Duck in the Pulpit

Vindicate Me–Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people.

Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted the Lord without wavering.

Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.

Save me from those who are deceitful and unjust, deliver me!

The words of their mouth are trouble and deceit. They have ceased to act wisely and do good.

For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.

Those who seek my life lay their snares. Those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.

You destroy those who speak lies. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me!

Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to Your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!

For You are the God in whom I take refuge. Why have You cast me off, rejected me?

O God, why do You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

O Lord, why do You cast my soul away? Why do You hide your face from me?

Why must I walk about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother, as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.

I say to God, my rock: “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

You take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for You are my refuge.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped.

My heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.

By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life. I love you, O Lord, my strength.

O send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy hill Zion and to Your dwelling.

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!

On the holy mount stands the city He founded.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain!  

O Lord, who shall sojourn in Your tent? Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

He will send from heaven and save me. He will put to shame him who tramples on me.

God will send out His steadfast love and His faithfulness!

Therefore, we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all day long.

For Your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in Your faithfulness.

I have not hidden Your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness from the great congregation.

As for You, O Lord, You will not restrain Your mercy from me; Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness will ever preserve me!

I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill.  

For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise You with the lyre, O God, my God.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings!

I will also praise You with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

For You make them most blessed forever; You make them glad with the joy of Your presence.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my help and my God.

My soul is cast down within me; therefore, I remember You from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.