Psalm 77:1-17

1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.

2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.

3 I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. (Selah)

4 You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.

6 I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit:

7 "Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?

8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever? Are his promises at an end for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" (Selah)

10 And I say, "It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed."

11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.

12 I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.

13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?

14 You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.

15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)

16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled.

17 The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; your arrows flashed on every side.

Psalm 77:1-17 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Gk Syr: Heb [My music]
• [b] Syr Jerome: Heb [my spirit searches]