occasioned. Not mere bodily presence there, but that joyful outpouring of triumph and gladness, is the object of the psalmist’s longing. He began with yearning after the living God. In his sorrow he could still think of Him at intervals as the help of his countenance and call Him "my God." He ends with naming Him "the gladness of my joy." Whoever begins as he did will finish where he climbed. The refrain is repeated for a third time, and is followed by no relapse into sadness. The effort of faith should be persistent, even if old bitternesses begin again and "break the low beginnings of content"; for, even if the wild waters burst through the dam once and again, they do not utterly wash it away, and there remains a foundation on which it may be built up anew. Each swing of the gymnast lifts him higher until he is on a level with a firm platform on which he can spring and stand secure. Faith may have a long struggle with fear, but it will have the last word, and that word will be "the help of my countenance and my God." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause. Psalm 43 The soul's double appeal Homilist. I. AN APPEAL TO GOD. 1. For Divine vindication. 2. For Divine deliverance. 3. For Divine information. 4. For Divine guidance. II. AN APPEAL TO SELF. He was conscious of — 1. The personality of his soul. 2. The sorrow of his soul. 3. The interests of his son! ( Homilist. ) In exile J. O. Keen, D. D. I. THE EXILE'S PRAYER. 1. For judgment against the accusations of an ungodly nation. Nothing uncommon for the Christian to be the target of wrong charges. 2. For deliverance from the deceitful and unjust man. 3. For light and truth to lead him back to Zion. II. THE EXILE'S PROMISE. 1. To go to the altar, i.e. for sacrifice, consecration, worship. 2. To seize the harp for thanksgiving and praise.Religious services should be gladsome; those in the home as well as those in the sanctuary. Our hearts too often like "muffled drums beating funeral marches," rather than like well-tuned harps sending forth strains of sweetest harmony and gladdest adoration, etc. III. THE EXILE'S SOLILOQUY. 1. A question. 2. A response.Cast down! — "Hope." "Disquieted!" — "Praise." "Praise Him who is the health," the beauty, the ruddy glow, the youth, "of thy countenance, and thy God." ( J. O. Keen, D. D. ) Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Psalm 43:2 The secret of sadness Joseph Ogle. I. Is IT BECAUSE I AM NOT REALLY FIGHTING AGAINST HIM? Am I doing my best, or only allowing religion to be a sentiment, a dream, and not a real stern battle? II. Is IT BECAUSE I AM ONLY FIGHTING A PART OF THE ENEMY? Prince Rupert, at the battles of Edgehill and Marston Moor, was utterly defeated because he concentrated all his strength on one wing of the enemy, heedless of the other. So is it often with Christians. III. Is IT BECAUSE I AM FIGHTING TOO EXCLUSIVELY MY OWN BATTLE? When cholera threatens, men look to the sanitary conditions, not of their own house merely, but of the neighbourhood round. Christians, too, often think only of their own souls and not of others. IV. Is IT BECAUSE I AM FIGHTING TOO MUCH IN MY OWN STRENGTH? The late Isaac Taylor, the engraver, was a very holy but a very poor man, and had much to try him; it was his wont to retire for an hour each day for communion with God. So he won, and so must we win, spiritual victory. ( Joseph Ogle. ) O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles. Psalm 43:3 The sending out of light and truth J. C. Philpot I. THE FEELINGS HERE EXPRESSED. 1. A deep sense of darkness. 2. Belief in God as the source of spiritual life. 3. Earnest desire after Him. His soul wanted light-God's light; he knew that it must be sent out; also he desired God's truth. II. THE PURPOSE OF HIS DESIRE — "Let them lead me;" he knew his own helplessness. III. THE PLACE TO WHICH HE DESIRED TO BE LED. — God's tabernacles, God's holy hill. He would be led to holiness and to the know. ledge of God in Christ which the tabernacle set forth. This alone would satisfy his soul. ( J. C. Philpot ) The obscurities of Divine revelation A. Battles, D. D. (with Psalm 36:9 ):Perhaps no one ever studied the Bible as a professed revelation from God who has not had such questions cross his mind as the following: — Why is there so much in this book that is obscure and unintelligible? Why is not more information given on great and important questions about which the human mind has always been perplexed? Why are so many subjects left in total darkness in a professed revelation, and others left with only such a feeble glimmering of light as almost to make us wish that there had been none? And this perplexity is increased when we reflect — 1. That it would have been so easy for God to have given us the light we crave for. 2. It seems so needful to vindicate His own character. 