What does Psalm 43:1 mean?

Because Psalm 43 shares themes—even some exact phrases—with Psalm 42, scholars believe they may have originally been a single work. This segment starts with an appeal for God to deliver righteous justice, in the face of sinful oppression. In an Old Testament context, use of the phrase "ungodly people" suggests Gentiles. Some commentators believe the psalmist was an exile in Babylon; others believe he was an exile in the northern region of the Jordan. Psalm 42:6 weighs heavily in favor of the latter view, because the psalmist says, "I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon."

Whatever his location, the writer longs to return to Jerusalem and asks the Lord to "vindicate" him. The psalmist's situation and plea for vindication may foreshadow righteous Jews in the tribulation. They will be persecuted by unrighteous Gentiles, who are led by an ungodly and unjust man who poses as Israel's messiah. He is portrayed in 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 as "the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God."