Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 43:3
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
3. O send out thy light and thy truth ] Cp. Psa 57:3. God’s light and truth, like His lovingkindness in Psa 42:8, are almost personified. As of old He gave His lovingkindness charge concerning His servant, so now may He manifest the light of His countenance, and evermore shew him favour (Psa 36:9; Psa 44:3); and thus prove Himself true to His own character and His promises.
let them lead me &c.] Is the Psalmist thinking of the wonders of the Exodus? Cp. Exo 13:21; Exo 15:13.
tabernacles ] Or, dwelling-place. Cp. Psa 26:8; Psa 46:4; Psa 84:1. The plural may be ‘amplificative,’ expressive of the dignity of the Temple as the dwelling-place of God; or it may be used with reference to the various courts and buildings of which it was composed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
3, 4. Prayer for restoration.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O send out thy light and thy truth – Send them forth as from thy presence; or, let them be made manifest. The word light here is equivalent to favor or mercy, as when one prays for the light of Gods countenance (see the notes at Psa 4:6); and the idea is, that now, in the time of darkness and trouble, when the light of Gods countenance seemed to be withdrawn or hidden, he prays that God would impart light; that he would restore his favor; that he would conduct him back again to his former privileges. The word truth here is equivalent to truthfulness or faithfulness; and the prayer is, that God would manifest his faithfulness to him as one of his own people, by restoring him to the privileges and blessings from which he had been unjustly driven. Compare the notesat Psa 25:5.
Let them lead me – That is, Let them lead me back to my accustomed privileges; let me go under their guidance to the enjoyment of the blessings connected with the place of public worship.
Let them bring me unto thy holy hill – Mount Zion; the place where the worship of God was then celebrated, and hence called the holy hill of God.
And to thy tabernacles – The tabernacle was the sacred tent erected for the worship of God (see the notes at Psa 15:1), and was regarded as the place where Yahweh had his abode. The tabernacle was divided, as the temple was afterward, into two parts or rooms, the holy and the most holy place (see the notes at Heb 9:1-5); and hence the plural term, tabernacles, might be employed in speaking of it. The language here implies, as in Psa 42:1-11, that the author of the psalm was now exiled or banished from this, and hence, also it may be inferred that the two psalms were composed by the same author, and with reference to the same occasion. If the reference here, moreover, is to Mount Zion as the holy hill, it may be observed that this would fix the composition of the psalm to the time of David, as before his time that was not the place of the worship of God, but was made holy by his removing the ark there. After his time the place of worship was removed to Mount Moriah, where the temple was built. It cannot be demonstrated, however, with absolute certainty that the reference here is to Mount Zion, though that seems in every way probable. Compare Psa 2:6, note; Psa 3:4, note; compare 2Sa 5:7-9; 2Sa 6:17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 43:3
O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles.
The sending out of light and truth
I. The feelings here expressed.
1. A deep sense of darkness.
2. Belief in God as the source of spiritual life.
3. Earnest desire after Him. His soul wanted light-Gods light; he knew that it must be sent out; also he desired Gods truth.
II. The purpose of his desire–Let them lead me; he knew his own helplessness.
III. The place to which he desired to be led.
Gods tabernacles, Gods holy hill. He would be led to holiness and to the knowledge of God in Christ which the tabernacle set forth. This alone would satisfy his soul. (J. C. Philpot)
The obscurities of Divine revelation
(with Psa 36:9):Perhaps no one ever studied the Bible as a professed revelation from God who has not had such questions cross his mind as the following:–Why is there so much in this book that is obscure and unintelligible? Why is not more information given on great and important questions about which the human mind has always been perplexed? Why are so many subjects left in total darkness in a professed revelation, and others left with only such a feeble glimmering of light as almost to make us wish that there had been none? And this perplexity is increased when we reflect–
1. That it would have been so easy for God to have given us the light we crave for.
2. It seems so needful to vindicate His own character.
3. And mere benevolence on His part seems to demand it in order to relieve our distress of mind. And–
4. There is so much in the Bible–histories, names, genealogies, etc.–which have lost all interest for us now, and instead of which we should be glad, indeed, to have some explanations of the dark mysteries which oppress us. To obtain a rational view of this matter there are two inquiries.
I. What is the measure of light actually imparted in the Bible? Note the principles which seem to have guided the Divine mind in giving a revelation to man. The question of giving light on the matters referred to must have occurred. But God seems to have determined–
1. To leave many subjects perfectly in the dark. It was clearly the design of God to fix an outer limit to human knowledge so far as this world is concerned. Far on the hither side of what we would like to know, the line is drawn, and the whole hook is closed at what may, without irreverence, be called–or which, whether irreverent or not, expresses our natural feelings–a provoking point, just at the point where we would be glad to ask questions, and where we by no means feel our minds satisfied with what we possess. I am, for one, willing to concede that among these points are the questions why moral evil was admitted into the system; why misery ever found its way into the empire of an infinitely benevolent and Almighty Creator and moral Governor; and why the period will never arrive when sin and woe shall everywhere come to an end. On these, and on many kindred topics of great interest to man, I confess I have never seen a ray of light cast by any human speculation; and that though I have been silenced, I have not been convinced. Other men think they see light here: I see none. I admit, therefore, that the whole subject of the introduction and existence of evil is all dark to my mind, and that I struggle in vain for the light.
2. A second principle on which revelation seems to have been given, similar to the one just mentioned, is, to state nothing merely to gratify curiosity. The Bible is for practical purposes only, to tell us what we shall do in our relations to God and our fellow-men.