3. And mere benevolence on His part seems to demand it in order to relieve our distress of mind. And — 4. There is so much in the Bible — histories, names, genealogies, etc. — which have lost all interest for us now, and instead of which we should be glad, indeed, to have some explanations of the dark mysteries which oppress us. To obtain a rational view of this matter there are two inquiries. I. WHAT IS THE MEASURE OF LIGHT ACTUALLY IMPARTED IN THE BIBLE? Note the principles which seem to have guided the Divine mind in giving a revelation to man. The question of giving light on the matters referred to must have occurred. But God seems to have determined — 1. To leave many subjects perfectly in the dark. It was clearly the design of God to fix an outer limit to human knowledge so far as this world is concerned. Far on the hither side of what we would like to know, the line is drawn, and the whole hook is closed at what may, without irreverence, be called — or which, whether irreverent or not, expresses our natural feelings — a provoking point, just at the point where we would be glad to ask questions, and where we by no means feel our minds satisfied with what we possess. I am, for one, willing to concede that among these points are the questions why moral evil was admitted into the system; why misery ever found its way into the empire of an infinitely benevolent and Almighty Creator and moral Governor; and why the period will never arrive when sin and woe shall everywhere come to an end. On these, and on many kindred topics of great interest to man, I confess I have never seen a ray of light cast by any human speculation; and that though I have been silenced, I have not been convinced. Other men think they see light here: I see none. I admit, therefore, that the whole subject of the introduction and existence of evil is all dark to my mind, and that I struggle in vain for the light. 2. A second principle on which revelation seems to have been given, similar to the one just mentioned, is, to state nothing merely to gratify curiosity. The Bible is for practical purposes only, to tell us what we shall do in our relations to God and our fellow-men. 3. Its vital principle was to furnish knowledge enough to be a safe guide to heaven. This was its essential purpose, and if that were secured it was enough. It is like the lighthouse that gleams on a dark and stormy coast, to reveal the haven to the storm-tossed mariner. "It shines over the stormy ocean, only penetrating a darkness which it was never intended to expel." So it is in respect to the Gospel. Man, too, is on a stormy ocean — the ocean of life, and the night is very dark. There are tempests that beat around us; undercurrents that would drift us into unknown seas; rocks that make our voyage perilous. The Gospel is a light "standing on the dark shore of eternity, just simply guiding us there." It reveals to us almost nothing of the land to which we go, but only the way to reach it. It does nothing to answer the thousand questions which we would ask about that world, but it tells how we may see it with our own eyes. II. Our second inquiry is, WHY WAS THERE NO MORE LIGHT GIVES? NOW, all we can do is to show that our duty is not to object to the Bible because it gives no more light, but to be grateful for that which it has given. As the appropriate feeling of our mariner would be gratitude that that bright and clear, though little light, is kept burning on that stormy coast to guide every vessel that may chance to come into those waters, not of complaint that it does not reveal the hills, and vales, and cities, and hamlets of that land. 1. First, our essential condition on earth is one of discipline and probation. Now, if we would search our own minds, we should probably find that the questions in reference to which we are most disposed to complain because they are not solved, are not those which really embarrass us in the matter of salvation, or which, being solved, would aid us, but those in reference to which our salvation may be equally safe and easy whether they are solved or not. When a man finds himself struggling in a stream, it does nothing to facilitate his escape to know how he came there; nor would it aid the matter if he could determine beyond a doubt why God made streams that men could ever fall into them, and did not make every bank so that it would not crumble beneath the feet. In the condition of man, therefore, regarded as in a state of discipline, all that is needed is that a man's safety shall not be endangered by his lack of light, and that the darkness shall be such as to furnish a healthful exercise of his powers. It is good for man to be stimulated to inquiry, to feel, not as Alexander did, that there were no more worlds to be conquered, but that a boundless field of inquiry is ever open before him. God would not stop the career of noble thought and the path of discovery by pouring down a flood of light on all those regions so that no more was left for the efforts of honourable ambition. The explorer of unknown