Psalms 43:4

My Notes

What Does Psalms 43:4 Mean?

Psalm 43 is the companion to Psalm 42 — likely originally one poem — and this verse is its climax. The psalmist has been in exile, separated from the temple, talking to his cast-down soul. Now he imagines the return. And what he imagines isn't a building. It's a Person.

"Then will I go unto the altar of God" — the altar is the meeting point. It's where sacrifice happens, where heaven and earth intersect, where the worshipper approaches the Holy One. The psalmist isn't fantasizing about real estate. He's longing for access — the ability to stand in God's presence and offer himself.

"Unto God my exceeding joy" — the marginal note says "the gladness of my joy." Not just joy. The joy of my joy. The source and summit of every gladness I've ever felt. God isn't one item on the psalmist's joy list. He's the category. Every other joy is a tributary. God is the river. The psalmist's deepest delight isn't what God gives. It's God Himself.

"Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee" — the praise becomes musical. The longing becomes worship. The exile becomes a rehearsal for the return. Even before he arrives at the altar, the psalmist is preparing the song. The harp is strung in anticipation of a praise that hasn't happened yet but is already forming.

"O God my God" — the double possessive is intimacy at its peak. Not God in the abstract. Not the God of Israel in general. My God. The repetition isn't redundancy. It's emphasis — the kind of breathless, grasping claim that a lover makes: mine. You are mine. And I am going to You.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Is God your 'exceeding joy' — the gladness of your joy — or is He one joy among many? How can you tell the difference?
• 2.What are you longing for right now? If you peel back the layers, is the deepest longing for God Himself or for something He provides?
• 3.How does the psalmist's ability to prepare praise before arriving at the altar challenge you to worship in the middle of your own exile?
• 4.What would change in your daily life if you treated God as the source of all joy rather than one source among several?

Devotional

The psalmist has been depressed for two psalms. Cast down. Disquieted. Separated from everything that made his life meaningful. And the thing he's been longing for — the destination of all his hoping — isn't relief from his circumstances. It's God Himself. Not God's blessings. Not God's answers. God.

"God my exceeding joy" is one of the most revealing phrases in the Psalter. It tells you what the psalmist actually wants. Not the temple, though he misses it. Not Jerusalem, though he's exiled from it. God. The gladness of his joy. The thing that makes every other joy make sense. If you removed every other good thing from his life and left God, he would still have his exceeding joy. If you gave him everything else and removed God, he would have nothing.

That's the test of your spiritual life. Is God your exceeding joy? Not one of your joys. Not the most important item on a list of things that make you happy. The source. The category. The gladness that makes all other gladness possible. Or is He somewhere further down — after the relationship, after the career, after the health, after the comfort — valuable, sure, but not exceeding?

The harp is being strung before the arrival. The psalmist is preparing praise for a moment he hasn't reached yet. That's faith with a melody. You don't have to wait until you're at the altar to start the song. You can tune the instrument now. You can begin the worship in exile, in anticipation of the arrival you know is coming. The altar is ahead. The God of your exceeding joy is waiting. Start the song.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture