Psalms 43:3
in Psalms 43Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain, and to the place where You dwell.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me: Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, And to thy tabernacles.
KJV
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
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This verse in Psalms 43
Commentary
4 notes on this verseO send out thy light and thy truth,.... By light is meant, not the law, as Arama; but rather, as some Jewish (p) interpreters understand it, the Messiah, the sun of righteousness, and light of the world; who is the author of all light, natural, spiritual, and eternal; and whose coming into the world is often signified by being sent into it. The Spirit of God also is the enlightener of men, both at first conversion and afterwards, and is sent down into their hearts as a comforter of them, by being the Spirit of adoption.
This site's exposition
plead my case against
on Psalms 43:1-4
The psalm opens in court language: Vindicate me, O God, plead my case against an ungodly nation. Light and truth are asked as guides to the holy mountain, and to the place where God dwells. The altar and the harp stand at the end.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Send out - That is, actually discover them. Truth - Thy favour, or the light of thy countenance, and the truth of thy promises made to me; or the true-light, the illumination of thy spirit, and the direction of thy gracious providence, whereby I may be led in the right way, to thy holy hill. Hill - Of Zion, the place of God's presence and worship.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
O send out thy light and thy truth. The joy of thy presence and the faithfulness of thy heart; let both of these be manifest to me. Reveal my true character by thy light, and reward me according to thy truthful promise.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Send Your light and Your truth The King Messiah, who is compared to light, as it is stated (below:17): “I have set up a lamp for my anointed,” and Elijah the prophet, who is true, a faithful prophet.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
to the God To the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the joy of my exultation.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁלַח־ | shelach- | send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אוֹרְךָ֣ | ʾorkha | light your | H216 → | 121 times |
| וַ֭אֲמִתְּךָ | vaamitekha | and truth your | H571 → | 127 times |
| הֵ֣מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| יַנְח֑וּנִי | yanchuni | may they lead me | H5148 → | 39 times |
| יְבִיא֥וּנִי | yeviuni | may they bring me | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַֽר־ | har- | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗ | kodshecha | holiness your | H6944 → | 469 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶֽיךָ׃ | mishkenoteikha | dwelling place<s> your | H4908 → | 139 times |
שְׁלַח־send
shelach-H7971 →845 times
אוֹרְךָ֣light your
ʾorkhaH216 →121 times
וַ֭אֲמִתְּךָand truth your
vaamitekhaH571 →127 times
הֵ֣מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
יַנְח֑וּנִיmay they lead me
yanchuniH5148 →39 times
יְבִיא֥וּנִיmay they bring me
yeviuniH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַֽר־[the] mountain of
har-H2022 →546 times
קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗holiness your
kodshechaH6944 →469 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶֽיךָ׃dwelling place<s> your
mishkenoteikhaH4908 →139 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 1:4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
it leads to
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 5:26
For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.
- 1 John 1:5–7
And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
- John 9:5
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
- John 8:12
Through
Psalms 143:10Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
it leads to
- Psalms 25:4–5
Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths.
- John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
- Psalms 25:4–5
Through
Psalms 36:9For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.
it leads to
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
- John 4:14
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.