lands is cheered because a vast and inviting field is before him, which the foot of man has never trod It was this which animated Columbus when his prow first crossed the line beyond which a ship had ever sailed, and plunged into unknown seas. Every wave that was thrown up had a new interest and beauty, from the fact that its repose had never been disturbed before by the keel of a vessel; and when his eyes first saw the land, and he prostrated himself and kissed the earth, his glory was at the highest, for he saw what in old ages was unknown before. And let all inquirers on these great questions remember, however perplexed they may now be, that in a few years, as the result of calm examination and of maturer reflection and observation, most of these difficulties will disappear. Why may I not hope, then, as to the difficulties that remain? 2. It is not absolutely certain, it is not even probable, that we could comprehend any statements which could be made on those points which now perplex us ( John 3:12 ). Remember that it depends on the measure of our faculties and attainments how far we can grasp ideas that are set before us. Much may be said, yet but little be understood. Apply all this to those mysteries of the moral government of God. Are you certain that you could comprehend the high principles of the Divine administration even if they were stated to you? 3. We are in the infancy of our being; we have but just opened our eyes upon this wonderful universe, which in its structure demanded all the wisdom, and goodness, and power of an infinite God! Very few of us have lived through the period of seventy revolving suns; a majority of us not fifty; many not twenty. We have but just learned to speak, to handle things, to talk, to walk. But yesterday we were at our mother's breasts. We knew not anything. And now, forsooth, we wonder that we do not know all about God, and these worlds, and the moral government of the Most High. We sit in judgment on what our Maker has told us. We are sullen and silent; we repress our gratitude; we throw back His Bible in His face; we have no songs and no thanksgivings, because we are not told all about this earth, and these skies, about heaven and about hell, and about the God that made, and that rules over all! ( A. Battles, D. D. ) The confidence and joy of faith in approaching to God D. Wilson. In these verses we may observe — 1. The genuine disposition and desire of a gracious soul, when privileged with an opportunity of attending upon the ordinances of divine appointment. Ordinances themselves will not satisfy, but it will be the desire of that soul to be brought near to God, so as to have real communion with Him in them. 2. How, or in what manner, a believer is enabled to approach unto God in His ordinances, so as to have communion with Him in them. Can he find the way to God himself? No, he must be led; directed by a light from above. 3. In what manner believers are helped to approach unto God when He is pleased to send out His light and truth to lead them, and bring them to His holy hill and to His tabernacles, or to direct them in their approaches to him in duties and ordinances. Then they are enabled to go unto God as "their God," and "the exceeding joy"; or to appear before Him with becoming confidence and holy joy. From the words we may observe the following doctrine. When the people of God have an opportunity of approaching to Rim in the ordinances of His grace, particularly in solemn ordinances, they ought to draw near to Him with holy confidence and holy joy. I. OFFER A FEW GENERAL REMARKS FOR ILLUSTRATING THE SUBJECT. 1. Communion with God is sometimes the privilege of His people even while they are here on earth. Nor is this the privilege of a few eminent saints only, but is common to believers. 2. The ordinances of God's own appointment are the ordinary means of communion and fellowship with Him. When these are despised or neglected, all pretensions to communion with God are vain. 3. Real communion with God in ordinances is a rare attainment. Many read and hear the Word, regularly attend upon the ordinances of God, and even go to a communion table who are utterly unacquainted with it. 4. Sinful men can have no communion with God but by sacrifice. They ask, they expect, they desire no blessing from God, but for the sake of Christ who gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour ( Ephesians 5:2 ). 5. Believers themselves who have formerly been brought near to God, and enjoyed His gracious presence cannot have access to Him anew, or any comfortable communion with Him in ordinances, but under the gracious influence of His Holy Spirit. 