Psalm 43 Sermon Notes

Psalm 43

My Salvation

Sermon Notes

July 30, 2017

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         The Psalmist continues to call upon God. This Psalm is rightly called a lament. This Psalm is closely connected to Psalm 42 and the concluding verse here in Psalm 43 is exactly the same as the concluding verse in Psalm 42. It may be that this was at one time one Psalm and these two repeated verses were part of the one Psalm.

         Be that as it may, God in His Providence, has delivered us this text in two psalms. We receive the text as the inspired Word. So, it is good that we spend some more time on a similar Psalm.

         The last verse in these two Psalms is exactly the same. We should take note of that verse and emphasize its importance.

         This verse is exactly the same in verse 5 and verse 11 of Psalm 42 and verse 5 of Psalm 43.

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

         Three times in these 16 verses, he states that his soul is cast down and reminds himself to hope in God.

         When things are repeated in the Bible, it is a marker to pay attention. This is clearly something that the Lord wants us to note and to apply in our lives.

         Furthermore, we try to maintain balance in preaching. We do not linger too long on our pet doctrines, only returning to those Scriptures that drive our particulars home. No, we desire to preach the whole counsel of God, from Genesis to Revelation. That is why we switch back and forth between the Old and New Testaments in our preaching here. Furthermore, we preach through the Psalms, embracing whatever God has for us there. In this way, we get the balance that God intends for us.

         This is true even in the repetition that we get in the Psalms. The Psalms are an excellent summary of the whole of Scripture, from God’s glory in creation, to the suffering of the saints, to the victory in Jesus.

        

EXEGESIS

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

The Psalmist asks God to judge him. That is bold. Would you ask such a thing? What does it mean for God to be the judge. We typically think of God as judge as a negative thing. Judges hear evidence and make decisions.

We know that if we are in the dock before God, that the evidence that He sees or knows will always condemn us. But David is not afraid to ask God to judge him. Why is this? What is he asking?

He is here asking God to be a judge and also the One who pleads his cause. We typically think of an attorney who does this. We hire someone and pay them to be our Advocate. Sometimes, we even think of this in negative terms. The man is guilty so he hires a good lawyer to get him off, or to get a lesser sentence.

But it doesn’t have to be that, at all. In our system of justice, one is considered innocent until proven guilty. A lawyer is there to make sure that the law is followed, from the arrest to the trial, that the system of justice is followed. An advocate takes the side of his client as innocent until the state can prove that the client is guilty.

Jesus is our Advocate with the Father. He takes our side. He defends us from enemies. A charged criminal is not sinless. Even if he is innocent of the particular crime he is being charged with, he may be guilty of other crimes that he is not being charged with. All criminals are guilty of sins. He does not have to be sinless to be proven innocent.

Sometimes, someone is charged with a crime that they did not commit. In such a situation, he wants no stone left unturned. The police and the prosecutor may have evidence against him, maybe a motive, maybe circumstantial evidence that points directly at the accused. Such an accused man needs a lawyer and investigators willing to shed light on the situation.

In the Book of Judges, the Judges were deliverers, they were Saviors. They judged between God’s people and God’s enemies. The people would fall into sin and then fall into oppression by enemies. The Judges would then rise up and fight the enemies and deliver Israel.

Sometimes, both God’s people and God’s enemies, were the people of Israel. God’s own people would fall into sin and serve other gods. Then, the Judges would rise up and call upon God’s people to repent or face the wrath of God.

David is apparently referring to his own people as an ungodly nation. At the same time, he is the leader of this people and desires that they serve God and obey him. He admits that there are those among them who are deceitful and unjust.

It is very difficult to defend oneself from a deceitful man. A deceitful man is good at pleading his case and making the other case look bad. That is the nature of his deceitfulness. The Psalmist here, though, wants God to hear all the evidence and pronounce a true decision, a just decision.

The deceitful man is just the opposite. He wants an unjust decision. Justice does not serve him. He wants the innocent pronounced guilty.

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

The Psalmist pleads for God to defend him. He knows that God is his strength. If that is the case, why does God cast him off? He asks the question but gets no answer from God. Furthermore, he does not answer the question himself.

He even follows up the question with another complaint. He is the righteous one in this situation and yet he is mourning because of oppressing enemies.

The word here for mourning, qadar, to be dark. He is in darkness because of his enemies. He needs the light of God to chase away the darkness.

