Deeper Commentary
Psa 77:1
For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph-
This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (Is. 36:3) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Ps. 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (Neh. 7:44; 11:17,22). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (1 Chron. 16:4,5). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (2 Chron. 29:30). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.
My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for Him to listen
to me- This Psalm is similar to Hab. 3, which is a lament of God's
apparent inaction at the time of the Babylonian devastation of Judah, and
the context may be the same here. And there was the same sense
that God wasn't hearing prayer. Although we could read "My cry
goes to God" as a faithful belief that his words did ascend to the very
presence of God in Heaven. What he struggled with was God's apparent lack
of response.
Psa 77:2
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched
out in the night, and didn’t retract. My soul refused to be comforted-
The intention of David's Psalms were to share his experience of God's
grace and salvation with others. The idea is 'May this be true for you as
it was for me'. And this is really the basis of all our witness. It was
David who had been answered in his 'days of trouble', and set on high (Ps.
20:1). His desire was fulfilled- for this verse of the Psalm clearly was
reapplied to the "day of trouble" of the Assyrian invasion (s.w. Is. 37:3)
and also to the Babylonian traumas of the exiles (s.w. Jer. 16:19; 30:7;
Nah. 1:7; Hab. 3:16). See on Ex. 25:8.
"Troubles" is the word used of Jacob's time of trouble (Gen. 35:3; Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1). David's experience of trouble was representative of how the exiles and all God's people could ultimately follow the path of Jacob to deliverance out of exile and from his strong enemies. But in Ps. 71:20 David sees his deliverance from the day of trouble as ultimately being in the resurrection of the body, being 'brought up again from the depths of the earth'.
We have here a very close up description of a man in extreme anxiety. He stretches out his hand and can't retract it, groans (:3), feels mentally overwhelmed (:3), can't close his eyelids and can't speak out loud (:4).
Psa 77:3
I remember God, and I groan-
This is the word used of the exiles groaning and apparently getting
no relief (Is. 59:11). The Psalm may have begun with David expressing his
groaning to God (s.w. Ps. 42:11; 43:5). But the truth was that God
likewise groaned for the suffering of His people (s.w. Jer. 31:20).
I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah-
As noted above, this may have begun as a Psalm recording how David
complained (s.w. Ps. 55:17) and felt overwhelmed (s.w. Ps. 61:2; 142:3;
143:4). It becomes the basis for how Habakkuk likewise 'complained' (see
on :1) regarding the Babylonian dominance of Judah.
Psa 77:4
You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak-
In deep sickness or depression it can simply be that we find formal,
verbalized prayer impossible. Ps. 77:4 speaks of this: "I am so troubled
that I cannot speak" (formally, to God). It's in those moments that comfort
can be taken from the fact that it is our spirit which is mediated as it
were to God. Tribulation is read as prayer- hence even the Lord's suffering
on the cross, "the affliction of the afflicted", was read by the Father as
the Lord Jesus 'crying unto' the Father (Ps. 22:24). This is sure comfort to
those so beset by illness and physical pain that they lack the clarity of
mind to formally pray- their very affliction is read by the Father as their
prayer.
W
Psa 77:5
I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times-
The psalmist has realized that the exile is due to the sin of his
people, and the full enormity of it now dawns upon him (see on :4). But he
considers God's saving hand in history, and takes comfort from the fact
that God still acts for His people even when they are far from Him and
impenitent. His purpose is not ultimately thwarted by human sin.
Psa 77:6
I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my
spirit diligently inquires-
This may preface a quotation from one of his songs of the night,
which we have in :7-9. And in that song he asks the questions we too have
done at times: Will God's whole salvation project with humanity be
declared a failure because of the persistent human propensity to sin and
reject Him? Or perhaps this is the psalmist remembering at night
how he used to sing songs of Zion in the now destroyed temple. Just like
the captive harp player in Ps. 137:3.
Psa 77:7
Will the Lord reject us forever? Will He no more be gracious?-
The questions of :7-9 are perhaps rhetorical questions, intentionally
begging the answers "No!". His "song in the night" (see on :6) which we
have in :7-9 was not therefore a song of doubt, but rather of praise,
confident that God will not reject His people, and that His grace is
eternal- as the Psalms elsewhere celebrate.
Psa 77:8
Has His grace vanished forever? Does His promise fail for
generations?-
God's grace is eternal (s.w. Ps. 18:50; 52:8). His promises will not
fail (Dt. 31:6,8; 1 Kings 8:25; Ps. 89:33). The answer was "of course
not". Jeremiah finally came to accept, even in the ruins of Jerusalem,
that His purpose would not fail (Lam. 3:22). And this "song in the night"
of this psalmist is saying the same. We could render: "Will He
fail to remember His hesed and cease to speak to generation after
generation?"- an allusion to the statement of God's Name in Ex. 34, where
He promises to remember His grace for generations of those who fear Him.
