Psalm 43

Vindication and Deliverance through the Resurrection

    John G. Patton was a missionary who lived in the 19th century and worked in the South Seas. He decided he was going to preach to the cannibals on the New Hebrides Islands. As he was preparing to leave his home church in Scotland, a church member lamented: “The cannibals, the cannibals! You will be eaten by the cannibals!”

    Without hesitating, Patton answered: “I confess to you that if I can live and die serving my Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; for in that Great Day of Resurrection, my body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer!”

    Does the resurrection make a difference to you? Does it make a difference to you that Jesus rose from the dead? Is it important to you? Do you live your life, through the lens of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and your own future resurrection?

    Over the next three days, I want us to consider a psalm, Psalm 43, and look at the thoughts of this psalm through the lens of the resurrection of Christ. We do not know who the author of this psalm is.  Let’s study together…

STANZA ONE - A PRAYER FOR VINDICATION AND DELIVERANCE - 43:1-2:

    The text: “Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! 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?”

    We notice first that the author is dealing with persecution from an “ungodly nation” whom he also identifies as “deceitful and just.” In verse 2, the author refers to these individuals as the “enemy.”

    It has almost never been easy to live a faithful life to God in this world. The pressure to conform to the world is probably not any stronger in 21st century America than it was in the 10th century before Christ. We live in a society today that can be unjust and might get even more unjust.

    So the author calls on God to “vindicate” him. “Vindicate” means to “clear someone of blame or suspicion” or “to show or prove to be right.” So the author is calling on God to prove to his enemies, this ungodly nation, that his faith in God is right! That his chosen lifestyle, as it follows the Law of Moses, is the right lifestyle.

    At the same time, he calls on God to deliver him from this wickedness. Deliverance. Freedom.

    The author is able to call on God, and expect God to answer him, because of who God is. Notice verse 2 - “You are the God of my strength.” It seems the power and influence of the wicked, ungodly nation was overwhelming the author. Because God is his source of strength, he expects vindication and deliverance. Yet, he is having doubts, doubts that are stimulated by the enemy. Where is God, when it hurts?

    Do you ever feel the loneliness that is reflected in these two verses? Do you have feel like crying out to be proven right as this author does here? Do you see the resurrection of Christ in this text?

    When are Christians vindicated? The grounds of our vindication is the resurrection of Christ. We live our lives as we do because we are convinced that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. That’s why we have the faith we do. That’s why we hope as we do. Yes, it’s because of the resurrection that we are persecuted and slandered and mocked, sometimes. But what else can you do with the empty tomb? And it’s because of that empty tomb that we know, one day, our faith will be vindicated. When we rise from the dead to receive eternal life and the scoffers rise from the dead to receive eternal destruction, our faith will be vindicated. We will be proven true at the resurrection.

    Yes, God is our strength! The resurrection of Christ gives strength to our faith. It provides vindication and deliverance.

    --Paul Holland