Oppression here is pressure, to be squeezed. Have you felt like that? You are squeezed by pressures? Sometimes this sort of pressure can come from enemies. They are making life difficult for you by the things that they say or due. You feel pressured, squeezed.

It is not only enemies that can put pressure on you. Life’s ordinary troubles can also oppress you. Do you feel pressured to perform at your job? Do you feel pressured in raising your children? Or, in homeschooling. These pressures can put a squeeze on you and make you dark. In such a situation you may feel like the Psalmist, like God has cast you off.

You might even ask that question. “God, why have you left me? Why am I not delivered from these troubles?”

What is the answer? There is not one. God does not answer and the Psalmist does not answer. Instead, he simply appeals to God, his only hope of salvation. He knows God is the answer, not to why this is happening, but what do I do with it. How do I go on? How do I survive?

³ 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 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The Psalmist is accused. He wants God to send light. God can reveal the truth. When you are innocent of accusations, you want the truth to come out. You are not afraid of an investigation.

He is still bothered, perplexed, disquieted, under pressure. What is the answer? He asked the question to God in verse 2. Why have You cast me off? Why am I shamed in front of my enemies? At lease in this Psalm, he has not received the answer. The Lord is silent.

So, what does he do? Does he languish further. Does he wait for God to act before he acts? No, he doesn’t. He does the only thing that he knows to do. He asks God for light and truth. Where will he find it? At the Holy Hill of Zion. At the Tabernacle of the Lord. In worship and singing and in God’s Word.

This is a great verse for all of us to remember. When you are cast down and do not know how to get out of it, what should you do? Go to church, sit under the authority of the Bible, hear good preaching, sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, even from a sad heart.

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.

The Psalmist is given a reprieve. He is in the midst of trouble and the troubles have not changed just because he went to church. The trouble is still there. But he has a new perspective. He has the refreshing of the Holy Spirit. His joy has returned. It has replaced the mourning he was before experiencing. He is able to play his harp and sing.

He praises God, even in the midst of his circumstances? Why, because he knows that his duty is to serve the Lord no matter the situation. He knows that God is his Father and his only hope in times of deep trouble. He has already reasoned that out ahead of time. Thus, when he gets in this emotional charged moment, a time when he might be tempted to turn his back on God, who seems to have abandoned him for a moment, he does not do so. He turns to God in full assurance of God’s favor. He sings. He praises God. He worships.

He acknowledges God, not simply as God, but as my God. There is a big difference. Many acknowledge that God is, that is, that God exists. But it is quite another step to say that this God who is, is my God.

God does exist. He is all that the Scriptures declare of Him. Is He your God?

EXHORTATION

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

Here is that verse again, for the third time. Maybe we should pay attention. Do Christians get cast down in soul? Yes. Can we be disquieted? Yes.

What do we do then? When God seems so far away and we do not know what to do, what do we do? We wait.

At Providence Church, we teach that Sunday morning is the most important day of your week. It is right at the center of who you are as a Christian, even as a human being. God has made you to worship and that is what we do each Lord’s Day. This day is the day that informs all your other days.

It may not always feel like that, at least on your way to church. You may be cast down. You may feel that God or even that His people, have abandoned you. You may feel lonely, or separate, or tired, or angry or any number of feelings that we experience.

But I hope that you have already settled in your mind that God is, and that He is your God. Furthermore, that He is your foundational hope for the future and for these feelings that trouble you.

Hope in God and praise Him. That is what we do at church. We come to church with an expectation that God will restore our hope, particularly in the Lord Jesus who is the light of the world. Jesus, who is our salvation.

Here, the Psalmist says that God is the health of his countenance. His countenance is cast down but how does he get health back? He hopes in God. He praises the Lord. He goes to the Tabernacle. He sings psalms in the midst of God’s people. He worships God.

The word here for health, maybe translated salvation in some of your Bibles, is Yeshua. Sound familiar. God is the Yeshua of your countenance. He is the Jesus of your countenance.

Whence comes your help? From Jesus. He took your sins. He sent the Holy Spirit. He spoke promises to you. He intercedes to the Father on your behalf. He covers you. He speaks to you in His Word. He invites you to sup with Him each Lord’s Day. He pronounces peace to you as you leave this building. Where is the health of your countenance? In Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.