Psalms 77:1-9

1 I 1cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 2In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in 3the night my 4hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul 5refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I 6moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so 7troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider 8the days of old, the years long ago.
6 I said,[a]"Let me remember my 9song in the night; let me 10meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 "Will the Lord 11spurn forever, and never again 12be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his 13promises at an end for all time?
9 14Has God forgotten to be gracious? 15Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" Selah

Psalms 77:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph. Jeduthun was the name of the chief musician, to whom this psalm was inscribed and sent; see 1 Chronicles 25:1, though Aben Ezra takes it to be the first word of some song, to the tune of which this was sung; and the Midrash interprets it of the subject of the psalm, which is followed by Jarchi, who explains it thus, "concerning the decrees and judgments which passed upon Israel;" that is, in the time of their present captivity, to which, as he, Kimchi, and Arama think, the whole psalm belongs. Some interpreters refer it to the affliction of the Jews in Babylon, so Theodoret; or under Ahasuerus, or Antiochus; and others to the great and last distress of the church under antichrist; though it seems to express the particular case of the psalmist, and which is common to other saints.

Cross References 15

  • 1. See Psalms 3:4
  • 2. Psalms 86:7; [Psalms 20:1; Psalms 50:15; Isaiah 26:16]
  • 3. Psalms 63:6; Isaiah 26:9
  • 4. [Psalms 143:6]
  • 5. Genesis 37:35
  • 6. Psalms 42:5, 11; Psalms 43:5
  • 7. [Genesis 41:8]
  • 8. ver. 10, 11; Psalms 44:1; Psalms 143:5; Deuteronomy 32:7; Isaiah 51:9
  • 9. See Psalms 42:8
  • 10. Psalms 4:4
  • 11. See Psalms 44:9
  • 12. Psalms 85:1
  • 13. [Romans 9:6]
  • 14. [Isaiah 49:15]
  • 15. [Habakkuk 3:2]

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.