Psalms 43:1-2

Psalm 43 1 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me 2  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me 3  from deceitful and evil men! 4 

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. 5 

Why do you reject me? 6 

Why must I walk around 7  mourning 8 

because my enemies oppress me?

1 sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

2 tn Or “argue my case.”

3 tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

4 tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

5 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

6 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

7 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

8 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.