3. Its vital principle was to furnish knowledge enough to be a safe guide to heaven. This was its essential purpose, and if that were secured it was enough. It is like the lighthouse that gleams on a dark and stormy coast, to reveal the haven to the storm-tossed mariner. It shines over the stormy ocean, only penetrating a darkness which it was never intended to expel. So it is in respect to the Gospel. Man, too, is on a stormy ocean–the ocean of life, and the night is very dark. There are tempests that beat around us; undercurrents that would drift us into unknown seas; rocks that make our voyage perilous. The Gospel is a light standing on the dark shore of eternity, just simply guiding us there. It reveals to us almost nothing of the land to which we go, but only the way to reach it. It does nothing to answer the thousand questions which we would ask about that world, but it tells how we may see it with our own eyes.
II. Our second inquiry is, why was there no more light gives? Now, all we can do is to show that our duty is not to object to the Bible because it gives no more light, but to be grateful for that which it has given. As the appropriate feeling of our mariner would be gratitude that that bright and clear, though little light, is kept burning on that stormy coast to guide every vessel that may chance to come into those waters, not of complaint that it does not reveal the hills, and vales, and cities, and hamlets of that land.
1. First, our essential condition on earth is one of discipline and probation. Now, if we would search our own minds, we should probably find that the questions in reference to which we are most disposed to complain because they are not solved, are not those which really embarrass us in the matter of salvation, or which, being solved, would aid us, but those in reference to which our salvation may be equally safe and easy whether they are solved or not. When a man finds himself struggling in a stream, it does nothing to facilitate his escape to know how he came there; nor would it aid the matter if he could determine beyond a doubt why God made streams that men could ever fall into them, and did not make every bank so that it would not crumble beneath the feet. In the condition of man, therefore, regarded as in a state of discipline, all that is needed is that a mans safety shall not be endangered by his lack of light, and that the darkness shall be such as to furnish a healthful exercise of his powers. It is good for man to be stimulated to inquiry, to feel, not as Alexander did, that there were no more worlds to be conquered, but that a boundless field of inquiry is ever open before him. God would not stop the career of noble thought and the path of discovery by pouring down a flood of light on all those regions so that no more was left for the efforts of honourable ambition. The explorer of unknown lands is cheered because a vast and inviting field is before him, which the foot of man has never trod It was this which animated Columbus when his prow first crossed the line beyond which a ship had ever sailed, and plunged into unknown seas. Every wave that was thrown up had a new interest and beauty, from the fact that its repose had never been disturbed before by the keel of a vessel; and when his eyes first saw the land, and he prostrated himself and kissed the earth, his glory was at the highest, for he saw what in old ages was unknown before. And let all inquirers on these great questions remember, however perplexed they may now be, that in a few years, as the result of calm examination and of maturer reflection and observation, most of these difficulties will disappear. Why may I not hope, then, as to the difficulties that remain?
2. It is not absolutely certain, it is not even probable, that we could comprehend any statements which could be made on those points which now perplex us (Joh 3:12). Remember that it depends on the measure of our faculties and attainments how far we can grasp ideas that are set before us. Much may be said, yet but little be understood. Apply all this to those mysteries of the moral government of God. Are you certain that you could comprehend the high principles of the Divine administration even if they were stated to you?
3. We are in the infancy of our being; we have but just opened our eyes upon this wonderful universe, which in its structure demanded all the wisdom, and goodness, and power of an infinite God! Very few of us have lived through the period of seventy revolving suns; a majority of us not fifty; many not twenty. We have but just learned to speak, to handle things, to talk, to walk. But yesterday we were at our mothers breasts. We knew not anything. And now, forsooth, we wonder that we do not know all about God, and these worlds, and the moral government of the Most High. We sit in judgment on what our Maker has told us. We are sullen and silent; we repress our gratitude; we throw back His Bible in His face; we have no songs and no thanksgivings, because we are not told all about this earth, and these skies, about heaven and about hell, and about the God that made, and that rules over all! (A. Battles, D. D.)
The confidence and joy of faith in approaching to God
In these verses we may observe–
1. The genuine disposition and desire of a gracious soul, when privileged with an opportunity of attending upon the ordinances of divine appointment. Ordinances themselves will not satisfy, but it will be the desire of that soul to be brought near to God, so as to have real communion with Him in them.
2. How, or in what manner, a believer is enabled to approach unto God in His ordinances, so as to have communion with Him in them. Can he find the way to God himself? No, he must be led; directed by a light from above.
3. In what manner believers are helped to approach unto God when He is pleased to send out His light and truth to lead them, and bring them to His holy hill and to His tabernacles, or to direct them in their approaches to him in duties and ordinances. Then they are enabled to go unto God as their God, and the exceeding joy; or to appear before Him with becoming confidence and holy joy. From the words we may observe the following doctrine. When the people of God have an opportunity of approaching to Rim in the ordinances of His grace, particularly in solemn ordinances, they ought to draw near to Him with holy confidence and holy joy.
I. Offer a few general remarks for illustrating the subject.
1. Communion with God is sometimes the privilege of His people even while they are here on earth. Nor is this the privilege of a few eminent saints only, but is common to believers.
2. The ordinances of Gods own appointment are the ordinary means of communion and fellowship with Him. When these are despised or neglected, all pretensions to communion with God are vain.
3. Real communion with God in ordinances is a rare attainment. Many read and hear the Word, regularly attend upon the ordinances of God, and even go to a communion table who are utterly unacquainted with it.
4. Sinful men can have no communion with God but by sacrifice. They ask, they expect, they desire no blessing from God, but for the sake of Christ who gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour (Eph 5:2).
