Psalm 43:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!

NIV: Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

NASB: Send out Your light and Your truth, they shall lead me; They shall bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places.

CSB: Send your light and your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place.

NLT: Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.

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

NKJV: Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.

This echoes a reference seen in the prior psalm (Psalm 42:4) which seems to refer to the temple in Jerusalem. The "holy hill" is also referred to elsewhere in the Book of Psalms (Psalm 48:1; 87:1; 99:9). The tabernacle was erected there, and later Solomon built the temple in the same spot. God met with His people at the tabernacle and then at the temple. Habakkuk 2:20 affirms that "the LORD is in his holy temple."

Biblical references to "light" imply truth, knowledge, goodness, and life (2 Samuel 23:4; Psalm 18:28; 27:1; 97:11; John 8:12). "Truth," in the Psalms, often refers to the recorded Word of God: to Scripture (Psalm 25:5; 86:11; 119:160). In this case, the psalmist may also have been thinking of the remarkable guidance the Lord provided during Israel's journey through the wilderness. He provided a cloud to lead them by day and a pillar of fire to lead them by night (Exodus 13:21–22). Today God's Spirit guides believers by granting them understanding through God's truth, His holy Word. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things (John 14:26; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:6–16), and He identified God's Word as truth (John 17:17).

Psalm 43:1–4 asks God to come to the psalmist's assistance and defend his cause against the wicked. He expresses faith in the Lord but struggles with the feeling that God has rejected him. He prays for guidance to bring him back to the temple, where he anticipates worshiping God joyfully.

The psalmist prays to be delivered from ungodly people and injustice. He places trust in God, but grapples with feelings of abandonment during his hardships. He prays for God's light and truth to bring him back to Jerusalem, where he will gladly worship the Lord. The psalm concludes with a rhetorical question asked twice in the prior psalm (Psalm 42:5, 11).

Intricately connected in themes and phrases, Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 might have originally been a single song. Many Hebrew manuscripts render the two as one. In Psalm 43 the psalmist asks the Lord to lead him back to Jerusalem, where he could once again joyfully worship Him. This continues to express Psalm 42's concepts of discouragement overcome by purposeful faith in God.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.