Psalms 77

1 To the victory on Jeduthun, the psalm of Asaph. (To victory, to Jeduthun, the song of Asaph.) With my voice I cried to the Lord, with my voice to God; and he gave attention to me.

2 In the day of my tribulation I sought God with mine hands; in the night before him/in the night toward him, and I am not deceived. My soul forsook to be comforted; (In the day of my trouble I sought out God; all night long, I raised up my hands before him/I raised up my hands toward him. But my soul forsook to be comforted;)

3 I was mindful of God, and I delighted, and I was exercised; and my spirit failed. (I remembered God, and I was troubled, and I was upset; and my spirit failed.)

4 Mine eyes before took wakings; I was troubled, and I spake not. (My eyes opened in the morning; I was troubled, and I did not speak.)

5 I thought eld days; and I had in mind everlasting years. (I thought about the old days; I remembered the years long ago.)

6 And I thought (deeply) in the night with mine heart; and I was exercised (and I was upset), and I cleansed my spirit.

7 Whether God shall cast away [into] without end; either shall he not lay to, that he be more pleased yet? (Shall God throw us away, or reject us, forever? shall he never be pleased with us again?)

8 Either shall he cut away his mercy into the end; from generation into generation? (Or hath he taken away his love from us forever; yea, for all generations?)

9 Either shall God forget to do mercy; either shall he withhold his mercies in his ire? (Or shall God forget to do mercy to us? or in his anger, shall he withhold his constant love from us?)

10 And I said, Now I began; this is the changing of the right hand of the high God. (And I said, Indeed; hath the right hand of the Most High God now lost its power?)

11 I had mind on the works of the Lord; for I shall have mind from the beginning of thy marvels. (But I remembered the works of the Lord; I shall always remember thy marvellous deeds done in the beginning.)

12 And I shall think on all thy works; and I shall be exercised, either occupied, in thy findings. (And I shall think about all thy works; and about all thy deeds.)

13 God, thy way was in the holy (place); what God is great as our God? (God, thy way is in the holy place, or in the sanctuary/God, thy way is holy; and what god is as great as our God?)

14 thou art God, that doest marvels. Thou madest thy virtue known among peoples; (thou art God, who doest marvellous deeds. Thou madest thy strength known among the nations;)

15 thou again-boughtest in thine arm thy people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph. (with thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph.)

16 God, waters saw thee, waters saw thee, and dreaded; and depths of waters were troubled. (God, the waters saw thee, the waters saw thee, and were afraid; and the depths of the waters were troubled.)

17 The multitude of the sound of waters; clouds gave voice. For why thine arrows pass [through]; (The clouds gave forth water, or the rain; the heavens sent out a multitude of sounds. Thy arrows passed through them;)

18 the voice of thy thunder was in a wheel. Thy lightnings shined to the world; the earth was moved, and trembled. (the sound of thy thunder was in the whirlwind. Thy lightnings shone upon the world; the earth was shaken, and trembled.)

19 Thy way in the sea, and thy paths in many waters; and thy steps shall not be known.

20 Thou leddest forth thy people as sheep; in the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Thou leddest forth thy people like sheep; by the guidance of Moses and Aaron.)

Psalms 77 Commentary

Chapter 77

The psalmist's troubles and temptation. (1-10) He encourages himself by the remembrance of God's help of his people. (11-20)

Verses 1-10 Days of trouble must be days of prayer; when God seems to have withdrawn from us, we must seek him till we find him. In the day of his trouble the psalmist did not seek for the diversion of business or amusement, but he sought God, and his favor and grace. Those that are under trouble of mind, must pray it away. He pored upon the trouble; the methods that should have relieved him did but increase his grief. When he remembered God, it was only the Divine justice and wrath. His spirit was overwhelmed, and sank under the load. But let not the remembrance of the comforts we have lost, make us unthankful for those that are left. Particularly he called to remembrance the comforts with which he supported himself in former sorrows. Here is the language of a sorrowful, deserted soul, walking in darkness; a common case even among those that fear the Lord, ( Isaiah 50:10 ) . Nothing wounds and pierces like the thought of God's being angry. God's own people, in a cloudy and dark day, may be tempted to make wrong conclusions about their spiritual state, and that of God's kingdom in the world. But we must not give way to such fears. Let faith answer them from the Scripture. The troubled fountain will work itself clear again; and the recollection of former times of joyful experience often raises a hope, tending to relief. Doubts and fears proceed from the want and weakness of faith. Despondency and distrust under affliction, are too often the infirmities of believers, and, as such, are to be thought upon by us with sorrow and shame. When, unbelief is working in us, we must thus suppress its risings.

Verses 11-20 The remembrance of the works of God, will be a powerful remedy against distrust of his promise and goodness; for he is God, and changes not. God's way is in the sanctuary. We are sure that God is holy in all his works. God's ways are like the deep waters, which cannot be fathomed; like the way of a ship, which cannot be tracked. God brought Israel out of Egypt. This was typical of the great redemption to be wrought out in the fulness of time, both by price and power. If we have harboured doubtful thoughts, we should, without delay, turn our minds to meditate on that God, who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, that with him, he might freely give us all things.

Chapter Summary

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.