5. Believers themselves who have formerly been brought near to God, and enjoyed His gracious presence cannot have access to Him anew, or any comfortable communion with Him in ordinances, but under the gracious influence of His Holy Spirit.
6. As communion with God in ordinances is a rare attainment, it is also a precious and valuable attainment. It relieves the believer under all his burdens, and comforts him amidst all his griefs and sorrows. It is a pledge and earnest of future glory; yea, it is, as it were, heaven begun.
II. Speak somewhat concerning that holy confidence and joy with which the people of God ought to approach unto him in the ordinances and duties of his worship, and particularly in the ordinance of the Lords Supper, which is a feast He has made for His friends, in partaking of which they are called to rejoice before Him, as Israel were commanded to do when they kept the feasts of the Lord, during the Mosaic economy.
1. The confidence with which believers are warranted to draw near unto God, when they have an opportunity of waiting upon Him in His ordinances, is not inconsistent with a humbling and self-abasing sense of their own unworthiness and sinfulness, but rather supposes it.
2. The confidence of faith, with which the people of God ought to draw near to Him in the ordinances and duties of His worship, differs greatly from that presumptuous confidence which is to be found with hypocrites and self-righteous persons in their approaches to Him.
3. That holy joy with which believers, imitating Davids example, ought to approach unto God in His ordinances, and particularly in solemn ordinances, is very consistent with deep and great sorrow for sin. Indeed, the one cannot be without the other.
4. The joy of the godly, when brought near unto God in His ordinances, is not a carnal, but a spiritual joy; and therefore no outward troubles or afflictions can hinder the exercise of it under the influence of the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of faith.
5. The confidence and joy with which believers ought to nor make any suitable improvement of His ordinances.
6. Because by approach-various degrees. A strong faith begets strong confidence and great joy; a weak faith is accompanied with little confidence and little joy. A strong faith glorifies God, yet He will accept of a weak faith.
III. Show why the people of God ought to approach unto him in his ordinances with becoming confidence and holy joy.
1. Because He is a God reconciled in Christ.
2. Because the way of access to God, which Christ the glorious Mediator has opened by His blood, was opened just for the benefit of sinners who deserve no favour, but, on the other hand, are obnoxious to the justice and wrath of God.
3. A sure foundation is laid for this confidence and icy in our approaches to God.
4. Because without some degree of this holy confidence and joy persons can have no communion with God, nor make any suitable improvement of His ordinances.
5. Because by approaching unto God with humble confidence and holy joy, they do in an especial manner glorify Him.
6. Confidence and holy joy in our approaches to God are not only warranted, but required in the word of God (Deu 16:10-11; Psa 62:8; Psa 96:2).
IV. Application. Is it SO that the people of God are warranted to approach unto Him in His ordinances with confidence and joy? then hence we may see–
1. The great love of God to sinners of mankind.
2. How much believers are indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through Him that they have access unto the Father.
3. This text and doctrine serves to inform us of the nature and excellency of true faith. Relying upon the testimony of God in the Gospel concerning the method of reconciliation and ground of acceptance with Him, it inspires the soul with holy confidence, and fills the heart with holy joy in approaching to God.
4. We must not always judge of the privileges of believers by their exercise or the actings of their faith. Though now through the prevalence of unbelief, they frequently cannot take the comfort of these, they shall not lose their interest in them.
5. We may see who will be worthy communicants at the table of the Lord, viz. those who have a real desire to be brought near to God Himself, and whose hope and confidence, in their approaches to Him, are wholly bottomed upon the gracious revelation that He has made of His name as a God in Christ, and upon what Christ has done and suffered, to procure access to God for guilty sinners.
6. Hence see matter of trial and examination. If you are true believers who desire to enjoy communion with God in His ordinances, and none else are warranted to partake of the Gospel-feast in view, Davids petition will be yours, O send out Thy light.
(1) You esteem and set a high value upon the ordinances of God. His tabernacles are amiable to you.
(2) Absence and distance from God will be very painful and distressing to you.
(3) Ordinances will not content you. It is a meeting with God Himself that you desire. When this is wanting, ordinances, however excellent in themselves, are to the believer like dry breasts and empty pits, that afford no satisfaction, no comfort, no refreshment.
(4) You dare not approach to God but by a Mediator.
(5) You have seen the need of drawing power in order to your being brought near to God in any ordinance or duty. This you were not only convinced of at first conversion, but you are sensible of it still.
(6) When at any time you are brought near to God in ordinances, no degrees of communion with Him that you attain to will fully satisfy you; but you will desire still to be brought nearer and nearer to Him.
7. Hence we see the duty of all who have an opportunity of approaching to God in His ordinances, and particularly of believers who design to partake of the Gospel-feast in view, but perhaps are labouring under various discouragements. They are called to draw near to God with humble confidence and holy joy.
(1) Consider what a God He is whom you are called to approach unto. Not an absolute, angry God, but a God in Christ, a sin-pardoning, a reconciled God; a God with whom there is mercy and plenteous redemption.
(2) Consider that however unworthy, guilty and vile you are in yourselves, there is a sufficiency of merit in Christ to procure your access to God and acceptance with Him. (D. Wilson.)
