Psalm 43[a]
Prayer To Worship God Anew
1 Grant me your justice, O God,
and plead my cause against a godless nation;
rescue me from those who are deceitful and unjust.
2 You, O God, are my refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in mourning,
while my enemy oppresses me?
3 Send forth your light and your truth;[b]
they will serve as my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place of your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and delight,
and I will praise you[c] with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[d]
Footnotes
- Psalm 43:1 The psalmist asks God for vindication so that he may be able to return to the temple and render him praise once again.
We can pray this psalm to augment our tranquil hope. We place our cause in God, who has sworn that he will obtain redress for us from our enemies (see Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30). He will enable us to journey toward the heavenly Jerusalem in the vast mobile column of his Church, the true liturgical procession and uninterrupted processional march that takes the elect to him (see Heb 10:19-22). - Psalm 43:3 Your light and your truth: the psalmist personifies the divine attributes of light (see note on Ps 27:1) and truth (see Pss 25:5; 26:3; 40:11) and asks that they bring him safely to the temple. Holy mountain: see note on Ps 2:6.
- Psalm 43:4 Altar of God . . . I will praise you: see notes on Pss 7:18; 26:6.
- Psalm 43:5 See note on Ps 42:12.