Psalm 43 – Lead Me And I Will Worship

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 17 May 2020

Introduction

v.1 Adjudicate for me, God, and argue my case, please, against an ungodly nation. Deliver me from [this] man of deceit and injustice!

    1. Mirmah3 “Deceitful” and

    2. Avlah – “Unjust/iniquitous”
      There are two Psalms – both of them Psalms of David – which describe these kind of persons:

v.2 For it is You who are my God, my stronghold! Why did you cast me away? Why do I go4 gloomily into the oppression of the enemy?

v.3 Send Your light and Your truth; it is they that will guide me and bring me to the mountain of Your holiness and to Your chambers.

v.4 Then I will go in that direction to the altar of God, to the God of my circle-dance happiness, and I will praise You with a guitar, O God, my God!

v.5 My soul, why are you depressing yourself and why are you moaning over me? Develop hope towards God, because I shall praise Him again – even my God – [for] salvations before my face.

Psalm 43 - Side-by side comparison of versionsA

LXX (Ps.42)

Brenton(LXX)

DRB (Vulgate)

KJV

NAW

Masoretic Txt

1 Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυιδ. Κρῖνόν με, ὁ θεός, καὶ δίκασον τὴν δίκην μου ἐξ ἔθνους οὐχ ὁσίου, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου ἀδίκου καὶ δολίου ῥῦσαί μεB.

1 A Psalm of David. Judge me, o God, and plead my cause, against an ungodly nation: deliver me from [the] unjust and crafty man.

1 A psalm for David. Judge me, O God, and dis­tinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.

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

1 Adjudicate for me, God, and argue my case please against an un­godly nation. Deliver me from [this] man of deceit and injustice!

1 שָׁפְטֵנִיD אֱלֹהִים וְרִיבָהE רִיבִי מִגּוֹי לֹא־חָסִיד מֵאִישׁF־מִרְמָה וְעַוְלָה תְפַלְּטֵנִי׃

42:2 ὅτι σὺ εἶ, ὁ θεός X, κραταίωμά μου· ἵνα τί ἀπώσω με; καὶ ἵνα τί σκυθρωπάζων πορεύομαι ἐν τῷ ἐκθλίβειν τὸν ἐχθρόν [μου];

2 For thou, O God, art my strength: where­fore hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sad of countenance, while the enemy oppresses me?

2 For thou art God my strength: why hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me?

2 For thou art the God of my strengthG: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

2 For it is You who are my God, my strong­hold! Why did you cast me away? Why do I go gloomily into the oppression of an enemy?

2 כִּי־אַתָּה אֱלֹהֵי מָעוּזִּי לָמָה זְנַחְתָּנִי לָמָּה־קֹדֵר אֶתְהַלֵּךְ בְּלַחַץ אוֹיֵב׃

42:3 [ἐξ]απόστειλον τὸ φῶς σου καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου· αὐτά με ὡδήγησαν [καὶ] ἤγαγόνH με εἰς ὄρος ἅγιόν σου καὶ εἰς τὰ σκηνώματά σου.

3 Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have led me, and brought me to thy holy mountain, and to thy tabernacles.

3 Sent forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.

3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernaclesI.

3 Send Your light and Your truth; it is they that will guide me and bring me to the moun­tain of Your holiness and to Your chambers.

3 שְׁלַח־אוֹרְךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ הֵמָּה יַנְחוּנִי יְבִיאוּנִי אֶל־הַר־קָדְשְׁךָ וְאֶל־מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶיךָ׃

42:4 καὶ εἰσελεύ­σομαι πρὸς τὸ θυσια­στήριον τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν [τὸν] εὐ­φραίνοντα τὴν νεότη­τάJ μου· X ἐξομο­λογ­ήσομαί σοι ἐν κιθάρᾳ, ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου.

4 And I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gladdens my youth: I will give thanks to thee on the harp, O God, my God.

4 And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth. (43:5) To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp:

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

4 Then I will go in that direction to the altar of God, to the God of my circle-dance happi­ness, and I will praise You with a gui­tar, God, my God!