6. As communion with God in ordinances is a rare attainment, it is also a precious and valuable attainment. It relieves the believer under all his burdens, and comforts him amidst all his griefs and sorrows. It is a pledge and earnest of future glory; yea, it is, as it were, heaven begun. II. SPEAK SOMEWHAT CONCERNING THAT HOLY CONFIDENCE AND JOY WITH WHICH THE PEOPLE OF GOD OUGHT TO APPROACH UNTO HIM IN THE ORDINANCES AND DUTIES OF HIS WORSHIP, and particularly in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, which is a feast He has made for His friends, in partaking of which they are called to rejoice before Him, as Israel were commanded to do when they kept the feasts of the Lord, during the Mosaic economy. 1. The confidence with which believers are warranted to draw near unto God, when they have an opportunity of waiting upon Him in His ordinances, is not inconsistent with a humbling and self-abasing sense of their own unworthiness and sinfulness, but rather supposes it. 2. The confidence of faith, with which the people of God ought to draw near to Him in the ordinances and duties of His worship, differs greatly from that presumptuous confidence which is to be found with hypocrites and self-righteous persons in their approaches to Him. 3. That holy joy with which believers, imitating David's example, ought to approach unto God in His ordinances, and particularly in solemn ordinances, is very consistent with deep and great sorrow for sin. Indeed, the one cannot be without the other. 4. The joy of the godly, when brought near unto God in His ordinances, is not a carnal, but a spiritual joy; and therefore no outward troubles or afflictions can hinder the exercise of it under the influence of the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of faith. 5. The confidence and joy with which believers ought to nor make any suitable improvement of His ordinances. 6. Because by approach-various degrees. A strong faith begets strong confidence and great joy; a weak faith is accompanied with little confidence and little joy. A strong faith glorifies God, yet He will accept of a weak faith. III. SHOW WHY THE PEOPLE OF GOD OUGHT TO APPROACH UNTO HIM IN HIS ORDINANCES WITH BECOMING CONFIDENCE AND HOLY JOY. 1. Because He is a God reconciled in Christ. 2. Because the way of access to God, which Christ the glorious Mediator has opened by His blood, was opened just for the benefit of sinners who deserve no favour, but, on the other hand, are obnoxious to the justice and wrath of God. 3. A sure foundation is laid for this confidence and icy in our approaches to God. 4. Because without some degree of this holy confidence and joy persons can have no communion with God, nor make any suitable improvement of His ordinances. 5. Because by approaching unto God with humble confidence and holy joy, they do in an especial manner glorify Him. 6. Confidence and holy joy in our approaches to God are not only warranted, but required in the word of God ( Deuteronomy 16:10, 11 ; Psalm 62:8 ; Psalm 96:2 ). IV. APPLICATION. IS it SO that the people of God are warranted to approach unto Him in His ordinances with confidence and joy? then hence we may see — 1. The great love of God to sinners of mankind. 2. How much believers are indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through Him that they have access unto the Father. 3. This text and doctrine serves to inform us of the nature and excellency of true faith. Relying upon the testimony of God in the Gospel concerning the method of reconciliation and ground of acceptance with Him, it inspires the soul with holy confidence, and fills the heart with holy joy in approaching to God. 4. We must not always judge of the privileges of believers by their exercise or the actings of their faith. Though now through the prevalence of unbelief, they frequently cannot take the comfort of these, they shall not lose their interest in them. 5. We may see who will be worthy communicants at the table of the Lord, viz. those who have a real desire to be brought near to God Himself, and whose hope and confidence, in their approaches to Him, are wholly bottomed upon the gracious revelation that He has made of His name as a God in Christ, and upon what Christ has done and suffered, to procure access to God for guilty sinners. 6. Hence see matter of trial and examination. If you are true believers who desire to enjoy communion with God in His ordinances, and none else are warranted to partake of the Gospel-feast in view, David's petition will be yours, "O send out Thy light."(1) You esteem and set a high value upon the ordinances of God. His tabernacles are amiable to you.(2) Absence and distance from God will be very painful and distressing to you.(3) Ordinances will not content you. It is a meeting with God Himself that you desire. When this is wanting, ordinances, however excellent in themselves, are to the believer like dry breasts and empty pits, that afford no satisfaction, no comfort, no refreshment.(4) You dare not approach to God but by a Mediator.(5) You have seen the need of drawing power in order to your being brought near to God in any ordinance or duty. This you were not only convinced of at first conversion, but you are sensible of it still.