But of course the psalmist is rather forgetting the conditionality of
those promises: "keeping hesed for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the
guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the
children's' children" (Ex. 34:6,7). The psalmist appears to have made the
classic mistake of focusing upon a phrase from the Bible, whilst ignoring
the context. And moreover, his reading of Ex. 34:6,7 is his reading of God
Himself; for that is the specific explanation by God of what He Himself
essentially is and stands for. See on :9.
Psa 77:9
Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He, in anger, withheld His
compassion? Selah-
As explained on :6, the questions of :7-9 were not doubts, but rather
rhetorical questions which were answered with a resounding "No!" each
time. The connection with Hab. 3 (see on :1) is in the conclusion that in
anger God remembers mercy (Hab. 3:2). The terms gracious, anger
and compassion all refer to God's statement of His Name to Moses in Ex.
34. See on :8. But again the Psalmist is misrepresenting those statements
about God's character; for there it is revealed that He is "slow to
anger". Whereas the psalmist seems to elevate God's anger to the point
that he feels it has obscured the grace which is in God's character; he
makes anger God's dominant characteristic. Whereas God reveals that His
love and grace are His first and dominant characteristic. We think of the
contrast between the year of God's gracious acceptance, and the
day of vengeance of our God in Is. 61, and how the Lord when
quoting this about Himself, stopped His quotation short and omitted the
reference to the day of vengeance. So we have here a fundamental
misreading of God at this point by the psalmist. But the allusions to Ex.
34 are clear enough to lead the spiritually minded reader to immediately
realize that. And the psalmist does 'get it', because from now on, the
tone of the Psalm changes. He confesses his "infirmity", and recalls how
God has come through for His sinful people in the past. Whether or not He
does so for me in my immediate situation is one issue; but that apparent
silence doesn't in any way change who God essentially is. It could be said
that he moves on from the question of 'Where is God?' to that of 'Who is
God?'. And rightly concludes that by nature, God is not there to just dish
out instant relief packages. He has a more profound and long term nature,
geared towards our eternal salvation.
Psa 77:10
Then I thought, I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the
Most High-
AV "This is my infirmity", as if recognizing he in fact is
the one in the wrong; or in the spirit of Jeremiah in the same context,
"This is my grief and I must bear it" (Jer. 10:19). GNB "Then I said,
"What hurts me most is this— that God is no longer powerful". Or the
psalmist could be reflecting that God's eternity surely implies He wants
to be in relationship throughout that eternity, and not alone. And
therefore surely there is hope for Israel's return to relationship with
Him. The Hebrew is difficult, but the sense seems to be that the appeal or
prayer of the psalmist will result in as the LXX puts it "the change of
the right hand of the Most High". God is open to change, He is highly
responsive to human prayer and repentance; and that was exactly what was
needed to bring about the restoration of Judah.
Psa 77:11
I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember Your wonders of
old-
Psa 77:12
I will also meditate on all Your work, and consider Your doings-
As in Ps. 143:5, the Divine work and doings being considered are His
historical grace to His people. For all His work for Israel was by grace,
seeing that for the most part they didn't strongly believe in Him and were
unfaithful to His covenant; and yet He had still worked for them so
mightily, towards their salvation.
Psa 77:13
Your way, God, is in the sanctuary-
This is the same phrase as in Is. 35:8 "The way of holiness", the
path back to Zion which God would create for those who wanted to travel
it. So "in" could as well be "to". He remembers that the way
to God's Kingdom is always open. Or we may have here something similar to
Ps. 73:17, where the Psalmist finds understanding by going into the
sanctuary, and seeing the brass plates on the altar as the reminder that
God will judge sinners. And that makes sense of all present suffering and
intellectual struggles.
What god is great like God?-
The uniqueness of Yahweh, in the context, is that He continues to
work for His sinful people by grace, doing great things for them; whereas
pagan gods were thought to disown their people for any disloyalty.
Psa 77:14
You are the God who does wonders-
The "wonders" may be the miracles associated with the Exodus.
Or the point may simply be that whatever God does, in judgment or
salvation, is wonderful. The wonders in the context are God's desire to continue working with
His people even when they are grossly disloyal to Him. It is the wonder of
His grace which is in view, and not just His material miracles.
You have made Your strength known among the peoples-
God's strength was declared at the exodus (s.w. Ex. 15:2,13) and the
surrounding nations knew this, as witnessed by Rahab's words to the spies.
The redemption from Babylon was intended to have the same effect,
resulting in the surrounding nations 'knowing' Yahweh as their God. But
this didn't happen, for Judah didn't repent, most of them remained in
Babylon and refused their great redemption, and continued worshipping the
local gods.
