When a person who loves the Lord is away from the “place where His honor dwells,” there is a spiritual loneliness even though people may surround one. That seemed to be how the psalmist felt when he wrote this psalm, which is like a continuation of the previous one regarding content. This psalm can also be looked at as a prophetic psalm describing the remnant Jews in the future praying for deliverance from the deceitful and unjust antichrist. He will favor them for three and a half years to the extent that some will think he is Christ. Then, he will show himself as a master deceiver who will hunt them down and try to eliminate the Jews once and for all.
The desire for “Light” and “Truth” is a desire for the One who is “The Light of the world” and “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” – our Lord Jesus Christ to return to Jerusalem. The prayer of the remnant will be answered. Israel will have a new heart toward the Lord. They will have a new appreciation for God in their spirit, return to God's word as their law, and dwell in the land of promise.
The writer of the psalm begins with another prayer for restoration. He makes an urgent appeal for help and vindication because of the opposition of his enemies. In his despair, he presents his case before God like he would before a judge in the form of two requests. The first is freedom from persecution. Those who were deceitful and unjust were a serious problem to him. The second request was his desire to go to the house of
God. It was a positive and specific prayer for a return to Zion with light and truth to guide him and goodness and mercy to follow him.
He used four specific descriptions when speaking of the dwelling place of God. First, he wanted to go to the “holy hill.” That is a description of the place where God meets with His people. We should never forget that those in the place where our Lord has placed His name are in a holy place. Gathering the Lord’s people to Himself is not a casual meeting but is essential to God and us. He expects us to be holy because He is holy. At the “holy hill,” we get a far view of the future and the past. That makes us cognizant of the importance of the present.
The second description of the place the psalmist wanted to go was “to Thy dwelling place.” When a child of God is consciously aware that he or she is a member of God’s family, that person wants to be where God lives. He does not dwell in “temples made with hands.” He is omnipresent, and we should always act with the knowledge that I am in His presence in the family sense. I may not be physically sitting at His table at the moment, but I am there as a family member; where God dwells is where I dwell.
The third place the psalmist wrote about was going to “the altar of God.” The altar is where our hearts are open to express our worship and thanksgiving, and where we confess sin and show grateful appreciation for our Lord. He was sacrificed for us. He suffered to bring us to God. That is the fourth place he wanted to be: in the presence of God. He wanted to go to God Himself, who was his “exceeding joy.”
Light and truth were the two forces that he wanted to lead him. At the altar of God, he would be accepted. They would guide him back to God and the place he should be. Then God would be his “exceeding joy.” To have expectant confidence in what God will do is not inconsistent with honest emotion when our hearts are grieved by what happens around us. We look to God in hope. Circumstances often bring despair. Faith and hope in God lead us to confidence and joy. When we seem surrounded by darkness and uncertainty, we turn to God and follow His light and truth in faith. In that way, He guides us, and we lift our hearts and voices to Him in praise for the answers to our prayers that He will yet give.