Salmi 43:4 Commento

This psalm, it is likely, was penned upon the same occasion with the former, and, having no title, may be looked upon as an appendix to it; the malady presently returning, he had immediate recourse to the same remedy, because he had entered it in his book, with a "probatum est - it has been proved," upon it. The second verse of this psalm is almost the very same with the ninth verse of the foregoing psalm, as the fifth of this is exactly the same with the eleventh of that. Christ himself, who had the Spirit without measure, when there was occasion prayed a second and third time "saying the same words," Mat 26:44. In this psalm. I. David appeals to God concerning the injuries that were done him by his enemies (Psa 43:1, Psa 43:2). II. He prays to God to restore to him the free enjoyment of public ordinances again, and promises to make a good improvement of them (Psa 43:3, Psa 43:4). III. He endeavours to still the tumult of his own spirit with a lively hope and confidence in God (Psa 43:5), and if, in singing this psalm, we labour after these, we sing with grace in our hearts.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 43 This psalm is without a title; but may well enough be thought to be one of David's: and the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Syriac versions, call it a psalm of David, and the latter adds, when Jonathan told him that Saul intended to kill him; and certain it is, that it was wrote by the same person, at the same time, and upon the same occasion as the preceding, seeing some of the same expressions are used in it, see Psa 42:1, title; and some take this and the preceding to be but one psalm, and this might be written with that on account of the rebellion of his son Absalom.

Then will I go unto the altar of God,.... Which was in the tabernacle, either of burnt offerings, or of incense, there to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for mercies received. The altar under the Gospel dispensation is Christ, on which such sacrifices being offered, are acceptable to God, Heb 13:10; unto God my exceeding joy; as over the mercy seat, upon a throne of grace, and as his covenant God; or this is exegetical of the altar, which is Christ, God over all, blessed for ever; and who is the object of the unspeakable joy of his people, in his person, righteousness, and salvation; yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God: the harp is a musical instrument, used in that part of public worship which concerned the praise of God under the former dispensation, and was typical of that spiritual melody made in the hearts of God's people when they sing his praise, see Rev 5:8.

Now then that we have been led on even to "the Tabernacle," and are placed on "His holy Hill," what hope do we carry with us? "Then will I go in unto the Altar of God" [Psalm 43:4]. For there is a certain invisible Altar on high, which the unrighteous man approaches not. To that Altar he alone draws near, who draws near to this one without cause to fear. There he shall find his Life, who in this one "separates his cause." "And I will go in unto the Altar of God." From His holy Hill, and from His Tabernacle, from His Holy Church, I will go in unto the Altar of God on High. What manner of Sacrifice is there? He himself who goes in is taken for a burnt-offering. "I will go in unto the Altar of God." What is the meaning of what he says, "The Altar of my God"? "Unto God, who makes glad my youth." Youth signifies newness: just as if he said, "Unto God, who makes glad my newness." It is He who makes glad my newness, who has filled my old estate with mourning. For now "I go mourning" in oldness, then shall "I stand," exulting in newness! "Yea, upon the harp will I praise You, O God my God." What is the meaning of "praising on the harp," and praising on the psaltery? For he does not always do so with the harp, nor always with the psaltery. These two instruments of the musicians have each a distinct meaning of their own, worthy of our consideration and notice. They are both borne in the hands, and played by the touch; and they stand for certain bodily works of ours. Both are good, if one knows how to play the psaltery, or to play the harp. But since the psaltery is that instrument which has the shell (i.e. that drum, that hollow piece of wood, by straining on which the chords resound) on the upper part of it, whereas the harp has that same concave sounding-board on the lower part, there is to be a distinction made between our works, when they are "upon the harp," when "on the psaltery:" both however are acceptable to God, and grateful to His ear. When we do anything according to God's Commandments, obeying His commands and hearkening to Him, that we may fulfil His injunctions, when we are active and not passive, it is the psaltery that is playing. For so also do the Angels: for they have nothing to suffer. But when we suffer anything of tribulation, of trials, of offenses on this earth (as we suffer only from the inferior part of ourselves; i.e. from the fact that we are mortal, that we owe somewhat of tribulation to our original cause, and also from the fact of our suffering much from those who are not "above"); this is "the harp." For there rises a sweet strain from that part of us which is "below:" we "suffer," and we strike the psaltery, or shall I rather say we sing and we strike the harp....

