... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Judge me, O God, Plead my cause against an
ungodly nation. From the deceitful and
unjust man, deliver me: for You [are]
the God of my strength. Why do You cast
me off? Why go I mourning because of the
oppression of the enemy? Send out Your
light and Your truth. Let them lead
me. Let them bring me to Your holy hill,
and to Your tabernacles.
Then will I go to the altar of God, to God
my exceeding joy. Yes, on the harp I will
praise You, O God, my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you restless within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, the salvation
of my countenance, and my God.[2]
[1] Psalm
43 has all the earmarks of being a continuation of Psalm 42. We believe that they were once a single Psalm. The attack of gainsayers, “Where
[is] Your God?” is now silenced, which may indicate that a conclusion has been
reached. The credit for authorship is
also missing.
The psalmist complains about an unnamed, “ungodly nation.” After the return from Babylon the Israelites
were incessantly harassed by the Samaritans, a religiously mixed nation created
by the sin of the northern kingdom and by its defeat at the hands of the Assyrians
in 722 BC. At that point religiously
observant Israelites sought refuge under the protection of stronger southern
kingdom, Judea; hence all of the tribes would be led by Judean kings, eventually
becoming known as Jews, regardless of their ethnic tribal identity. That which was missing in Psalm 42: namely
the Presence of the Shekinah is now requested directly as light and
leadership proceeding from the Second Temple.
The psalmist explains that the Presence of Yahweh will bring
life and reality to his altar worship, without which he realizes that his
worship is but an empty formality. The
psalmist does not realize that the Presence of Yahweh will return in 4 BC with a
veil hiding His Glory.
As a consequence, the psalmist concludes his prayer in
discouragement, not knowing that his prayer will certainly be answered, or how…. Hundreds of years will pass. The Second Temple will fall into ruins
without ever witnessing the Presence of Yahweh.
A pagan temple, Herod’s Temple will be built for Jewish worship; to a
pagan temple, the Shekinah returns.
Similarly, we often feel that our prayers go unanswered, and evidently
they do…. God has called us to trust and
to suffer (Philippians 1:29). Many
centuries, two millennia have passed and Christ has not returned. Even so, the Holy Ghost is with us
daily. Make no mistake; not a single
hair of your head is lost without God’s notice.
Your prayers are answered, in God’s way, on God’s schedule.
[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in
Psalms, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by
Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND. They are designed and intended for your free
participation. They were freely
received, and are freely given. No other
permission is required for their use.
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