4 וְאָבוֹאָהK אֶל־מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהִים אֶל־אֵל שִׂמְחַת גִּילִי וְאוֹדְךָ בְכִנּוֹר אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהָי׃

42:5 ἵνα τί περί­λυποςL εἶ, ψυχή, καὶ ἵνα τί συνταράσσεις X με; ἔλπισονM ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν, ὅτι X ἐξομολογή­σομαι αὐτῷ· σωτήριον τοῦ προσώπου μουN X ὁ θεός μου.

5 Wherefore art thou very sad, O my soul? and wherefore dost thou trouble me? Hope in God; for I will give thanks to him, [who is the] health of my countenance, and my God.

5 Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? (43:6) Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my counten­ance, and my God.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquietedO within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the healthX of my countenance, and my God.

5 My soul, why are you depres­sing yourself and why are you moaning over me? Develop hope towards God, because I shall praise Him againeven my God – [for] salvations before my face.

5 מַה־תִּשְׁתּוֹחֲחִי נַפְשִׁי וּמַה־
תֶּהֱמִי עָלָי הוֹחִילִי לֵאלֹהִים כִּי־עוֹד אוֹדֶנּוּ יְשׁוּעֹתP פָּנַי וֵאלֹהָי׃



1“‘[T]he deceitful and unjust man’ ... so well suits the case of Ahithophel that some hence conclude that this Psalm certainly refers to Absalom's rebellion, in which that fox was the cunning adviser.” ~William Plumer

2“... ‘the deceitful and wicked man,’ might indeed be applied to Saul; but it seems rather to be a form of speech in which, by enallage, the singular number is used for the plural...” ~J. Calvin
“...most probably Saul, who not only showed no kindness to David, but dealt most perfidiously and dishonestly with him. If Absalom was the man he meant, his character was no better… Some think that David, by the spirit of proph­ecy, calculated this psalm for the use of the Jews in their captivity in Babylon, and that the Chaldeans are the ungodly nation here meant; to them it was very applicable... God might design it for their use, whether David did or no.” ~Matthew Henry
“No particular individual is meant. Man is to be understood collectively...” ~A. Cohen

3 These men are also mentioned in Psalms 5:7; 10:7; 35:20; 36:4; 38:13; 50:19; 52:6; 55:12&24; and 109:2.

4“Instead of אֵלֵךְ we here have the form אֶתְהַלֵּךְ, of the slow deliberate gait of one who is lost in his own thoughts and feelings.” ~Delitzsch

5cf Exodus 15:13 “You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation."

6“[W]e are still to pray for God's light and truth, the Spirit of light and truth, who supplies the want of Christ's bodily presence, to lead us into the mystery of godliness and to guide us in the way to heaven." ~M. Henry

7Augustine had a strange interpretation: “We are now on His Hill, that is, in His Church, and in His Tabernacle. The "tabernacle" is for persons sojourning... for those who are both from home, and also in a state of warfare.”

8Calvin continued, "How it is that mention is here made of Mount Sion, which was not appointed to the service of God till after the death of Saul? The only solution of this difficulty which I can give is, that David, composing this psalm at an after period of his life, employs, in accordance with the revelation which had subsequently been given to him, language which otherwise he would have used more generally in speaking only of the tabernacle, and without at all specifying the place.

9This is the first of five times in the Bible that the tabernacle is referred to with this plural word. The others are in Psalms 46:5, 84:2, and 132:5-7 (Hebrew verse numbering).
"Tabernacles, in the plural, may be thus explained: 1. There were different parts of the great tent, as we learn from many Scriptures. Paul fully explains this matter in Heb. ix. 1-8. So that the one tabernacle may be spoken of in the plural. 2. In David's time there were two tabernacles where God was duly worshipped, one in Mount Zion, as many Scriptures show ; the other at Gibeon as we learn from 1 Chron. xvi. 37-39. So that in two ways we may justify the use of the plural." ~Plumer
“The plural may refer to the various courtyards what will beature in the third Temple.” ~Cohen, quoting Ibn Ezra
“Tabernacles” is... an amplificative designation of the tent, magnificent in itself and raised to special honour by Him who dwells therein.” ~Delitzsch

10 Nowhere in the O.T. is “going” to the altar described of a priestly function (except to offer incense) The priests would “go up on” or “approach/come near” the altar. The only other “going” to the altar is in the case of initiating a lawsuit (2 Chron. 6:22), and that doesn’t seem to fit the intent of David here (and it would be anachronistic too).

