Psalm 43:1

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XLIII.

(1) An ungodly nation.—In the Hebrew simply a negative term, a nation not khasîd, i.e., not in the covenant. But naturally a positive idea of ungodliness and wickedness would attach to such a term.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 43:1-2. Judge me, O God, &c. — “O God, the supreme Judge of the whole world, I appeal to thee, in this contest between me and a seditious people, who, void of piety and humanity,” (so the phrase לא חסיד, lo chasid, here rendered ungodly, means,) “are risen up in rebellion against me, beseeching thee to vindicate my innocence, and defend me from their violence.” — Bishop Patrick. He calls the company of his enemies a nation, because of their great numbers: for they were the far greater part, and almost the whole body of the nation. Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man — Who hath covered his wicked designs with fair and false pretexts, pretending devotion when he went to make an insurrection, 2 Samuel 15:7; 2 Samuel 15:10. Deliver me from the crafty counsel which Ahithophel gives him; and from the open force whereby he seeks injuriously to take away my life, Ibid. Psalm 17:1-2. For thou art the God of my strength, &c. — I have none to flee unto for safety and protection but thee alone; who hast ever hitherto been my mighty deliverer, and art now my only support.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

43:6-11 The way to forget our miseries, is to remember the God of our mercies. David saw troubles coming from God's wrath, and that discouraged him. But if one trouble follow hard after another, if all seem to combine for our ruin, let us remember they are all appointed and overruled by the Lord. David regards the Divine favour as the fountain of all the good he looked for. In the Saviour's name let us hope and pray. One word from him will calm every storm, and turn midnight darkness into the light of noon, the bitterest complaints into joyful praises. Our believing expectation of mercy must quicken our prayers for it. At length, is faith came off conqueror, by encouraging him to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay himself upon his God. He adds, And my God; this thought enabled him to triumph over all his griefs and fears. Let us never think that the God of our life, and the Rock of our salvation, has forgotten us, if we have made his mercy, truth, and power, our refuge. Thus the psalmist strove against his despondency: at last his faith and hope obtained the victory. Let us learn to check all unbelieving doubts and fears. Apply the promise first to ourselves, and then plead it to God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Judge me, O God - This does not mean, Pronounce sentence upon me; but, Undertake my cause; interpose in my behalf; do justice in the case. He regarded his own cause as right; he felt that he was greatly wronged by the treatment which he received from people, and he asks to have it shown that he was not guilty of what his enemies charged on him; that he was an upright man, and a friend of God. See Psalm 7:8, note; Psalm 26:1, note.

And plead my cause - See the notes at Psalm 35:1. "Against an ungodly nation." Margin, unmerciful. Literally, "from a nation not merciful," or not; religious. The idea is, that the nation or people referred to manifested none of the spirit of religion in their conduct toward him; that he was treated with severity and injustice. This entire description would agree well with the state of things in the time of the rebellion of Absalom, when David was driven from his home and his throne: 2 Samuel 15, following.

O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man - Margin, as in Hebrew, from a man of deceit and iniquity. This would apply well to the case and character of Absalom, or perhaps more directly and properly to the character and counsel of Ahithophel, among the leading conspirators in the rebellion of Absalom, to whose counsels much of the rebellion was owing: 2 Samuel 15:31; compare 2 Samuel 16:23; 2 Samuel 17:14, 2 Samuel 17:23.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 43

Ps 43:1-5. 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.

1. Judge—or, "vindicate" (Ps 10:18).

plead, &c.—(Ps 35:1).

ungodly—neither in character or condition objects of God's favor (compare Ps 4:3).

The Treasury of David

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.

Psalm 43:1

"Judge me, O God." Others are unable to understand my motives, and unwilling to give me a just verdict. My heart is clear as to its intent, and therefore I bring my case before thee, content that thou wilt impartially weigh my character, and right my wrongs. If thou wilt judge, thy acceptance of my conduct will be enough for me; I can laugh at human misrepresentation if my conscience knows that thou art on my side; thou art the only one I care for; and besides, thy verdict will not sleep, but thou wilt see practical justice done to thy slandered servant. "And plead my cause against an ungodly nation." One such advocate as the Lord will more than suffice to answer a nation of brawling accusers. When people are ungodly no wonder that they are unjust: those who are not true to God himself cannot be expected to deal rightly with his people. Hating the King they will not love his subjects. Popular opinion weighs with many, but divine opinion is far more weighty with the gracious few. One good word from God outweighs ten thousand railing speeches of men. He bears a brazen shield before him whose reliance in all things is upon his God; the arrows of calumny fall harmlessly from such a buckler. "O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man." Deceit and injustice are boon companions: he who fawns will not fear to slander. From two such devils none can deliver us but God. His wisdom can outwit the craft of the vilest serpent, and his power can overmatch the most raging lion. Whether this was Doeg or Ahithophel is small matter, such double distilled villains are plentiful, and the only way of dealing with them is to refer the matter to the righteous Judge of all; if we try to fight them with their own weapons, we shall suffer more serious injury from ourselves than from them. O child of God, leave these thine enemies in better hands, remembering that vengeance belongeth not to thee, but to the Lord. Turn to him in prayer, crying, "O deliver me," and ere long you shall publish abroad the remembrance of his salvation.

Psalm 43:2

"For." - Here is argument, which is the very sinew of prayer. If we reasoned more with the Lord we should have more victories in supplication. "Thou art the God of my strength." All my strength belongs to thee - I will not, therefore, use it on my own behalf against my personal foes. All my strength comes from thee, I therefore seek help from thee, who art able to bestow it. All my strength is in thee. I leave therefore this task of combating my foes entirely in thy hands. Faith which leaves such things alone is wise faith. Note the assurance of David, "thou art," not I hope and trust so, but I know it is so; we shall find confidence to be our consolation. "Why dost thou cast me off?" Why am I treated as if thou didst loathe me? Am I become an offence unto thee? There are many reasons why the Lord might cast us off, but no reason shall prevail to make him do so. He hath not cast off his people, though he for awhile treats them as cast-offs. Learn from this question that it is well to enquire into dark providences, but we must enquire of God, not of our own fears. He who is the author of a mysterious trial can best expound it to us.

"Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain;

God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain."

"Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" Why do I wander hither and thither like a restless spirit? Why wear I the weeds of sorrow on my body, and the lines of grief on my face? Oppression makes a wise man mad; why, Lord, am I called to endure so much of it for so long a time? Here again is a useful question, addressed to the right quarter. The answer will often be because we are saints, and must be made like our Head, and because such sorrow is chastening to the spirit, and yieldeth comfortable fruit. We are not to cross-question the Lord in peevishness, but we may ask of him in humility; God help us to observe the distinction so as not to sin through stress of sorrow.

Psalm 43:3

"O send out thy light and thy truth." The joy of thy presence and the faithfulness of thy heart; let both of these be manifest to me. Reveal my true character by thy light, and reward me according to thy truthful promise. As the sun darts forth his beams, so does the Lord send forth his favour and his faithfulness towards all his people; and as all nature rejoices in the sunshine, even so the saints triumph in the manifestation of the love and fidelity of their God, which, like the golden sunbeam, lights up even the darkest surroundings with delightful splendour. "Let them lead me." Be these my star to guide me to my rest. Be these my Alpine guides to conduct me over mountains and precipices to the abodes of grace. "Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles." First in thy mercy bring me to thine earthly courts, and end my weary exile, and then in due time admit me to thy celestial palace above. We seek not light to sin by, nor truth to be exalted by it, but that they may become our practical guides to the nearest communion with God: only such light and truth as are sent us from God will do this, common light is not strong enough to show the road to heaven, nor will mere moral or physical truths assist to the holy hill; but the light of the Holy Spirit, and the truth as it is in Jesus, these are elevating, sanctifying, perfecting; and hence their virtue in leading us to the glorious presence of God. It is beautiful to observe how David's longing to be away from the oppression of man always leads him to sigh more intensely for communion with God. THE ARGUMENT

This Psalm seems to have been composed by the same author, and upon the same occasion with the former.