Desiring communion with God
I. The psalmists earnest petition.
1. The subject of his request.
(1) Light is that glorious creature which maketh manifest to the sense of sight surrounding objects; and thus enables a person to perceive himself and his situation with its advantages or disadvantages, so as to avail himself of what is favourable and to avoid what is otherwise. Metaphorically, it signifies mental illumination, or the means or instruments of such illumination (Joh 3:19). Thus the epithet is applied to believers (Eph 5:8), who are children of the light, because illuminated. And to God, word (Psa 119:105; Hos 6:5); and to His ministers and people (Mat 5:14; Joh 5:35) as the means of illumination. Light is also a cheerful subject, and therefore it is used to denote prosperity, comfort, felicity (Psa 97:11; Isa 58:8, etc.).
(2) The truth here requested may mean religious truth in general, as in Joh 17:17; and, if so, then the prayer is that of every missionary, and of every friend of missions. But it more properly intends the fulfilment of Gods promises to the petitioner; a verifying of those promises in his experience, that he might prove and rejoice in their truth.
2. The intention of his request–a participation in religious enjoyments.
(1) An acknowledgment of need.
(2) Not only a willingness, but anxiety to be led and taught.
(3) A resolution to walk in the light, and to submit to the truth of God.
(4) A humble anticipation of being so instructed as to be enabled to correct past errors, and of coming to worship God in the beauty of holiness (Psa 42:4; Psa 122:1).
II. The psalmists pious purpose.
1. The object of his devotions God, as opposed to the creatures. Not domestic, social or public pleasures or achievements; but God, who is the source of light and truth (Jam 1:17). My God, as opposed to every other, and peculiarly mine. The object of my affection; the object of my trust (Psa 73:24-28).
2. The fervour of his devotion–Unto God my exceeding joy, or, the gladness of my joy. How inferior the joy of the sensualist, the worldling, etc. (Psa 4:7; Isa 9:3).
3. The manner of his devotion–T will go unto the altar, etc.
(1) He would sacrifice. Is a sin-offering necessary? It shall be offered. Is a thank-offering due? It shall be rendered.
(2) He would praise–upon the harp, etc. We have an altar, etc. By him therefore let us offer, etc. (Heb 13:10; Heb 13:15).
(3) This was public worship; an open avowal of Gods goodness, and His servants obligation. The psalmist was a man of personal piety, which he evinced by practical piety. Are we such?
(4) This was a public dedication: an engagement of himself in Gods service in any post that might be assigned to him. Are you imitating this conduct, thus praying, thus purposing? (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The ascent of man
1. There are five stages in the light of God. The first is simple leading–the guiding of a child. Then comes the height of ecstasy–the holy hill; I stand above the world and laugh at the cares of time. By and by comes a third stage; I descend from the hill to the tabernacles. Ecstasy subsides into peace; the height sinks into the home; love on the wing becomes love in the nest. After this comes the light of sacrifice–Then shall I go unto the altar of God. Then, not before. Peace alone can sacrifice for others. I cannot sacrifice when I am being led; I am thinking too much about my own steps. I cannot sacrifice when I am in ecstasy; I am too intent on my own joy. But when I get peace, I go out from myself altogether; I go to the altar. At last the climax comes. The altar itself becomes my exceeding joy–the rapture of forgetting self in the care of another.
2. It is a spiral stair, but it is golden. Sometimes it seems to make no progress. There are moments when my feet grow weary with their climbing, and the end is not yet. Shine from the topmost height, Thou Divine Joy! Often I am led by a Way which by myself I would not go; I see not the Christ, but only the manger. Shine out, Thou Christ, and the manger shall be luminous. Shine out, and the altar shall glow with the light of coming fires. (G. Matheson, D. D.)
Gods light and truth our only guides
I. What the psalmist here asks of God.
1. Something that he wished to enjoy.
(1) Some think he means but one thing: as if he had said, Send out the light of Thy truth.
(2) Others understand it of the Word and Providence of God.
(3) Others, of Gods favour and faithfulness.
(4) Others, of the Word of God and His Holy Spirit; or, of the Spirit working by the Word.
2. The manner in which David desired and expected to have the blessing communicated to him for which he prayed. Send out.
(1) This imports that Gods light and His truth were, for the present, withdrawn, in a great measure, from Davids view; and from the view of such as were witnesses of his condition. They were like a person who retires from view, and hides himself in a secret place; so that, if David had been to consult with flesh and blood, he might have doubted of their existence.
(2) It imports that David still believed in God as a God of light and truth, even when these perfections ceased to be manifested in his behalf. He was assured that God knew all that befell him; and, notwithstanding all, he was persuaded that God would fully accomplish all His promises to him, and to his house.
(3) It imports that when God should interpose for His servants deliverance, as he confidently expected He would, then he firmly hoped to see the Divine wisdom and faithfulness vindicated from all those aspersions that had been cast upon them.
3. Davids earnestness a fervency in this petition.
II. Davids end in asking that for which he prays so fervently.
1. The more general end. Let them lead me. He wanted to be guided and conducted by the wisdom and faithfulness of God, not only in his present difficulty, but in every other step of his journey through the wilderness.
(1) Indirectly, this may be said to take place when the providence of God, under the influence of His infinite wisdom and faithfulness, manages all that concerns the person in such a manner as may tend to his spiritual good, and to the accomplishment of the promises of God to him.
(2) But Gods light and truth may be said to lead His people more directly and sensibly, when, in His infinite wisdom and faithfulness, He gives them such counsel, instruction and direction as enables them to keep the way of duty, and prevents their turning aside after any crooked ways (Psa 25:8-9; Isa 55:4).
2. The more particular end for which David begs a manifestation of Gods light and truth.
(1) A removal of all those obstructions and hindrances that stood in the way of an attendance upon the solemn worship and ordinances of God.