(6) When at any time you are brought near to God in ordinances, no degrees of communion with Him that you attain to will fully satisfy you; but you will desire still to be brought nearer and nearer to Him. 7. Hence we see the duty of all who have an opportunity of approaching to God in His ordinances, and particularly of believers who design to partake of the Gospel-feast in view, but perhaps are labouring under various discouragements. They are called to draw near to God with humble confidence and holy joy.(1) Consider what a God He is whom you are called to approach unto. Not an absolute, angry God, but a God in Christ, a sin-pardoning, a reconciled God; a God with whom there is mercy and plenteous redemption.(2) Consider that however unworthy, guilty and vile you are in yourselves, there is a sufficiency of merit in Christ to procure your access to God and acceptance with Him. ( D. Wilson. ) Desiring communion with God Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. I. THE PSALMIST'S EARNEST PETITION. 1. The subject of his request.(1) "Light" is that glorious creature "which maketh manifest" to the sense of sight surrounding objects; and thus enables a person to perceive himself and his situation with its advantages or disadvantages, so as to avail himself of what is favourable and to avoid what is otherwise. Metaphorically, it signifies mental illumination, or the means or instruments of such illumination ( John 3:19 ). Thus the epithet is applied to "believers" ( Ephesians 5:8 ), who are "children of the light," because illuminated. And to God, word ( Psalm 119:105 ; Hosea 6:5 ); and to His ministers and people ( Matthew 5:14 ; John 5:85) as the means of illumination. Light is also a cheerful subject, and therefore it is used to denote prosperity, comfort, felicity ( Psalm 97:11 ; Isaiah 58:8 , etc.).(2) The "truth" here requested may mean religious truth in general, as in John 17:17 ; and, if so, then the prayer is that of every missionary, and of every friend of missions. But it more properly intends the fulfilment of God's promises to the petitioner; a verifying of those promises in his experience, that he might prove and rejoice in their truth. 2. The intention of his request — a participation in religious enjoyments.(1) An acknowledgment of need.(2) Not only a willingness, but anxiety to be led and taught.(3) A resolution to walk in the light, and to submit to the truth of God.(4) A humble anticipation of being so instructed as to be enabled to correct past errors, and of coming to worship God in the beauty of holiness ( Psalm 42:4 ; Psalm 122:1 ). II. THE PSALMIST'S PIOUS PURPOSE. 1. The object of his devotions" God," as opposed to the creatures. Not domestic, social or public pleasures or achievements; but God, who is the source of light and truth ( James 1:17 ). "My God," as opposed to every other, and peculiarly mine. The object of my affection; the object of my trust ( Psalm 73:24-28 ). 2. The fervour of his devotion — "Unto God my exceeding joy," or, "the gladness of my joy." How inferior the joy of the sensualist, the worldling, etc. ( Psalm 4:7 ; Isaiah 9:3 ). 3. The manner of his devotion — "T will go unto the altar," etc.(1) He would sacrifice. Is a sin-offering necessary? It shall be offered. Is a thank-offering due? It shall be rendered.(2) He would praise — "upon the harp," etc. "We have an altar," etc. "By him therefore let us offer," etc. ( Hebrews 13:10, 15 ).(3) This was public worship; an open avowal of God's goodness, and His servant's obligation. The psalmist was a man of personal piety, which he evinced by practical piety. Are we such?(4) This was a public dedication: an engagement of himself in God's service in any post that might be assigned to him. Are you imitating this conduct, thus praying, thus purposing? ( Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. ) The ascent of man G. Matheson, D. D. 1. There are five stages in the light of God. The first is simple leading — the guiding of a child. Then comes the height of ecstasy — the holy hill; I stand above the world and laugh at the cares of time. By and by comes a third stage; I descend from the hill to the tabernacles. Ecstasy subsides into peace; the height sinks into the home; love on the wing becomes love in the nest. After this comes the light of sacrifice — "Then shall I go unto the altar of God." "Then," not before. Peace alone can sacrifice for others. I cannot sacrifice when I am being led; I am thinking too much about my own steps. I cannot sacrifice when I am in ecstasy; I am too intent on my own joy. But when I get peace, I go out from myself altogether; I go to the altar. At last the climax comes. The altar itself becomes "my exceeding joy" — the rapture of forgetting self in the care of another. 