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Psalms 43 · Grade 5

My Savior, My Helper, and My God

Name Date

Read and Think

Psalm 43 has no title in the text. Its refrain matches Psalm 42 (Why are you in despair, my soul?), and it continues the same journey from sorrow to hope. The writer begins with a request for justice: Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men. To vindicate is to show someone is in the right. He calls God the God of my strength, yet asks, Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Instead of sinking, he asks God for guides: Oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy hill, to your tents. Light and truth are pictured like two guides walking him back to worship. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God. In the New Testament, Jesus says, I am the light of the world (John 8:12) and I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

The psalm ends with the refrain a final time: Why 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. His feelings have not fully changed, but his hope is fixed. He is sure he will praise God again.

Show What You Know

  1. What does vindicate mean?

  2. How are light and truth pictured?

  3. In the New Testament, what two things does Jesus say about himself?

  4. What three names does the writer give God at the end?

Crossword

45321

Across

  1. Let them bring me to your ____ hill.
  2. For you are the God of my ____.

Down

  1. Send out your ____ and your truth.
  2. Send out your light and your ____.
  3. Let them bring me to your holy ____.

Think About It

  1. His feelings had not fully changed, but his hope was fixed. How can you hope in God even before you feel better?

  2. Light and truth lead to God's presence. Where do you go to find God's light and truth?

Memory Verse

“Why 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.”

Psalms 43:5 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for Your light and truth. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

  • The writer felt rejected by God yet asked God to lead him. How can you keep following when God seems silent?
  • The writer pictured God as his exceeding joy. What would it look like for God to be your greatest joy?
  • What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org. © 2026 The Daily Rooted. Free to print and copy for church and home use; not for resale. Original line art.