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Psalm 43:3-5
New English Translation
Psalm 43:3-5
New English Translation
3 Reveal[a] your light[b] and your faithfulness.
They will lead me;[c]
they will escort[d] me back to your holy hill,[e]
and to the place where you live.[f]
4 Then I will go[g] to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,[h]
so that I may express my thanks to you,[i] O God, my God, with a harp.
5 Why are you depressed,[j] O my soul?[k]
Why are you upset?[l]
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[m]
Footnotes
- Psalm 43:3 tn Heb “send.”
- Psalm 43:3 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Heb “bring.”
- Psalm 43:3 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.
- Psalm 43:3 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special dwelling place (see Pss 46:4; 84:1; 132:5, 7).
- Psalm 43:4 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
- Psalm 43:4 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
- Psalm 43:4 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
- Psalm 43:5 tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”
- Psalm 43:5 sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.
- Psalm 43:5 tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”
- Psalm 43:5 tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yeshuʿot fene ʾelohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is identical to the one in Ps 42:11. See also 42:5, which differs only slightly.
Psalm 43:3-5
New International Version
Psalm 43:3-5
New International Version
3 Send me your light(A) and your faithful care,(B)
let them lead me;(C)
let them bring me to your holy mountain,(D)
to the place where you dwell.(E)
4 Then I will go(F) to the altar(G) of God,
to God, my joy(H) and my delight.(I)
I will praise you with the lyre,(J)
O God, my God.
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.(K)
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