David, praying against his fierce and crafty enemies, Psalm 43:1; and to be restored to the temple, Psalm 43:2,3; promiseth to serve God joyfully, Psalm 43:4. He encourageth his soul to trust in God, Psalm 43:5.

Judge me; or, judge or give sentence for me, as this phrase is used, Psalm 26:1, and elsewhere.

Ungodly, or unmerciful, i.e. cruel or inhuman; for it is a meiosis. Nation; so he calls the company of his enemies for their great numbers, and because they were the far greatest part, and almost the whole body of the nation.

Deceitful and unjust; who covereth his wicked designs with fair and false pretences; which sort of men are hateful to thee, and to all good men.

Man; either Saul; or rather, Ahithophel or Absalom. For he speaks of the holy hill of Zion, Psalm 43:3, which was not so till after Saul’s time. Or man may be put collectively for the men of that time.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Judge me, O God,.... The Targum adds, with the judgment of truth; see Romans 2:2;

and plead my cause; which was a righteous one; and therefore he could commit it to God to be tried and judged by him, and could put it into his hands to plead it for him; See Gill on Psalm 35:1;

against an ungodly nation; meaning either the Philistines, among whom he was; or his own nation, when they joined his son Absalom in rebellion against him: some understand it of the great numbers that were with Saul, when he was persecuted by him;

O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man; either Absalom, who, under pretence of a vow he had vowed in Hebron, got leave of David to go thither, and then engaged in a conspiracy against him; or Ahithophel, who had been his friend and acquaintance, but now joined with Absalom. It is true of Saul, who, under pretence of friendship, sought his ruin, and to whom he expressed himself almost in the same words here used; see 1 Samuel 18:17.

Geneva Study Bible

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

(a) He desires God to undertake his cause against the enemies but chiefly that he would restore him to the tabernacle.

(b) That is, the cruel company of my enemies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. Judge me &c.] An appeal to God the Judge to do him justice and vindicate his innocence by delivering him from the power of his insolent foes. For the language cp. Psalm 7:8; Psalm 26:1; Psalm 35:1; Psalm 35:24.

against an ungodly nation] Lit. from, i. e. by delivering me from, a nation without lovingkindness; heathen destitute of all feeling of humanity. For the meaning of châsîd see notes on Psalm 4:3; Psalm 12:1; and Appendix, Note 1.

the deceitful and unjust man] The leader of the heathen, who had distinguished himself by treachery and malignity, may be meant. But it is better to understand the words collectively as a further description of the ‘inhuman nation’ in general, men of deceit and malignity.

1, 2. Prayer for deliverance, grounded upon God’s relation to him.

Psalm 43:1-5. A passionate prayer for deliverance from his enemies and restoration to the privileges of the sanctuary.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - Judge me, O God (comp. Psalm 35:24). And plead my cause. (comp. Psalm 35:1). God's intervention is asked in the struggle between David and his enemies, on the assumed ground that he is in the right, and not they. God will, of course, only interpose if this is so. Against an ungodly nation; or, an unkind, unloving nation. Though called גוִי, as in Isaiah 1:4, still Israel is meant. They were "unloving," both towards God and towards their king. O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. Either Absalom or Ahithophel may be meant; or "man" may be used abstractedly for David's enemies generally. Psalm 43:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

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 Psalm 7:9; Psalm 26:1; Psalm 35:1, Psalm 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 Psalm 74:22; Psalm 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 Psalm 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 Psalm 43:3 one is reminded of Psalm 57:4 and Exodus 15:13, quite as much as of Psalm 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 Psalm 84:2; Psalm 46:5, an amplificative designation of the tent, magnificent in itself and raised to special honour by Him who dwells therein.