Temple Baptist Church - 3-15-2026
Psalm 43
Introduction:
A. Psalm 43 seems to be a continuation of Psalm 42 that I titled “A Disquieted Soul”. As Psalms 22 (The Cross of Christ), 23 (The Care of the Shepherd), and 24 (The Coming of the King) compose a trilogy, Psalms 42 and 43 comprise a duo.
1. Disquieted defined: to take away the peace or tranquility, to make uneasy, to make anxious, to make fretful, to make restless.
2. Synonyms: perturbed, agitated, upset, disturbed, unnerved, unsettled, discomposed, disconcerted, ruffled, startled, worried, troubled, bothered, concerned, distressed, alarmed, appalled, frightened, panicked, vexed.
3. Have I rung your bell yet? Everyone here tonight has suffered from a disquieted soul!
4. Twice, in Psalm 42:5,11, the Psalmist asks, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” In verse 6, he continued with “O my God, my soul is cast down within me.”
5. Psalm 42:11 is the last verse of the Psalm, and, evidently, the disquieted soul was still disquieted!
6. Psalm 43 ends the same way with the same verse! Psalms 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
7. Why the continuation? Because we, as the Israelites, are often prone to continuing despite previous exhortation.
B. This tells me that there is no easy fix for a disquieted soul! If this is so, then the only way we are going to get victory is by putting our hope in God and putting our noses to the Bible!
1. So many of God’s people live non-victorious lives. The victory has already been won, and the battle is the Lord’s.
2. So many of God’s people never open the Bible except on church days, and, once the text is read for the message, they either close of never glance at the Bible again.
3. So many of God’s children hope in the world more than in the Lord.
C. The obvious reason for this ongoing disquiet of soul is found in verse one of Psalm 43.
Psalms 43:1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
1. This present evil world is not going away! If we think the world is going to improve, we fool ourselves. It will wax worse and worse.
2. The ungodly will not be godly and leave us alone! The godly have always been and always will be persecuted by those who are ungodly and God rejectors.
3. And there is little justice in this world! Not everything will work out either right or to the advantage of the godly.
D. In this short Psalm, we find the prescription: the road from complaint to confidence. From fear to victory. From a disquieted heart to a merry and rejoicing one.
E. Still disquieted? Get on the road!
1. Verses 1-2. Judge me, O God, before you judge them! Then, if I am right, judge them.
a. A cry for vindication, not revenge. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, but so does righteous judgment. “I don’t get mad, I get even,” is a saying that most of us have heard. We are neither to get mad nor get even.
b. Put the wickedness of false accusation, slander, and injustice into God’s hands. In both Psalm 42 and 43 say, “Hope in God!”
c. The Lord is our strength. He is our sufficiency. He is our Saviour. If He is these things, and He is, then why do I feel like I have been cast away? The problem is ours, not His! We can do all things through Christ! God will not cast us away.
2. Verse 3. Three Requests.
a. Light for Guidance. Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
b. Truth for Protection. John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
c. Assembly for Exhortation. Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
3. Verse 4. The Value of Worship. One of my favorite passages of Scripture teaches us this truth.
a. A thirsting for God. Psalms 42:1-2 To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. (2) My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
b. A Desire for Church. Psalms 27:1-4 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (2) When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. (3) Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. (4) One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
4. Verse 5. David found A Renewed Faith.
1. He once again found his hope in God! Our faith in God will sustain us when our heart is disquieted.
2. He resolved to praise God in all his circumstances. “In everything give thanks!”
Conclusion: Do not allow the temporal things of life to overshadow the eternal things of eternity.
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