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Psalm 43:4
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.
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.
5Why 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.
Notice
The harp belongs to a hoped-for return to God’s altar, so the promise of praise rises from a prayer still marked by mourning.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about the word “Then” after the plea for God’s light and truth?
Write on thisWhat would it mean for you to name God himself as your exceeding joy?
Write on thisWhat praise could you offer God while leaving room for sorrow that remains?
Write on thisConnect
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 37:4Also delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.Both passages locate delight in God himself: one urges delight in the LORD, and the other names God as exceeding joy.
Isaiah 61:10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of …Both speakers declare joy in God; Isaiah names salvation and righteousness as reasons for rejoicing.
Habakkuk 3:17–18For even though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from …The shared thread is distress: Habakkuk describes failed crops and absent livestock, while the psalm looks toward praise amid mourning.
Psalm 91:2I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”Both speakers address God as their own God, expressing trust in one passage and the promise of praise in the other.
Psalm 66:13–15I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,Both speakers intend to approach God in worship, naming the altar in one passage and the temple with offerings in the other.
Psalm 4:7You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.Both connect joy with God: Psalm 4 credits him with inward gladness, while Psalm 43 names him as exceeding joy.
Jude 1:24Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,Both passages connect approaching God with joy, whether at his altar or before the presence of his glory.
Revelation 5:8Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full …Harps appear in both scenes of worship: the psalm promises praise to God, and Revelation describes worship before the Lamb.
2 Samuel 6:5David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD with all kinds of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, with stringed instruments, with …Both passages name harps in worship, with the psalm’s promised praise echoed by David and Israel playing before the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:8Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”The link is grief: Hannah weeps, and the psalm’s surrounding lines describe mourning before this hope of praise.
Romans 5:11Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.Both speak of joy in God; Romans names Jesus Christ as the one through whom reconciliation has been received.
Joel 1:16Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?Both link joy with God’s place of worship: the psalm anticipates approaching his altar, while Joel laments gladness lost from his house.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. waiting. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The next line still speaks of despair, so praise here does not erase sorrow. You need no pretense of cheer: God himself is the joy sought at the altar.
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).