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.

Then will I go unto the altar of God, Unto God my exceeding joy; And upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.

And I will go in to the altar of God : to God who giveth joy to my youth.

Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto the God of the gladness of my joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy: yes, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

And I go in unto the altar of God, Unto God, the joy of my rejoicing. And I thank Thee with a harp, O God, my God.

Then I will go up to the altar of God, to the God of my joy; I will be glad and give praise to you on an instrument of music, O God, my God.

And I will go to the altar of God. Here he promises to God a solemn sacrifice, in commemoration of the deliverance which he should obtain from him; for he speaks not only of the daily or ordinary service, but in making mention of the altar on which it was customary to offer the peace-offerings, he expresses the token of gratitude and thanksgiving of which I have spoken. For this reason, also, he calls God the God of his joy, because, being delivered from sorrow, and restored to a state of joy, he resolves to acknowledge openly so great a benefit. And he calls him the joy of his rejoicing, that he may the more illustriously set forth the grace of his deliverance. The second word in the genitive is added by way of an epithet, and by it he signifies that his heart had been filled with joy of no common kind, when God restored him, contrary to the expectation of all. As to the fifth verse, I have already treated of it sufficiently in the preceding psalm, and therefore deem it superfluous to speak of it here.

Then will I go unto the altar of God - The altar on Mount Zion, where sacrifices were offered: 2-Samuel 6:17. The meaning is, that he would again unite with others in the public and customary worship of God. Compare the notes at Psalm 42:4.
Unto God - Into the immediate presence of God; the place where he was worshipped.
My exceeding joy - Margin, the gladness of my joy. The Septuagint renders this, "who makes my youth joyous:" or, "the joy of my youth," (Thompson) The Hebrew is, the gladness of my joy; meaning, that God was the source of his joy, so that he found all his happiness in Him.
Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee - Compare the notes at Psalm 33:2-3. Instruments of music were commonly used in the worship of God, and David is represented as excelling in the music of the harp. Compare 1-Samuel 16:16-23.
O God, my God - It was not merely God as such that he desired to worship, or to whom he now appealed, but God as his God, the God to whom he had devoted himself, and whom he regarded as his God even in affliction and trouble. Compare the notes at Psalm 22:1.

Then will I go unto the altar - When thy light - a favorable turn on our affairs, leads us to the land of our fathers, and thy truth - the fulfillment of thy gracious promises, has placed us again at the door of thy tabernacles, then will we go to thy altar and joyfully offer those sacrifices and offerings which thy law requires, and rejoice in thee with exceeding great joy.

Then (d) 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.
(d) He promises to offer a solemn sacrifice of thanksgiving in token of his great deliverance.

Then will I go unto the altar of God,.... Which was in the tabernacle, either of burnt offerings, or of incense, there to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for mercies received. The altar under the Gospel dispensation is Christ, on which such sacrifices being offered, are acceptable to God, Hebrews 13:10;
unto God my exceeding joy; as over the mercy seat, upon a throne of grace, and as his covenant God; or this is exegetical of the altar, which is Christ, God over all, blessed for ever; and who is the object of the unspeakable joy of his people, in his person, righteousness, and salvation;
yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God: the harp is a musical instrument, used in that part of public worship which concerned the praise of God under the former dispensation, and was typical of that spiritual melody made in the hearts of God's people when they sing his praise, see Revelation 5:8.

the altar--as the chief place of worship. The mention of the harp suggests the prominence of praise in his offering.

The poet, in anticipation, revels in the thought of that which he has prayed for, and calls upon his timorous soul to hope confidently for it. The cohortatives in Psalm 43:4 are, as in Ps 39:14 and frequently, an apodosis to the petition. The poet knows no joy like that which proceeds from God, and the joy which proceeds from Him he accounts as the very highest; hence he calls God אל שׂמחת גּילי, and therefore he knows no higher aim for his longing than again to be where the fountainhead of this exultant joy is (Hosea 9:5), and where it flows forth in streams (Psalm 36:9). Removed back thither, he will give thanks to Him with the cithern (Beth instrum.). He calls Him אלהים אלהי, an expression which, in the Elohim-Psalm, is equivalent to יהוה אלהי in the Jahve-Psalm. The hope expressed in Psalm 43:4 casts its rays into the prayer in Psalm 43:3. In Psalm 43:5, the spirit having taken courage in God, holds this picture drawn by hope before the distressed soul, that she may therewith comfort herself. Instead of wthmy, Psalm 42:6, the expression here used, as in Ps 42:12, is וּמה־תּהמי. Variations like these are not opposed to a unity of authorship.