(2) A being directed and enabled to the acceptable performance of all those preparatory duties that are necessary in order to a regular attendance upon God in solemn ordinances.
(3) A being strengthened by the grace of God, and enabled to attend upon Gods ordinances in a regular and acceptable manner.
(4) A being admitted to enjoy that spiritual advantage of which ordinances are the means.
(5) A being brought home, at length, to the full and immediate enjoyment of God in heaven.
III. Improvement.
1. For information.
(1) It informs us of the necessary connection between an attendance upon God in His ordinances here, and the full enjoyment of Him in the most holy place hereafter.
(2) How vain and fruitless it is to pay such an attendance upon ordinances as may be attained without any Divine assistance.
(3) How vain and useless all that light is in religious matters which proceeds not from God Himself.
(4) They who would live as Christians ought to have their dependence upon God for leading in every step of their journey through the wilderness as well as in their attendance upon Divine ordinances.
2. For trial.
(1) Are you sensible that it is a duty, indispensably binding upon you, to ascend the hill of God and to enter His tabernacles as you have an opportunity?
(2) Is it real matter of joy and rejoicing to you that God has given you so near a prospect of another opportunity to ascend His hill, and wait upon Him in solemn ordinances?
(3) Do you see the necessity of being brought by God Himself to His holy hill and to His tabernacles? That it is impossible for you to attend upon any ordinance acceptably without supernatural assistance?
(4) Is it your present exercise; and are you resolved that it shall always be your endeavour to set forward in every act of worship, praying to God, as does the royal psalmist in the text, for the conduct and assistance of His light and truth?
3. For humiliation and mourning.
(1) How many are there among us who are altogether careless about being present on Gods holy hill or in His tabernacles! A sad evidence that they know little about solid happiness, or about where it is to be found.
(2) How many satisfy themselves with such an attendance upon ordinances as may be attained without any supernatural assistance; and how often are we all chargeable with this sin.
(3) How many are left to follow false lights in attempting to ascend Gods hill, and to go into His tabernacle! To what else can it be owing, that altars are set up against altars in every corner; and there are so many distinct and opposite societies, all pretending to worship God, and that in His own tabernacles? (John Young, D. D.)
Thy light
Jesus brought light to the world, and they who follow Him need walk no longer in darkness, for He is the light of life. For–
I. He lights every man to the heart of God. You need to be spiritually minded to perceive this. As a blind man cannot understand colour, so an unspiritual man cannot understand God. But Jesus Christ came to reveal God.
II. He reveals to us the everlasting love of God. We often think that because we are bad the Lord has turned His back upon us; but Jesus, the light of the world, testified by His life and death that instead of turning from you, the Lord, like a good physician, seeks after poor sin-sick souls to heal them and save them. Jesus Christ is the Divine light showing us how much higher and holier than we can conceive is the character of God, that His love is infinite, and that He will seek His lost sheep until He finds them.
III. Jesus Christ is also the light of God and the light of the world in illuminating the grandest of all truths, that Gods charity is universal. Like the blessed sunlight, Gods love is diffused with equal and bounteous hand over the cottage and the palace. Gods great heart is not partial. He loves my poor friend quite as much as the richest man in the land. His charity beams upon all men alike.
IV. Jesus Christ is also a cheering and a transforming light. When the suns rays fall upon a diamond, it glistens with intense beauty; but when the light is gone, the diamond can be no more seen in the dark than a stone. So Christ lights up the Christian. And Christ makes him also a light giver as well as a light receiver.
V. Christ brings immortality to light. (W. Birch.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. O send out thy light and thy truth] We are in darkness and distress, O send light and prosperity; we look for the fulfilment of thy promises, O send forth thy truth. Let thy light guide me to thy holy hill, to the country of my fathers; let thy truth lead me to thy tabernacles, there to worship thee in spirit and in truth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Send out, i.e. actually impart and discover them; for at present thou seemest to conceal and withhold them from me.
Thy light and thy truth, i.e. thy favour, or the light of thy countenance, and the truth of thy promises made to me; as Gods mercy and truth oft go together, as 2Sa 15:20; Psa 61:7; Psa 89:14, &c. Or this may be a figure called hendiaduo, whereby light and truth is put either for the light of Gods truth; or rather, for true light, the illumination of Gods Spirit, and the direction of providence, his gracious whereby he might be led (as it follows) in the right way, which would bring him to Gods holy hill.
Unto thy holy hill, to wit, of Zion, the place of Gods presence and worship.
To thy tabernacles, i.e. tabernacle; which he calls tabernacles, either,
1. Because there were now two tabernacles, one at Zion, where the ark was; and another at Gibeon, 1Ch 16:37,39. Although he here seems to speak but of one of them, even of that which was upon Gods holy hill. Or,
2. Because of the several parts of it, the most holy, and the holy place, and the church. These indeed were in that of Gibeon, but not in that of Zion. Or rather,
3. By a mere enallage of the number, the plural for the singular; which is frequent, as in other words, so in those which belong to this matter, as tabernacles, Psa 46:4, and sanctuaries, Lev 26:31; Psa 73:17, &c.; Psa 74:7; Jer 51:51. Nay, the most holy place, though but one simple part, is by the Greeks called holies. So in other authors, we read the rivers of Nilus, of that one river; and right hands, for one right hand; and many like phrases.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. lightas in Ps27:1.
truthor,”faithfulness” (Ps 25:5),manifest it by fulfilling promises. Light and truth arepersonified as messengers who will bring him to the privileged placeof worship.