2. It is a spiral stair, but it is golden. Sometimes it seems to make no progress. There are moments when my feet grow weary with their climbing, and the end is not yet. Shine from the topmost height, Thou Divine Joy! Often I am led by a Way which by myself I would not go; I see not the Christ, but only the manger. Shine out, Thou Christ, and the manger shall be luminous. Shine out, and the altar shall glow with the light of coming fires. ( G. Matheson, D. D. ) God's light and truth our only guides John Young, D. D. I. WHAT THE PSALMIST HERE ASKS OF GOD. 1. Something that he wished to enjoy.(1) Some think he means but one thing: as if he had said, "Send out the light of Thy truth."(2) Others understand it of the Word and Providence of God.(3) Others, of God's favour and faithfulness.(4) Others, of the Word of God and His Holy Spirit; or, of the Spirit working by the Word. 2. The manner in which David desired and expected to have the blessing communicated to him for which he prayed. "Send out."(1) This imports that God's light and His truth were, for the present, withdrawn, in a great measure, from David's view; and from the view of such as were witnesses of his condition. They were like a person who retires from view, and hides himself in a secret place; so that, if David had been to consult with flesh and blood, he might have doubted of their existence.(2) It imports that David still believed in God as a God of light and truth, even when these perfections ceased to be manifested in his behalf. He was assured that God knew all that befell him; and, notwithstanding all, he was persuaded that God would fully accomplish all His promises to him, and to his house.(3) It imports that when God should interpose for His servant's deliverance, as he confidently expected He would, then he firmly hoped to see the Divine wisdom and faithfulness vindicated from all those aspersions that had been cast upon them. 3. David's earnestness a fervency in this petition. II. DAVID'S END IN ASKING THAT FOR WHICH HE PRAYS SO FERVENTLY. 1. The more general end. "Let them lead me." He wanted to be guided and conducted by the wisdom and faithfulness of God, not only in his present difficulty, but in every other step of his journey through the wilderness.(1) Indirectly, this may be said to take place when the providence of God, under the influence of His infinite wisdom and faithfulness, manages all that concerns the person in such a manner as may tend to his spiritual good, and to the accomplishment of the promises of God to him.(2) But God's light and truth may be said to lead His people more directly and sensibly, when, in His infinite wisdom and faithfulness, He gives them such counsel, instruction and direction as enables them to keep the way of duty, and prevents their turning aside after any crooked ways ( Psalm 25:8, 9 ; Isaiah 55:4 ). 2. The more particular end for which David begs a manifestation of God's light and truth.(1) A removal of all those obstructions and hindrances that stood in the way of an attendance upon the solemn worship and ordinances of God.(2) A being directed and enabled to the acceptable performance of all those preparatory duties that are necessary in order to a regular attendance upon God in solemn ordinances.(3) A being strengthened by the grace of God, and enabled to attend upon God's ordinances "in a regular and acceptable manner."(4) A being admitted to enjoy that spiritual advantage of which ordinances are the means.(5) A being brought home, at length, to the full and immediate enjoyment of God in heaven. III. IMPROVEMENT. 1. For information.(1) It informs us of the necessary connection between an attendance upon God in His ordinances here, and the full enjoyment of Him in the most holy place hereafter.(2) How vain and fruitless it is to pay such an attendance upon ordinances as may be attained without any Divine assistance.(3) How vain and useless all that light is in religious matters which proceeds not from God Himself.(4) They who would live as Christians ought to have their dependence upon God for leading in every step of their journey through the wilderness as well as in their attendance upon Divine ordinances. 2. For trial.(1) Are you sensible that it is a duty, indispensably binding upon you, to ascend the hill of God and to enter His tabernacles as you have an opportunity?(2) Is it real matter of joy and rejoicing to you that God has given you so near a prospect of another opportunity to ascend His hill, and wait upon Him in solemn ordinances?(3) Do you see the necessity of being brought by God Himself to His holy hill and to His tabernacles? That it is impossible for you to attend upon any ordinance acceptably without supernatural assistance?(4) Is it your present exercise; and are you resolved that it shall always be your endeavour to set forward in every act of worship, praying to God, as does the royal psalmist in the text, for the conduct and assistance of His light and truth? 3. For humiliation and mourning.(1) How many are there among us who are altogether careless about being present on God's holy hill or in His tabernacles! A sad evidence that they know little about solid happiness, or about where it is to be found.