Psalms 77
FBMeyerPsalms 77:1-10
“ Doth His Promise Fail?” Psalms 77:1-10 There is a strong resemblance between this psalm and Habakkuk 3:1-19. It may be divided at the Selahs. The psalmist’ s anguish, Psalms 77:1-3. It is well to give expression to grief. Do not lock it in your breast. Even in the thick darkness reach out your hands toward God. Your finger-tips will find themselves touched by the divine response. Refuse to be comforted by Christian work, or by the diversions of society and business, or by the exercise of a strong will. Open the wound to God; He will heal it and wipe away your tears. The contrast between past and present, Psalms 77:4-9. In the scarcity of his comfort, David was glad to live on his old stores, as are bees in winter. He specially recalled his song in the night, which is probably the equivalent of that glorying in tribulation of which the New Testament is full. Let us answer those questions of the psalmist: Will the Lord cast off? No; Romans 11:1. Will He be favorable? Yes; Lamentations 3:32. Is His mercy clean gone? No; Psalms 103:17. Doth his promise fail? No; Hebrews 6:18. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? No; Exodus 34:6. Hath He shut up his mercies? No; Lamentations 3:22-23. He is Jehovah, and changes not.
The waters saw thee This Psalm is still ascribed to Asaph, but it is after the manner of Jeduthun (inscription, R.V.). There are resemblances to it in Habakkuk 3:8-15, so it was probably composed before the end of Josiah’s reign in which Habakkuk lived. The carrying away of the ten tribes and the imminent captivity of Judah may have furnished the occasion of this sad lament.
We may divide at the Selahs.
Psalms 77:1-3.I cried with my voice expresses the psalmist’s anguish. How often do we need the day of trouble to make us seek the Lord! The passage, “my sore,” etc., is better rendered, “my hand was stretched out” (R.V.). This refusing to be comforted recalls Genesis 37:35 and Jeremiah 31:15. What excessive grief is here!
Psalms 77:4-9.I am so troubled that I cannot speakA contrast between past and present In this scarcity of comfort, Trapp says that the Psalmist was glad to live upon his old stores as bees in winter. Particularly he remembered his song in the night (Job 35:10), which is equivalent to that “glory in tribulation” of which the New Testament is full (Romans 5:3; 2 Corinthians 7:4). It is wholesome to compare the present with the past, so that we may repent if we are conscious of any backsliding; and that we may be led again to the feet of Christ.
After long days of gloom and anguish have darkened the soul, it begins to fear lest it may never emerge from the darksome forest into the open. Melancholy and depression are apt at putting questions, but faith has an answer ready.
“Will the Lord cast off?.” No! (Romans 11:1).
“Will He be favorable no more?” His compassions fail not! (Lamentations 3:22).
“Is his mercy clean gone forever?” No! (Psalms 103:17). “Does his promise fail?” No! (Hebrews 6:18).
“Has God forgotten to be gracious?” No! (Exodus 34:6).
“ Has He in anger shut up his mercies?" No! (Psalms 103:17).
Psalms 77:10-15. I will remember Faith restored by memory The years of God’s past love are not likely to be all in vain. Has He loved from eternity and will He forsake or forget in time? God’s way is in the sanctuary, i.e., it is holy (Psalms 77:13). But it is also in the sea, i.e., it is full of mystery (Psalms 77:19). “Some providences, like Hebrew words, must be read backwards.”
Psalms 77:16-19. A poetical account of the passage of the red sea The thunderstorm here described is almost implied in Exodus 14:24. God does as He will. No difficulties are obstacles to Him. What He has done, He can do. He still speaks to the waves (Mark 4:39).
Psalms 77:20. By the hand of Moses and Aaron “Great was the power of these two men, but neither was the shepherd of the sheep. Each was a servant of the Great and Good Shepherd who made use of their hands.”
Psalms 77:11-20
“ The God That Doest Wonders” Psalms 77:11-20 Go back to the past. Consider the manner in which God has stood by His saints in the days of old, in the years of ancient time. What He did for them He is prepared to do again. He cannot cast us off. When once He begins He will continue. The train may be lost in a dark tunnel, but it will shoot out again into the radiant daylight. Through the hard Wilderness God led His people into the land of milk and honey. It is thy infirmity that leads thee to doubt Him. Like John the Baptist, you may be enclosed in a dungeon-cell of adverse circumstances, but remember the long years in which the right hand of the Most High has wrought for His people. Compare Psalms 77:13 and Psalms 77:19. God’ s way is in the sea-it is impossible to track His footsteps-but it is also in the sanctuary! In other words, however perplexing His providences may appear, they are governed by His redeeming love for His own, and are consistent with His perfect holiness. His ways may be veiled in mystery, but He leads His people as the shepherd His flock. Do not look down at your path, but up into His face.
The waters saw thee This Psalm is still ascribed to Asaph, but it is after the manner of Jeduthun (inscription, R.V.). There are resemblances to it in Habakkuk 3:8-15, so it was probably composed before the end of Josiah’s reign in which Habakkuk lived. The carrying away of the ten tribes and the imminent captivity of Judah may have furnished the occasion of this sad lament.
We may divide at the Selahs.
Psalms 77:1-3.I cried with my voice expresses the psalmist’s anguish. How often do we need the day of trouble to make us seek the Lord! The passage, “my sore,” etc., is better rendered, “my hand was stretched out” (R.V.). This refusing to be comforted recalls Genesis 37:35 and Jeremiah 31:15. What excessive grief is here!
Psalms 77:4-9.I am so troubled that I cannot speakA contrast between past and present In this scarcity of comfort, Trapp says that the Psalmist was glad to live upon his old stores as bees in winter. Particularly he remembered his song in the night (Job 35:10), which is equivalent to that “glory in tribulation” of which the New Testament is full (Romans 5:3; 2 Corinthians 7:4). It is wholesome to compare the present with the past, so that we may repent if we are conscious of any backsliding; and that we may be led again to the feet of Christ.
After long days of gloom and anguish have darkened the soul, it begins to fear lest it may never emerge from the darksome forest into the open. Melancholy and depression are apt at putting questions, but faith has an answer ready.
“Will the Lord cast off?.” No! (Romans 11:1).
“Will He be favorable no more?” His compassions fail not! (Lamentations 3:22).
“Is his mercy clean gone forever?” No! (Psalms 103:17). “Does his promise fail?” No! (Hebrews 6:18).
“Has God forgotten to be gracious?” No! (Exodus 34:6).
“ Has He in anger shut up his mercies?" No! (Psalms 103:17).
Psalms 77:10-15. I will remember Faith restored by memory The years of God’s past love are not likely to be all in vain. Has He loved from eternity and will He forsake or forget in time? God’s way is in the sanctuary, i.e., it is holy (Psalms 77:13). But it is also in the sea, i.e., it is full of mystery (Psalms 77:19). “Some providences, like Hebrew words, must be read backwards.”
Psalms 77:16-19. A poetical account of the passage of the red sea The thunderstorm here described is almost implied in Exodus 14:24. God does as He will. No difficulties are obstacles to Him. What He has done, He can do. He still speaks to the waves (Mark 4:39).
Psalms 77:20. By the hand of Moses and Aaron “Great was the power of these two men, but neither was the shepherd of the sheep. Each was a servant of the Great and Good Shepherd who made use of their hands.”