tabernaclesplural, inallusion to the various courts.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O send out thy light and thy truth,…. By light is meant, not the law, as Arama; but rather, as some Jewish p interpreters understand it, the Messiah, the sun of righteousness, and light of the world; who is the author of all light, natural, spiritual, and eternal; and whose coming into the world is often signified by being sent into it. The Spirit of God also is the enlightener of men, both at first conversion and afterwards, and is sent down into their hearts as a comforter of them, by being the Spirit of adoption. The Gospel of Christ is a great and glorious light, which, with the Holy Ghost, is sent down from heaven; though perhaps here rather may be meant the light of God’s countenance, the discoveries of his favour and lovingkindness, which produce light, life, joy, peace, and comfort: and by “truth” may be meant, either Christ himself, who is the truth; or the Gospel the word of truth; or rather the faithfulness of God in the fulfilment of his promises; and so the words are a petition that God would show forth his lovingkindness, and make good his word, which would be of the following use:
let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles; that is, to the place of public worship, where the tabernacle was, the “hill” where it was, which seems to be Mount Zion; and is called “holy”; not that there was any real holiness in it; only relative, because of the worship of God in it; and the “tabernacle” is called “tabernacles”, because of the holy place and the most holy place in it; the one being the first, the other the second tabernacle, as in Heb 9:2; and this hill and tabernacles represented the church and ordinances of God, to which such who are possessed of light and truth are led.
p Midrash Tillim, & Jarchi, in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me.Instead of the violent and contemptuous escort of Assyrian soldiers, leading the exile away from the holy hill, the poet prays for Gods light and truth to lead him, like two angel guides, back to it. Light and truth! What a guidance in this world of falsehood and shadow! The Urim and Thummim of the saints (Deu. 33:8), the promised attendants of Israel, have been, and are, the escort of all faithful souls in all ages.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Thy light and truth These alone can vanquish sin and oppression. When men regard things in God’s “light and truth,” then wrongs and contentions will cease. Psa 57:3.
Unto thy holy hill Unto Mount Zion.
Tabernacles The plural may signify the sacred tent and its apartments and cloisters, or the tent on Zion and tabernacle at Gibeon. See 1Ki 3:4; 1Ch 16:39
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Oh send out your light and your truth,
Let them lead me,
Let them bring me to your holy hill,
And to your tabernacles.
Then will I go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy,
And on the harp will I praise you,
O God, my God.’
‘Send out Your light and Your truth.’ Perhaps he has in mind here the pillar of light that had led God’s people from Egypt, and the light and truth revealed at Sinai. It was by these manifestations of God that Israel had been delivered. So now he wants God to act in the same way on his behalf, delivering him and leading him back to God’s holy hill and to His tabernacles. (The plural for tabernacles may suggest the time of David when there were two tabernacles, one in Hebron which was the main centre of worship, and one in Jerusalem that held the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH. Or it may simply have in mind the Temple as the dwelling place of God seen in plural majesty). Then he will again be able to go to the altar of God, to God Who is his great joy, and will be able to praise him on the harp because He is God his God.
Alternately the thought is that in the end God’s light and truth will always prevail, so that it must result in the deliverance of His people. (Possibly also he sees the armies of Israel as representing God’s light and truth). But the point is that once the God of light and truth comes to deliver him nothing will be able to prevent his release, for light and truth must always prevail. It is a salutary reminder that our salvation also is totally due to the coming of One Who was the Light and the Truth (Joh 8:12; Joh 14:6).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 573
ACCESS TO GOD IN ORDINANCES
Psa 43:3-4. O send out thy light and thy truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. 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.
IT is supposed that David wrote both this and the preceding psalm when he was driven from Jerusalem by his rebellious son, Absalom. After briefly calling on God to judge between him and his blood-thirsty enemies, he here shews, that the being separated from divine ordinances was to him the heaviest part of his affliction. True, indeed, his faithful servants, Zadok and Abiathar, had brought him the ark; but that he sent back again to its wonted residence [Note: 2Sa 15:25.]; for to have the symbol of the Deity without his actual presence and favour, would afford him little consolation or benefit. To enjoy God in his ordinances, was his supreme delight. And hence he implores of God to send forth his light and his truth, to conduct him back to them; for who but God could devise a way for his return? or what had he to depend upon in this hour of his extremity, but the promise and protection of God himself? In the event of his being restored to Gods tabernacles, he determined that he would go with more delight than ever to the altar of his God, even to God himself, who was his exceeding joy, and there pay to God the vows which he had made: yes, and the harp which now hanged upon the willows should again be tuned, to sing with more devotion than ever the praises of his God. What he here promises, we find in another psalm he actually performed, as soon as the desired deliverance had been vouchsafed: Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads: we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out, into a wealthy place. I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings: I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt-offerings of failings, with the incense of rams: I will offer bullocks with goats [Note: Psa 66:12-15.].
The words of my text consist of two parts; a devout petition to God to restore him to his wonted enjoyment of divine ordinances; and a joyful anticipation of augmented zeal in the service of his God. And, in correspondence with these, we see what, under all circumstances, it becomes us chiefly to affect; namely,
I.
An intelligent and believing access to God
It is not sufficient that we attend divine ordinances. Many frequent them without any benefit at all. We must be led to them by Gods light and truth, that so we may attend upon them with intelligence and faith.
