Psalms 77:1-7

1 For the leader. For Y'dutun. A psalm of Asaf: I cry aloud to God, aloud to God; and he hears me.

2 On the day of my distress I am seeking Adonai; my hands are lifted up; my tears flow all night without ceasing; my heart refuses comfort.

3 When remembering God, I moan; when I ponder, my spirit fails. (Selah)

4 You hold my eyelids [and keep me from sleeping]; I am too troubled to speak.

5 I think about the days of old, the years of long ago;

6 in the night I remember my song, I commune with myself, my spirit inquires:

7 "Will Adonai reject forever? will he never show his favor again?

Psalms 77:1-7 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.