"Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God."
Psalm 43
In the first of the three stanzas (42:1-5) it was the 'agony of faith', and in the second (42:6-11) the 'activity of faith'. Now in the third, (43:1-5) it is the 'prayer and peace of faith'. The important change here from the first two stanzas is the fact of prayer. We should note also in 1, 2 the blending of the two elements, the positive faith and the dark despondency, that we have seen in conflict with each other in 42:6-11. At first, indeed, in this mortal combat, the dark side seems still to be prevailing. But the gradual ascendency becomes more pronounced as the verses proceed. In 2b there is almost a showing of impatience, as the Psalmist asks 'Why...should this go on?' This is the final emancipation. The soul takes its full salvation:
Take, my soul, thy full salvation:
Rise o'er sin and fear and care:
Then, the famous words in 3, 4 'O send out Thy light and Thy truth...', to be messengers to guide him back to the unfailing presence of God. What a picture - of the Christ coming out to fetch us back. And, at the last, the final, triumphant assurance, in which he tells his soul to be at peace. Alexander Maclaren's words provide a fitting comment with which to end our study: 'Each swing of the gymnast lifts him higher, until he is on a level with a firm platform on which he can spring and stand secure'.