[Who but God can teach us how to approach him acceptably? Or what hope can we have in approaching him, except from the promises which he has given us in the Son of his love? In order to derive benefit to our souls, we must entreat God to send forth his light and his truth, that they may lead us. It is only as reconciled to us in Christ Jesus, that we can venture to draw nigh to God: for in himself, though a God of love to the penitent, he is to the impenitent a consuming fire. Nor could we presume to come to him in Christ Jesus, if he had not expressly declared that he would forgive our sins, and receive us to mercy for Jesus sake This is the new and living way which God has opened to sinful man [Note: Heb 10:19-20.]; (all access to the tree of life in any other way is barred for ever [Note: Gen 3:24.];) and we should implore of God to reveal it to us, that so we may find acceptance with him, and be restored to that communion with him from which we have been separated by our sins [Note: Isa 59:2.].]
But we should look still farther to,
II.
A life of entire devotedness to his service
David would offer on Gods altar the sacrifices appointed by the Law. But we have a richer offering than all the cattle upon a thousand hills: yes, we ourselves are the sacrifices which God calls for; and, as living sacrifices we must present ourselves to him, that every faculty and power we possess may be consecrated altogether to his service [Note: Rom 12:1.].
[Truly, if God was to David his exceeding joy, much more must he be so to us. To David, the wonders of Redeeming Love were, comparatively, but little known. Even John the Baptist himself had but a faint insight into them, in comparison of us. The height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ, which not even an Archangel can fully comprehend, are revealed to us; and in the contemplation of them we should rejoice in Him with joy unspeakable and glorified [Note: 1Pe 1:8.]. Never should our harp lie still. We should be singing his praises every day, and all the day long Nor need our access to God be in the least restrained by the want of public ordinances. Doubtless they are of infinite value; for God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob: but in every house, and in every heart, is an altar to the Lord, from whence the sacrifices of prayer and praise may ascend up before God continually, and be regarded by him as offerings of a sweet-smelling savour. In a word, to be devoted to God in heart and life is the great end of ordinances; which are no farther serviceable to us, or acceptable to God, than as they are productive of these effects. And, as it was for this end that David so earnestly implored of God a restoration to his ordinances, so it is this which, in attending upon ordinances, we, my Brethren, must continually bear in mind, and make the great object of our pursuit.]
Apllication
[As for those who are strangers to spiritual religion, I forbear to address this subject to them; for to them it can appear, as the Apostle tells us, no better than foolishness [Note: 1Co 2:14.]: and their very ignorance of the subject is itself a sufficient condemnation to them. But to those who have been endued with somewhat of a spiritual discernment, I may say, this subject affords abundant matter for the deepest humiliation. For, who amongst us values Gods ordinances as David did, and accounts the loss of them the most bitter ingredient even in the bitterest cup which he has to drink? And, in attending upon them, what coldness and formality do we too often feel! As for our joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, how faint is it, when compared with that which he expressed in the psalm before us, even in the midst of his heavy and accumulated afflictions! Dear Brethren, I blush for you, and for myself also: and I would propose to you to adopt, for our future imitation, that resolved purpose of the Psalmist, O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up my glory, awake psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people; I will sing unto thee among the nations: for thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth [Note: Psa 57:7-11.]. Happy shall we be if we attain to such a frame; for it is an anticipation and foretaste of heaven itself.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
What a devout fervour is here put forth for the leadings of God’s Holy Spirit! And what a blessed object is proposed; for the enjoyment of spiritual light and gracious leadings! Is not Jesus our New Testament altar? And is he not the God of our exceeding joy? Reader, if Jesus be our New Testament altar, as the scriptures plainly testify he is, that sacred name should not be given to any place, however set apart and made solemn for divine service by men. I would call the communion table the communion or ordinance table, or the table of the Lord, but not the altar of the Lord; for Christ alone is the altar, and sacrifice, and everlasting Priest.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Ver. 3. O send out thy light ] i.e. Thy comforting grace, opposed to that, Psa 43:2 , I go mourning, or in black.
And thy truth
Yet them bring me unto thy holy hill
And to thy tabernacles
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 43:3-4
3O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
4Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Psa 43:3 send This verb (BDB 1018, KB 1511, Qal imperative) is a prayer request which personifies YHWH’s
1. light BDB 21
a. as YHWH’s favor Psa 4:6; Psa 44:3
b. as a guide Mic 7:8
c. as eschatological light Isa 9:2 (first coming of Jesus); Isa 60:19-20 (second coming of Jesus)
2. truth BDB 54 (see SPECIAL TOPIC: Believe, Trust, Faith, and Faithfulness in the Old Testament )
a. an attribute of YHWH often translated faithfulness Psa 40:10; Psa 71:22; Psa 115:1; Psa 138:2
b. often personified as YHWH’s agents or messengers Psa 40:11; Psa 43:3; Psa 57:3; Psa 85:10; Psa 89:14
Notice what the light and the truth are to do.
1. let them lead me BDB 634, KB 685, Hiphil imperfect used in a jussive sense
2. let them bring me to Your holy hill BDB 97, KB 112, Hiphil imperfect used in a jussive sense
holy hill This is one of many ways to refer to the temple on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. It is also called (usually with the adjective holy):
1. Zion
2. house
3. sanctuary
4. habitation
5. temple
6. mountain
7. city of God
Here it is parallel to Your dwelling places (cf. Psa 46:4; Psa 84:1). The plural denotes all the buildings of the temple complex or the plural of majesty (cf. NIDOTE, vol. 2, p. 1132).
Psa 43:4 The psalmist desires to go (BDB 97, KB 112, Qal cohortative) to the temple and praise (BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperfect used in a cohortative sense) God with his lyre (BDB 490, i.e., a stringed instrument, cf Psa 33:2).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
light . . . truth. Probably an allusion to the Urim and Thummim (see notes on Exo 28:30), from which the Psalmist was now absent, in flight from Absalom.
lead = gently lead, or comfort.
bring: i.e. by their guiding counsel.