(2) How many satisfy themselves with such an attendance upon ordinances as may be attained without any supernatural assistance; and how often are we all chargeable with this sin.(3) How many are left to follow false lights in attempting to ascend God's hill, and to go into His tabernacle! To what else can it be owing, that "altars are set up against altars" in every corner; and there are so many distinct and opposite societies, all pretending to worship God, and that in His own tabernacles? ( John Young, D. D. ) Thy light W. Birch. Jesus brought light to the world, and they who follow Him need walk no longer in darkness, for He is the light of life. For — I. HE LIGHTS EVERY MAN TO THE HEART OF GOD. You need to be spiritually minded to perceive this. As a blind man cannot understand colour, so an unspiritual man cannot understand God. But Jesus Christ came to reveal God. II. HE REVEALS TO US THE EVERLASTING LOVE OF GOD. We often think that because we are bad the Lord has turned His back upon us; but Jesus, the light of the world, testified by His life and death that instead of turning from you, the Lord, like a good physician, seeks after poor sin-sick souls to heal them and save them. Jesus Christ is the Divine light showing us how much higher and holier than we can conceive is the character of God, that His love is infinite, and that He will seek His lost sheep until He finds them. III. Jesus Christ is also the light of God and the light of the world in illuminating the grandest of all truths, THAT GOD'S CHARITY IS UNIVERSAL. Like the blessed sunlight, God's love is diffused with equal and bounteous hand over the cottage and the palace. God's great heart is not partial. He loves my poor friend quite as much as the richest man in the land. His charity beams upon all men alike. IV. JESUS CHRIST IS ALSO A CHEERING AND A TRANSFORMING LIGHT. When the sun's rays fall upon a diamond, it glistens with intense beauty; but when the light is gone, the diamond can be no more seen in the dark than a stone. So Christ lights up the Christian. And Christ makes him also a light giver as well as a light receiver. V. CHRIST BRINGS IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT. ( W. Birch. ) Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Psalm 43:4 The altar of joy H. Allen, D. D. This is the expression of a twofold desire, a desire for communion with God, and for communion with God through public worship. There is a great wail of sorrow in the psalm, but it is not a sorrow without hope; faith struggles with despondence, and gets the victory. The authorship of the psalm we cannot be certain of. Nor of the occasion, whether some event in David's reign, or in Ahaz's, or in the captivity, or yet some other. held that the psalm is the proper expression of the Church while she is an exile in this world. They are unquestionably words for all individual souls who feel that something intervenes between them and God — whether it be exile of the body or of the heart only. Often we are separated from the house of God, from the worship that we love, and which has been so precious because so helpful to us, and we yearn for restoration to our privileges. Or it may be the yearning of the heart for spiritual joy, for delight in worship, for the kindling inspiration, the answering voice, the holy rapture which once we knew but now do not, though all the outward service is still ours. Or it may be the longing of the holy soul for God's heaven, that presence of God in which there is fulness of joy and of which sometimes in our holiest hours we have visions and foretastes. Thus in different experiences and moods we make these precious words our own. But to the psalmist they told — I. OF HIS STRONG DESIRE FOR RESTORATION TO THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF GOD. It is of the very essence of the religious heart that it should yearn for God. Let a man's religious life be full and fervent, and the u

43:6-11 The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Saviour's name let us hope and pray. One word from him will calm every storm, and turn midnight darkness into the light of noon, the bitterest complaints into joyful praises. Our believing expectation of mercy must quicken our prayers for it. At length, is faith came off conqueror, by encouraging him to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay himself upon his God. He adds, And my God; this thought enabled him to triumph over all his griefs and fears. Let us never think that the God of our life, and the Rock of our salvation, has forgotten us, if we have made his mercy, truth, and power, our refuge. Thus the psalmist strove against his despondency: at last his faith and hope obtained the victory. Let us learn to check all unbelieving doubts and fears. Apply the promise first to ourselves, and then plead it to God.