1 {To the chief Musician. On Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.} My voice is unto God, and I will cry; my voice is unto God, and he will give ear unto me.
2 In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; my soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and I moaned; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
4 Thou holdest open mine eyelids; I am full of disquiet and cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, the years of ancient times.
6 I remember my song in the night; I muse in mine own heart, and my spirit maketh diligent search.
7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
8 Hath his loving-kindness ceased for ever? hath [his] word come to an end from generation to generation?
9 Hath ùGod forgotten to be gracious? or hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
10 Then said I, This is my weakness: -- the years of the right hand of the Most High
11 Will I remember, -- the works of Jah; for I will remember thy wonders of old,
12 And I will meditate upon all thy work, and muse upon thy doings.
13 O God, thy way is in the sanctuary: who is so great a ùgod as God?
14 Thou art the ùGod that doest wonders; thou hast declared thy strength among the peoples.
15 Thou hast with [thine] arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they trembled, yea, the depths were troubled:
17 The thick clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound, yea, thine arrows went abroad:
18 The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind, lightnings lit up the world; the earth was troubled and it quaked.
19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths are in the great waters; and thy footsteps are not known.
20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 77
Commentary on Psalms 77 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 77
Ps 77:1-20. To Jeduthun—(See on Ps 39:1, title). In a time of great affliction, when ready to despair, the Psalmist derives relief from calling to mind God's former and wonderful works of delivering power and grace.
1. expresses the purport of the Psalm.
2. his importunacy.
my sore ran … night—literally, "my hand was spread," or, "stretched out" (compare Ps 44:20).
ceased not—literally, "grew not numb," or, "feeble" (Ge 45:26; Ps 38:8).
my soul … comforted—(compare Ge 37:35; Jer 31:15).
3-9. His sad state contrasted with former joys.
was troubled—literally, "violently agitated," or disquieted (Ps 39:6; 41:5).
my spirit was overwhelmed—or, "fainted" (Ps 107:5; Jon 2:7).
4. holdest … waking—or, "fast," that I cannot sleep. Thus he is led to express his anxious feelings in several earnest questions indicative of impatient sorrow.
10. Omitting the supplied words, we may read, "This is my affliction—the years of," &c., "years" being taken as parallel to affliction (compare Ps 90:15), as of God's ordering.
11, 12. He finds relief in contrasting God's former deliverances. Shall we receive good at His hands, and not evil? Both are orderings of unerring mercy and unfailing love.
13. Thy way … in the sanctuary—God's ways of grace and providence (Ps 22:3; 67:2), ordered on holy principles, as developed in His worship; or implied in His perfections, if "holiness" be used for "sanctuary," as some prefer translating (compare Ex 15:11).
14-20. Illustrations of God's power in His special interventions for His people (Ex 14:1-31), and, in the more common, but sublime, control of nature (Ps 22:11-14; Hab 3:14) which may have attended those miraculous events (Ex 14:24).
15. Jacob and Joseph—representing all.
19. waters … , footsteps—may refer to His actual leading the people through the sea, though also expressing the mysteries of providence.