"Send forth." Here he sets forth advancement in good. And first he asks for the divine goods by which he is advanced; second, he asks for the advancement itself. He asks for two goods: light and truth. One arrives at God by steps of the mind and through knowledge. Heb. 4: "Entry is promised to those who believe." Two things are necessary for knowledge: namely, light and the object known. Eph. 5: "All that is made manifest is light." And so he asks for two things: namely, light and truth, to which I cannot attain by myself. And so he says, "send forth your light and your truth." Light and truth are the same thing here, because they are understood as referring to Christ. "Send forth your light," that is, Christ. Jn. 1: "He was the true light," etc. "And your truth," because Christ Himself is truth. Jn. 14: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." As if to say: God the Father, send forth Christ. Or light here is understood as the law, because Prov. 6: "The commandment of the Lord is a lamp, and the law is light." "And your truth," that is, the New Testament. Then the advancement in good is set forth. And he sets forth, first, the direction in approaching, at "they themselves have led me," namely, the light and the truth have led me to you. Or "they have led me," that is, they have drawn me away from evils and "have brought me to your holy mountain and into your tabernacles." This prayer corresponds to the desire of the preceding Psalm: "I shall pass over into the place," etc. And because this does not yet suffice, I ask to be brought by God to the mountain, etc. Jerusalem was at the foot of the mountain on the north side. And thus those who went there first arrived at the mountain. Second, they went to the dwelling place. Third, to the place of sacrifice, namely the altar. And even there my spirit does not rest, but ascends to God; and so he says, "they have brought me to your holy mountain and into your tabernacles," that is, to the dwelling place. And again the spirit does not rest there, but goes to the house of God, that is, to the altar. And so he says, "I will go in to the altar of God." And the spirit does not rest there either, lest it seem to be an idolater, but goes to God, "who gives joy to my youth." Mystically, however, by the mountain and the tabernacle the present Church is designated, or the heavenly Church. As if to say: they have led me into your Church. Is. 2: "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains," etc. And "tabernacles," that is, the diverse communities of saints, which are a kind of pilgrimages upon the earth; Heb. 11. And this Church is called the gate of heaven. Gen. 28: "This is no other but the house of God and the gate of heaven." And so it is also called the altar of God, that is, God Himself. Rev. 21: "God Himself is the temple," because all spiritual sacrifices are to be offered in God, not in any earthly thing. And there shall be joy. Is. 66: "You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice." Mt. 25: "Enter into the joy of your Lord." And so he says, "who gives joy to my youth," that is, there shall be renewal and youth, because, as is said in Eph. 4, "we shall all appear in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ." And so he says "youth." Ps. 102: "Your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's." And priests say this Psalm when they approach the altar, because these two things, namely joy and renewal, are necessary for those who wish to approach the heavenly altar. Lev. 10: "How could he eat or please the Lord in sacred ceremonies with a sorrowful mind?" Likewise, there is no oldness of sin there. 1 Jn. 2: "I write to you, young men." Or everything that has been said refers to the heavenly homeland, in which we ought to stand in desire and toward which we ought to proceed with longing. And this is what he designates when he says, "to your holy mountain." Ex. 15: "You shall bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance," because there is stability of state there. Likewise, there is the fellowship of saints; hence he says, "and into your tabernacles." Num. 24: "How beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob," etc. Ps. 83: "How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts." And they are called tabernacles because, although men are citizens by grace, nevertheless according to the condition of human nature they are guests there. Third, the altar designates the humanity of Christ. Is. 33: "They shall see the king in his beauty." And Christ is called the altar of God. Heb. 13: "We have an altar, from which they who serve the tabernacle have no power to eat." Because just as all carnal sacrifices were offered on the altar, so all prayers are offered through Christ. Hence every prayer ends with: "through Christ our Lord." But because there is no rest in His humanity, the soul reaches further to His divinity; hence he says, "to God," etc. Job 22: "You shall abound in delights from the Almighty, and you shall lift up your face to God." The effect of the prayer is the confession of praise; hence he says: "I will praise you upon the harp, O God." And he says this on account of the affection, because Is. 51: "Joy and gladness shall be found in her." And he says "upon the harp," to distinguish it from the psaltery; because the psaltery sounds from above, but the harp from below. Hence, "I will praise upon the harp," because we have been delivered from the evils of the world. And upon the psaltery, because we have obtained those joys from above.