Psa 77:15
You have redeemed Your people with Your arm, the sons of Jacob and
Joseph. Selah-
This reference to both Judah and the ten tribes, "Ephraim and Manasseh", reflects the prophetic intention for the regathering of both kingdoms from captivity. Tragically, the ten tribes didn't respond, and most of Judah preferred Babylon to Zion. God's "arm" redeemed them all from Egypt, despite their worshipping of idols and carrying of the tabernacle of their idols through the desert. And that arm was potentially outstretched to redeem them from Babylon. "Redemption" is a major theme of the prophecies of the restoration in later Isaiah. The specific reference is to Ex. 6:16 where God promises Israel in Egypt "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm" (s.w.). Perhaps the Psalmist is feeling that just as Israel were 430 years in Egypt, so the exiles had been 70 years in Babylon. But just as Yahweh had redeemed them with His arm from Egypt, so therefore He would do from Babylon. And second Isaiah is full of allusions to the Exodus, and to God's assurance that He has now "redeemed" the exiles. So the apparent silence of God is met by the recollection that such periods had happened before- and God always broke His silence.
Psa 77:16
The waters saw You, God, the waters saw You, and they writhed, the
depths also convulsed-
The miraculous redemption of Israel from Egypt could have been the
prototype for the restoration of the exiles from Babylon. This point is
frequently made in later Isaiah. But the restoration wasn't accompanied by
such miracles; because most of Judah didn't want to participate, and
remained in Babylon. This is a frequent tragedy in God's dealing with us
all; such huge Divine potentials are wasted by human indifference and
shortsightedness. The waters of the Red Sea are spoken of as living
entities, because those "waters" are intended to be understood as
representing the nations who would have fled before God's saving purpose
of restoring His people to their land.
It is also possible to understand the apparent "living" nature of the waters because there is an "Angel of the waters" (Rev. 16:5). That a specific Angel controls “the waters” in an area is also implied by the way flood waters are described as praising God (Ps. 42:8; 148:7), water trembling at God’s presence (Ps. 77:17; Hab. 3:10), and the deep waters mourning (Ez. 31:15). These figures of speech may in fact be based upon the real existence of a personal “Angel of the waters”.
Psa 77:17
The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder,
Your arrows also flashed around-
This continues the description of what happened at the Red Sea,
although the historical record doesn't much mention the thunder, lightning
and theophany which was experienced, according to this and other later
descriptions of what happened (e.g. Ps. 77:17,18; 97:4). The clouds
pouring out water also recalls the flood; as if the judgment upon Egypt
would likewise be seen upon Babylon. But Babylon fell only very slowly,
and not in the dramatic, miraculous way envisaged in the prophecies of the
fall of Babylon. This was again because the Divine potential wasn't
realized because the exiles didn't repent and most actually chose to
remain in Babylon.
Psa 77:18
The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightnings lit
up the world, the earth trembled and shook-
The driving back of the Red Sea, and its return, is explained in
Exodus by a "wind" (Ex. 14:21). But here we find that the wind was in fact
a whirlwind, associated with an earthquake and lightnings- all language of
a theophany.
Psa 77:19
Your way was through the sea, Your paths through the great waters;
Your footsteps were not known-
The Red Sea flowed back after God's people passed over,
leaving no visible trace of God’s march. Which is reason enough to doubt
claims of Egyptian chariot wheels being unearthed near the Red Sea. Faith
isn't based upon sight (Heb. 11:1,2). But the fact is, Israel didn't
remain in Egypt. Just as there is no visible remnant of the cross. But the
effects of the Lord's death are evident. And so the psalmist comforts
himself that he isn't going to be able to understand everything about
God's work, because His footsteps can't be seen. But the saving effect of
His work is.
The allusion is to the way that there are no footsteps seen in water. God's ways are known by their effect, but the process is often not discernible. "Footsteps" is literally "heels"; the reference is to Gen. 3:15. The seed of the serpent was being trodden underfoot in primary fulfilment of that prophecy. It was Israel who walked through the great waters, but the waters returned and there was no trace of their passage. This speaks of the apparent mystery of God's ways; Jn. 3:8 may even allude here.
Psa 77:20
You led Your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron-
The flock of Israel were led by the hand of an Angel, but that Angel
articulated its activity through men. And it is the same today. God's hand
is manifest through our hand. As explained earlier on this Psalm, God's
wonders of old were in that He had worked with an impenitent and apostate
people, towards their salvation. This is the wonder of His history with
men, and it is this history which is developed in Ps. 78. I suggest that
again we have a pairing of the Psalms, here of Psalms 77 and 78. The
salvation history outlined in Ps. 78 is a development of this theme of Ps.
77. Hence Ps. 77:20 ends with Israel being "led" as a flock, and Ps. 78
continues this theme (Ps. 78:14,53 s.w.).
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