Psalm 43

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

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?

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.

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.

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. (KJV)

This psalm is similar to psalm forty-two, however he does request two things: God’s light and God’s truth. This light and truth is Christ. As I age and see the events happening in the world, today I cannot help but reflect on this time in David’s life. Samuel had anointed David as a young lad to become the next king of Israel. David was probably only thirteen or fourteen at that time. I am not sure how much this affected his life at the time of the anointing, but soon after he was in the courts of Saul playing his harp for him as well as being one of his armor-bearers.

Verse three “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell”. Your light and your truth refer to God’s Word and teachings. As I reflect back on my life, I realized how God uses the events in our life to shape us. At age thirteen I entertained myself in the evening by reading. The books I read were Arthur Maxwell’s Children Bible Stories. These ten books gave me a wonderful understanding of the Bible. This led me to a deeper desire to study the Bible. Studying the examples in God’s Word will give us the hope that David writes in verse five.

My office contains several hundred commentaries and religious books about the Bible. Many of these how to study your Bible, or life application of the scripture’s books can add insight my daily studies; but they can never replace the daily reading of the Bible in my life. The more I study the scriptures, the more the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to the truth of God. To me the Bible is the living Word of God. In this psalm verse three states “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell”. As I study the book of John, I realized that this light and truth is Christ. So, the more I know about Jesus and the more I let him direct my paths the closer I get to the place that God dwells.