Thy holy hill: i.e. Zion. Therefore refers to times of David.
holy. See note on Exo 3:5.
tabernacles = habitations. Plural of majesty = thy great habitation. Hebrew, plural of mishkan. App-40.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 43:3-4
Psa 43:3-4
“Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me:
Let them bring me to thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God,
Unto God my exceeding joy;
And upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.”
“Let them bring me to thy holy hill” (Psa 43:3). We suppose this is the same as the hill Mizar mentioned in Psa 42:6, the word `hill,’ being the common designation of Jerusalem, Mount Zion, or the Temple mountain, the same being the place where Abraham offered Isaac. This is as good an explanation as any until someone is able to identify “Mizar”!
“To thy tabernacles … the altar of God” (Psa 43:3-4). This indicates that the Temple services were still being conducted at the time this psalm was written; but, as already noted, this has no bearing whatever upon “when” the psalms were written. The Temple was not destroyed, nor were its services interrupted, until the end of the reign of Zedekiah, all of which was during the Babylonian captivity for many Israelites, including Daniel and his associates.
E.M. Zerr”
Psa 43:3. David expressed confidence in the Word of God and prayed for more of it to be sent forth. He wished to be led by it according to the idea he expressed elsewhere. (Psa 119:133). Holy hill and tabernacle refers to the temple which was the place where God’s name was recorded. It was the place where the national worship was conducted and where the spiritual interests of the people of God were centered.
Psa 43:4. Both of the altars were at the temple and the sacrifices and incense were offered thereon. David looked to that service for help in times of spiritual need. While in that vicinity he engaged in praise service in connection with the musical instruments that he had originated.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
send: Psa 40:11, Psa 57:3, Psa 97:11, Psa 119:105, 2Sa 15:20, Mic 7:8, Mic 7:20, Joh 1:4, Joh 1:17
lead: Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5, Psa 143:10, Pro 3:5, Pro 3:6
thy holy: Psa 2:6, Psa 3:4, Psa 68:15, Psa 68:16, Psa 78:68, Psa 132:13, Psa 132:14
tabernacles: 1Ch 16:1, 1Ch 16:39, 1Ch 21:29
Reciprocal: 2Sa 15:25 – he will bring Psa 15:1 – holy Psa 27:6 – therefore Psa 31:3 – lead Psa 61:7 – prepare Psa 84:7 – in Zion Psa 84:10 – For Pro 6:22 – General Zep 3:18 – sorrowful Joh 20:13 – why
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
LIGHT AND TRUTH
O send out Thy light and Thy truth, that they may lead me: and bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy dwelling.
Psa 43:3 (Prayer Book Version)
The forty-second and forty-third psalms give us an insight into the very heart of the Psalmist. David there appears as the man whose affections were set upon God, and who in all the changes and chances and dangers of a chequered life looked upward, aspired for closer communion with God; and it is for this that he is our teacher and our example.
I. We need to have this teaching and this example in this life of weary toil.We need to have our spirits lifted up, not to be always earthward bound, but raised, elevated, borne up to the contemplation of higher things, higher and also more lasting. That is one great corrective of worldliness, one great protection for our soul, amid the temptations, pursuits, business, and pleasures of this present worldto look upward.
II. Observe how entirely Christian the prayer is, for what is it we here ask of God?We ask for His light and for His truth. What is this but to ask for Christ to dwell in our hearts? When we pray for Gods light and Gods truth to lead us, we pray that Jesus Christ may dwell in us, and work in us, and rule in us, to the sanctifying and saving of our soul.
III. The dwelling of God, where is it?In the highest heaven. Even those words are inadequate to convey a just idea of His habitation. Behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. God is present in all places, at all times, but is present according to His true promise wheresoever two or three are gathered together in His name.
Canon R. D. B. Rawnsley.
Illustration
After the ministers of the Disruption (the Free Church of Scotland) had reached Tanfield Hall, May 18, 1843, and Dr. Chalmers had taken the chair as moderator, he rose to give out the psalm. A heavy thunder-cloud had for some time darkened the heavens, and, as the eye ranged at that particular moment over the dense mass of human beings who covered the immense area of the low-roofed hall, individual forms had almost ceased to be distinguishable through the sombre shade. The psalm which Dr. Chalmers had chosen was the forty-third. He began at that touching and beautiful line
O send Thy light forth and Thy truth,
and, as the words sounded through the hall, the sun, escaping from behind his cloudy covering, and darting through the windows which pierced the roof his brilliant beams, turned on the instant the preceding darkness into day.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 43:3-5. O send out Actually impart and discover; thy light and thy truth Thy favour, or the light of thy countenance, and the truth of thy promises made to me; or, the true light, the illumination of thy Spirit, and the direction of thy gracious providence, whereby I may be led in the right way. Let them bring me unto thy holy hill Of Zion, the place of thy presence and worship. Then will I go unto the altar of God To offer sacrifices of thanksgiving for my deliverance; unto God my exceeding joy The principal author and matter of all my joy and comfort; or, as it is literally translated in the margin, The gladness of my joy: Why art thou cast down, O my soul, &c. See above, Psa 42:5; Psa 42:11.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
43:3 O send out thy {c} light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
(c) That is, your favour which appears by the performance of your promises.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God’s light is the revelation of His will that brings understanding and life. His truth rests in His Word that reveals that will. The psalmist prayed for God’s guidance through His Word that would bring him back to Mt. Zion, the place where David’s tabernacle stood.