Psalms 77

1 To the Overseer, for Jeduthun. -- A Psalm of Asaph. My voice [is] to God, and I cry, my voice [is] to God, And He hath given ear unto me.

2 In a day of my distress the Lord I sought, My hand by night hath been spread out, And it doth not cease, My soul hath refused to be comforted.

3 I remember God, and make a noise, I meditate, and feeble is my spirit. Selah.

4 Thou hast taken hold of the watches of mine eyes, I have been moved, and I speak not.

5 I have reckoned the days of old, The years of the ages.

6 I remember my music in the night, With my heart I meditate, and my spirit doth search diligently:

7 To the ages doth the Lord cast off? Doth He add to be pleased no more?

8 Hath His kindness ceased for ever? The saying failed to all generations?

9 Hath God forgotten [His] favours? Hath He shut up in anger His mercies? Selah.

10 And I say: `My weakness is, The changes of the right hand of the Most High.'

11 I mention the doings of Jah, For I remember of old Thy wonders,

12 And I have meditated on all Thy working, And I talk concerning Thy doings.

13 O God, in holiness [is] Thy way, Who [is] a great god like God?

14 Thou [art] the God doing wonders. Thou hast made known among the peoples Thy strength,

15 Thou hast redeemed with strength Thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

16 The waters have seen Thee, O God, The waters have seen Thee, They are afraid -- also depths are troubled.

17 Poured out waters have thick clouds, The skies have given forth a noise, Also -- Thine arrows go up and down.

18 The voice of Thy thunder [is] in the spheres, Lightnings have lightened the world, The earth hath trembled, yea, it shaketh.

19 In the sea [is] Thy way, And Thy paths [are] in many waters, And Thy tracks have not been known.

20 Thou hast led as a flock Thy people, By the hand 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Verses 1-10 Days of trouble must be days of prayer; when God seems to have withdrawn from us, we must seek him till we find him.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.