Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.
- KJV Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
- NKJV Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.
- NASB Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And I will praise You on the lyre, God, my God.
- NLT There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He resolves to go to God's altar, to God his exceeding joy, and praise Him. God Himself, not just His blessings, is the psalmist's supreme delight.
Overview
The climax of his hope is communion with God, described as 'my exceeding joy.' Worship with the harp will express his restored gladness. To find God as one's greatest joy is the heart of true worship and the believer's eternal portion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 61:10I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- Hab 3:17–18Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls,
- Ps 66:13–15I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—
- Ps 57:8Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
- Ps 116:12–19How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me?
- Ps 71:22–23So I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
- Ps 33:2Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to Him with ten strings.
- Ps 81:2Lift up a song, strike the tambourine, play the sweet-sounding harp and lyre.
- Ps 42:6O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon—even from Mount Mizar.
- Ps 26:6I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
- 2 Sam 6:5David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with all kinds of wood instruments, harps, stringed instruments, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
- Rom 5:11Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
- Rev 5:8When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 43:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.