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!
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
- Hab 3:17–18For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
- Ps 66:13–15I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,
- Ps 57:8Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn.
- Ps 116:12–19What will I give to Yahweh for all his benefits toward me?
- Ps 71:22–23I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, my God. I sing praises to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel.
- Ps 33:2Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings.
- Ps 81:2Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp.
- Ps 42:6My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
- Ps 26:6I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh;
- 2 Sam 6:5David and all the house of Israel played before Yahweh with all kinds of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, with stringed instruments, with tambourines, with castanets, and with cymbals.
- Rom 5:11Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
- Rev 5:8Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and 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
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