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Psalm 43:2
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?
1Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.
2For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, to your tents.
4Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.
Notice
Calling God “the God of my strength” makes the question of rejection sharper: trust is still present while the enemy’s oppression continues.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you make of calling God your strength while asking why he has rejected you?
Write on thisWhat pressure from others, if any, would you bring into this prayer about oppression?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 27:1By 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?Both speakers name God as their strength; Psalm 27 challenges fear, while Psalm 43 asks why oppression and mourning continue.
Psalm 42:9I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”Both prayers ask the same question about mourning under enemy oppression, after naming God as a source of strength or security.
Psalm 28:7The LORD is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.Both call God their strength, though Psalm 28 speaks from received help and rejoicing while Psalm 43 speaks from mourning.
Ephesians 6:10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.Both locate strength in God: the psalm names him as the speaker’s strength, and Ephesians directs believers to his might.
Job 30:28I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.Both speakers describe going about in mourning and voice their distress, one before God and the other in the assembly.
Psalm 94:14For the LORD won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.Rejection is the shared concern: Psalm 43 asks God why, while Psalm 94 declares that the LORD will not reject his people.
Isaiah 40:31but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not …Both connect strength with God; Isaiah promises renewed strength to those who wait, while the psalm speaks amid unresolved oppression.
Zechariah 10:12I will strengthen them in the LORD. They will walk up and down in his name,” says the LORD.Both identify the LORD as the source of strength, expressed as personal trust in the psalm and a promise in Zechariah.
Isaiah 45:24They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in the LORD.’” Even to him will men come. All those who raged against him will be disappointed.Both name God as the source of strength and mention hostile people, though Isaiah declares an outcome the psalm still seeks.
1 Chronicles 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands …Both speak of rejection by God, but Chronicles warns against forsaking him; the psalm gives no such explanation for its distress.
Exodus 15:2The LORD is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.Both speakers call God their strength; Exodus celebrates salvation, while Psalm 43 asks why the enemy’s oppression continues.
Philippians 4:13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.Both passages locate strength beyond the speaker: Psalm 43 names God, and Philippians names Christ as the one who strengthens.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. injustice and anger. grief.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The prayer leaves the question of rejection unanswered. If those words fit your grief, they belong in prayer: the sufferer still addresses God as his strength.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).