Where do we turn when we face longing? Do look inside ourselves, or look to family and friends. Do we fill the gap with something material or desires that will pass away. Some people long with unmet desire, hoping in vain that the object they long for would come to them.
Not so the psalmist. In Psalm 42, which Psalm 43 probably originally belonged to, the author longed for God’s presence. The longing was expressed as like thirst, and expressed even in discouragement. In Psalm 43, the author finds for his longing in prayerful pursuit of God. He pleads with God to correct the situation he finds himself in, and hopes that God will do just that. And because his heartfelt prayer was to be in God’s presence, God will do just that.
Psalm 42 ended with the psalmist not knowing where God was. In Psalm 43, the psalmist reaches out to God in prayer, hoping God will answer his longing.
The psalmist asks God to vindicate him “and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (v.1). In the previous psalm, his enemies mocked him and asked where his God was. This mockery hurt, because he did not know the answer.
As a result he asks that God will put right the taunting of his enemies against him. While he may not know where God is, he knows that God is there. So he cries out to God.
He does so because “you are the God in whom I take refuge” despite feeling that God has rejected him by not being present to him (v.2). The psalmist’s faith is not grounded in feelings, it is grounded in the truth of God’s presence.
But his faith still has a place for feelings. He continues to ask God “Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” (v.2). He recognises that alongside the truth and reality of God’s presence is his feeling of distance from God. His feelings are not suppressed or dismissed, but acknowledged and subjected to reality.
Only restoration to God’s presence will completely vindicate him before his enemies and answer the gaping maw of his feelings, so he asks that God “send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!” (v.3).
He asks for light and truth to lead him to God’s dwelling place, to the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. There, God’s presence specially dwelt with his covenant people in the days before Christ’s coming. There, the psalmist would find God’s presence once again.
This hope gives the psalmist reason to look forward. Guided by God’s light and God’s truth to God’s presence, he “will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God” (v.4).
Instead of grief and longing, he will celebrate God’s presence with worship and sacrifice. He will praise him with musical instruments because God is not just out there, but near to him as “my God”.
Psalm 43 then ends with the refrain repeated twice in Psalm 42. “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” (v.5).
Before, the emphasis was on his longing and desperation for God’s presence. Now the emphasis lies in the second half. The psalmist hopes in God, because the absence of God’s presence is not forever. He will again enjoy God’s presence to praise his salvation and his God.
He believes that God will save him from the worst fate of all; the absence of God’s presence. He has hope for his longing.
When God feels distant to us at times as well, this psalm speaks to us still. It reminds us that even though God might feel distant from us, it does not mean that God is not there. We may not know where God is, but God is still there. So we too can cry out to God.
Our cries will not go unheard. God will draw us near to himself. We do not have to fear the worst fate of all, the absence of God’s presence. God demonstrated his willingness to come to us. He revealed himself most fully to us all in Jesus Christ. We could not go to the Temple, so the Temple came to us (John 1:14).
Because God came to us in Christ, God will send his light and his truth through his Spirit to guide us to his presence when we pray. God will help us know his presence. One day, God will draw us to be with himself forever, never to be separated from him again.
God is not just out there, but has come near to save us, as my God, and your God too. Psalm 43 reminds us that there is hope for the longing for God’s presence.