Excepting the recurrence of the refrain, there is no good reason to suppose this a part of the preceding, though the scope is the same. It has always been placed separate. (Psa 43:1-5) Judge--or, "vindicate" (Psa 10:18). plead, &c.-- (Psa 35:1). ungodly--neither in character or condition objects of God's favor (compare Psa 4:3).

the altar--as the chief place of worship. The mention of the harp suggests the prominence of praise in his offering. Next: Psalms Chapter 44

The Elohimic Judica (the introit of the so-called Cross or Passion Sunday which opens the celebritas Passionis), with which the supplicatory and plaintive first strophe of the Psalm begins, calls to mind the Jehovic Judica in Psa 7:9; Psa 26:1; Psa 35:1, Psa 35:24 : judge me, i.e., decide my cause (lxx κρῖνόν με, Symmachus κρῖνόν μοι). ריבה has the tone upon the ultima before the ריבי which begins with the half-guttural ר, as is also the case in Psa 74:22; Psa 119:154. The second prayer runs: vindica me a gente impia; מן standing for contra in consequence of a constr. praegnans. לא־חסיד is here equivalent to one practising no חסד towards men, that is to say, one totally wanting in that חסד, by which God's חסד is to be imitated and repaid by man in his conduct towards his fellow-men. There is some uncertainty whether by אישׁ 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. עולה means roguish, mischievous conduct, utterly devoid of all sense of right. In Psa 43:2 the poet establishes his petition by a twofold Why. He loves God and longs after Him, but in the mirror of his present condition he seems to himself like one cast off by Him. This contradiction between his own consciousness and the inference which he is obliged to draw from his afflicted state cannot remain unsolved. אלהי מעזּי, God of my fortress, is equivalent to who is my fortress. Instead of אלך we here have the form אתהלּך, of the slow deliberate gait of one who is lost in his own thoughts and feelings. The sting of his pain is his distance from the sanctuary of his God. In connection with Psa 43:3 one is reminded of Psa 57:4 and Exo 15:13, quite as much as of Psa 42:9. "Light and truth" is equivalent to mercy and truth. What is intended is the light of mercy or loving-kindness which is coupled with the truth of fidelity to the promises; the light, in which the will or purpose of love, which is God's most especial nature, becomes outwardly manifest. The poet wishes to be guided by these two angels of God; he desires that he may be brought (according tot he Chethb of the Babylonian text יבואוני, "let come upon me;" but the אל which follows does not suit this form) to the place where his God dwells and reveals Himself. "Tabernacles" is, as in Psa 84:2; Psa 46:5, an amplificative designation of the tent, magnificent in itself and raised to special honour by Him who dwells therein.

The poet, in anticipation, revels in the thought of that which he has prayed for, and calls upon his timorous soul to hope confidently for it. The cohortatives in Psa 43:4 are, as in Ps 39:14 and frequently, an apodosis to the petition. The poet knows no joy like that which proceeds from God, and the joy which proceeds from Him he accounts as the very highest; hence he calls God אל שׂמחת גּילי, and therefore he knows no higher aim for his longing than again to be where the fountainhead of this exultant joy is (Hos 9:5), and where it flows forth in streams (Psa 36:9). Removed back thither, he will give thanks to Him with the cithern (Beth instrum.). He calls Him אלהים אלהי, an expression which, in the Elohim-Psalms, is equivalent to יהוה אלהי in the Jahve-Psalms. The hope expressed in Psa 43:4 casts its rays into the prayer in Psa 43:3. In Psa 43:5, the spirit having taken courage in God, holds this picture drawn by hope before the distressed soul, that she may therewith comfort herself. Instead of wthmy, Psa 42:6, the expression here used, as in Ps 42:12, is וּמה־תּהמי. Variations like these are not opposed to a unity of authorship.