Chapter Forty-Three

The psalm was written by the sons of Korah and represents a meditation (Hebrew “maskil,” Russian “teaching”) concerning events they experienced. These events are sorrowful. The Hebrew people are abandoned by God (Ps 43:10), and so suffered defeat from enemies and were given over to plunder and dispersal among nations (Ps 43:11-12). These sufferings and defeat are all the more grievous for the Hebrews because they “did not forget... Him and did not depart from His way” (Ps 43:18-19), that is, remained faithful to the true God. This condition of the Hebrews occurred during David’s war with the Syrians in the north, when the southern borders of his kingdom were attacked by Edomites, who plundered the southern regions of the Judean kingdom, killed many Hebrews, and took captive a large number of them for sale into slavery to neighboring nations, an activity in which the Edomites engaged. This occasion for writing is indicated by the similarity of this psalm’s content with psalm 9 (Ps 9:22) and especially with Ps 59, where the occasion of writing is precisely indicated and the reason for Joab’s attack on the Edomites.

O God! The past history of our people is full of glorious victories over the heathens, the inhabitants of Palestine. We owe these victories not to our military skill, but to Your protection and defense (6–9). Now God has abandoned us: we are defeated by enemies, we are led into captivity, mocked by them, while we preserve loyalty to You and do not depart from Your commandments (10–23). Rise up, O Lord, to our defense and deliver us by Your mercy (24–27).

Psalm 43:4. For they did not acquire the land by their own sword, and their own arm did not save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your face, because You were pleased with them. The acquisition and conquest of Palestine the Hebrews owe to “the light of God’s face” — the favor and protection that He showed toward them. The historical books of the Hebrew people are full of numerous facts of this kind.

Psalm 43:6. With You we will gore our enemies with horns; in Your name we will trample those who rise up against us. “With You we will gore our enemies with horns.” The strength of an animal lies in its horns, which it uses to fight and defend itself from attack. For the Hebrews, such horns, such an instrument of their invincibility, is God; with His name the Hebrew was invincible.

Psalm 43:10. But now You have rejected and shamed us, and do not go out with our armies. “Now You have rejected... do not go out with our armies.” God is the supreme commander of the Hebrew people’s forces. An external sign of such command was the custom of carrying the Ark of the Covenant with the armies. The plundering of the southern regions of the kingdom by enemies, the writer explains by the fact that the Lord ceased to lead the Hebrews.

Psalm 43:12. You have delivered us like sheep for slaughter and scattered us among the nations. “Scattered us among the nations.” The Edomites, like their neighbors the Phoenicians and Philistines, sold Hebrew captives into slavery to Greeks and Egyptians (Amos 1:6; Joel 3:2-8). It is such sale of Hebrew captives that the writer has in mind here.

Psalm 43:13. You have sold Your people for nothing and not increased the price for them. “You have sold Your people for nothing and not increased the price for them.” The sale of Hebrews into slavery and captivity is compared to an unprofitable trade exchange: “for nothing,” or at a loss. When the Edomites plundered the borders of Judea, they paid very little in return; the Hebrews could not offer them any significant resistance, since the best forces capable of warfare were at that time in the north in David’s armies, and so losses on the enemy’s side could be minimal. “Not increased the price” — a continuation of the comparison. There were no buyers who, by offering demand for them, could have increased their price. This means that the number of captives taken by the Edomites was so vast that they sold them for a pittance.

Psalm 43:14. You have given us as an object of reproach to our neighbors, of scorn and derision to those dwelling around us. Psalm 43:15. You have made us a proverb among the nations, a shaking of the head among the foreigners. Psalm 43:16. All day long my shame is before me, and the shame covers my face, Psalm 43:17. at the voice of the reviler and slanderer, from the sight of the enemy and the avenger. As slaves, the Hebrews could not expect and did not meet humane treatment; they were mocked and scorned by those who sold them and those who bought them.

Psalm 43:20. When You have crushed us in the land of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death. “In the land of dragons” or jackals. These animals love to feed on corpses. The Hebrews fallen into slavery were such corpses, and their captors were the jackals. An image of the powerless and helpless condition of Hebrews in slavery.

Psalm 43:22. Would God not search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. The Lord “knows the secrets of the heart” — He knows that the Hebrews were His true worshipers and did not turn to false gods.

Psalm 43:24. Arise, why do You sleep, O Lord! Awake, do not reject us forever. “Arise, why do You sleep, O Lord!” The waking of God over the Hebrews means active help on His part, while the withdrawal of this help is described as the opposite state of waking, compared to sleep.

Psalm 43:26. For our soul is brought down to the dust, our belly cleaves to the ground. “Our soul is brought down to the dust, our belly cleaves to the ground” — we are bowed down to the earth, oppressed with sorrow and the suffering we have endured.