11Augustine pointed out a Christological application of the first half of this verse: “I will go in unto the Altar of God on High. What manner of Sacrifice is there? He himself who goeth in is taken for a burnt-offering.”

12[W]e come in vain to holy ordinances if we do not in them come to the holy God.~M. Henry
"It is not a bare formal use of the ordinances, but communion with God himself, which the lively believer seeketh after, in the use of public ordinances" ~Wm. Plumer, quoting Dickson
The sacrifice upon the altar was not an end in itself but the means of establishing communion with God. He is the ultimate goal towards which the Psalmist longs to make his way.” ~A. Cohen

13Deut. 28:47-48 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in na­kedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you." (NKJV)

14Jewish scholars have noted that during the exile, the Jews couldn’t go to their temple anymore, so they refused to sing, retiring their harps by hanging them on willow trees (Ps. 137), but they still looked forward to the day when they would return to Jerusalem and pick up their harps again to worship God in the temple. (Cohen, Yaavetz)

15 Although 42:11 and 43:5 have a couple extra words that 42:5 doesn’t have, it’s practically the same.

AMy original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright restrictions have forced me to remove them from the publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB, or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea Scroll containing any part of Psalm 42:6-43:5 is 11Q(8)PsD, which contain fragments of 43:1-3, highlighted in purple.

BAquilla’s version from the mid-second century AD is synonymous: απο ανδρος επιθεσεως και παρανομιας διασωσεις με “from the man who has laid his hand on me and is an outlaw, you will save me.”

C ESV “defend...people”

D Psalms 7:9; 26:1; and 35:24 also open with this word

E The paragogic he on this verb may have to do with making this imperative addressed to God more respectful.

F "There is some uncertainty whether by אִישׁ one chief enemy, the leader of all the rest, is intended to be mentioned side by side with the unloving nation, or whether the special manner of his enemies is thus merely individualised." ~Delitzsch

G NIV = “stronghold” ESV adds several words “[in whom] I [take ]refuge”

HIn the first few centuries AD, Aqilla, Symmachus, Theodotian, and “E” all emended the LXX Greek translation to future tense verb forms in the second half of this verse to conform to the imperfect tense Hebrew verbs of the MT.

I NIV & ESV changed the Greek and Hebrew plural to singular in English.

J Symmachus corrected the Greek text to the M.T. with euthumias “cheer” here and also called the instrument a “psalter.”

KI think this is a directional he; cf. the LXX εισ- prefix. Cohen suggested translating the opening Vav as purposive rather than sequential: “that I may come”

L cf. synonyms Σ = καταρρεεις “flow down,” Ε = ταπεινουσαι “become low”

M cf. synonyms in Aq. & Sym. Ανειμεινον “remain upon”

NSince at least the first century AD (and probably longer), scholars have debated whether it should be “my presence” or “His presence” in this verse and in the last verse of this psalm. Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotian, and more read, as the MT, autou “him,” in this verse, and “my” in v.11/12 and in 43:5. On the other hand, there are several Hebrew manu­scripts – as well as the Syriac version – which support the LXX “my” here (thus the NIV), and there are Hebrew manuscripts and ancient Coptic, Aramaic, and Greek versions which read “him” in v.11/12. Since the word “and” and the word “his” in Hebrew are spelled the same, and since early manuscripts had no spaces between words, one part of the explanation for this variant is that different translators divided the words in different places. At any rate, both statements are true, and it doesn’t change the theology presented either way. And, for what it’s worth, no Dead Sea Scroll has been discovered with this verse visible for comparison.

O NAS/NIV = “disturbed” ESV = “in turmoil” Symmachus: θορυβεις “make a commotion”

PThis is plural as it was in the first two refrains (viz. 42:6 & 12), but most translations render it singular: LXX (although corrected by Symmachus to plural), Syriac, Targums, KJV=health, NAS=help, NIV=Savior, ESV=salvation.

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