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Psalm 43 · a question people ask

The psalmist calls God "the God of my strength" and then asks, "Why have you rejected me?" (43:2). Can both be said at once?

In the text

They are in one verse: "For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me?" (43:2). Strength is ma'oz, "place or means of safety, protection" (Brown-Driver-Briggs) (tap strength). Rejected is zanach, "reject, spurn" (Brown-Driver-Briggs) (tap rejected). The psalm doesn't answer its own "why", and it gives no reason for what it asks about. It goes straight on to a request: "Oh, send out your light and your truth" (43:3). Other psalms put questions to God with the same verb: "God, why have you rejected us forever?" (Psalm 74:1); "LORD, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?" (Psalm 88:14); and "Will the Lord reject us forever?" (Psalm 77:7). In Psalm 43 the question is spoken to God, beside "the God of my strength" (43:2), and the psalm ends, "Hope in God!" (43:5).

The verses

“For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, to your tents.”
Psalm 43:2-3 · World English Bible
“Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Savior, my helper, and my God.”
Psalm 43:5 · World English Bible
“A contemplation by Asaph. God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?”
Psalm 74:1 · World English Bible
“LORD, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?”
Psalm 88:14 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 43

Psalm 43: Send out your light and your truth

In 43:2 the psalmist goes "mourning", a Hebrew verb for being dark, and in 43:3 he asks God to send out his light and his truth to lead him. And where they lead doesn't end at the altar: "to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy" (43:4).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions