Psalm 77 1 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph. I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? 9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. 11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. 12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. 13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. 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 were afraid: the depths also were troubled. 17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. 18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. 19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path 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. (KJV) Commentary THEME: A personal lament that eventuates in private cony dence toward God. It is impossible to assign a date to this psalm, even though Delitzch has carefullu traced the coincidence in expression between Habbakuk 3:10–15 and verses 16–20 of this psalm. The inscription addresses the chief musician, to Jeduthun. With regard to this man, we know very little. The name occurs several times in the historic books of Scripture (cf. I Chr 16:38, 41–42; 25:1, 3, 6; 11 Chr 5:12; 29:14; Neh 11:17). Leupold suggests that to Jeduthun means that the psalm is to be rendered as Jeduthun was accustomed to rendering psalms. 77:1–3. I cried unto God with my voice … In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. Although this psalm, at least the first half of it, is marked by extreme sadness, nevertheless the psalmist begins rightly with a prayer. That which begins with prayer usually ends with victory. This was not simply silent prayer; but with his voice he gave utterance to God, and God gave ear unto me. All day long his great distress drove him to God (Cf. Gen 35:3; Hab 3:16. My sore ran in the night. It appears this clause is better translated, “My hand was stretched out in the night,” referring to his continued prayer throughout the night. I remembered God, and was troubled. The source of great delight to a man of faith had become the object of dread to the man of sorrow. As John Owens notes, “All had once been well between God and the psalmist, and whereas formerly his remembrance of God brought him joy, now his own sin caused that remembrance to bring discomfort.” I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. The more the psalmist considered his present condition, the more he complained about it to God. 4–6. The psalmist went to bed hoping to drown his sorrows with sleep. But God would not have it be so. Thou boldest mine eyes waking. Sleep is the great comforter, but it forsakes the sorrowful and increases his discomfort so that I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Sleepless and speechless, the psalmist can but consider the days of old, the years of ancient times. If no comfort could be found in his present situation, the psalmist was willing to ransack his memory in order to call to mind God’s doings in the past (cf. vss. 14–19). My spirit made diligent search. As Adam Clarke notes, the verb for search (Heb chapas) signifies such an investigation as in our phrase, to leave no stone unturned. 7–9. The psalmist now advances a series of six questions in a reductio ad absurdurn argument. Will the LORD cast off for ever? God would perhaps leave His people for a time, but would He do so indefinitely? Will he be favorable no more? Would God’s good will toward Israel never be seen again? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? If His chosen people do not see His love or favor, will they not at least see His mercy? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Would God fail to meet the conditions of His cove-nant with Israel? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? The metaphor here is taken from a spring, the mouth of which is closed so that waters can no longer run through the existing channel. Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Does God no longer yearn for His beloved nation? 10–12. I said, This is my infirmity. The fault is not with God, but with the psalmist himself. He confesses that his unbelief is a weakness, a fogy, a sin. He resolves, Surely I win remember thy wonders of old. Whatever else may fall into oblivion in his mind, the psalmist cannot forget the marvelous works of the Lord in days gone by. I will meditate also of all thy work. But more than that, he is determined to talk of thy doings. As Spurgeon says, “A meditative man should be a talker, otherwise he is a mental miser, a mill which grinds corn only for the miller.” 13–15. Who is so great a God as our God? In Him the qualities of goodness and greatness are blended. God is great, and God is good. Thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Not only Israel, but also Egypt, Edom, Philistia, and all other nations have seen the power of Jehovah. God is awesome in the sight of many heathen nations (Cf. Ex 15:14–16). Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. 16–20. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee. This expression is highly poetical because in the mind of the psalmist it is ironic that the waters can see God, but man cannot discern Him. The clouds poured out water. As if to join in praise for the deliverance of God’s people, the elements of the lower atmosphere assisted in the overthrow of Egypt. The skies sent out a sound. The higher regions uttered a voice which, in light of the next verse, is obviously a reference to thunder (Cf. 68:33). Thine arrows also went abroad. Lightning sizzles across the sky in an awesome display of the might of Jehovah (cf. 18:14; II Sam 22:15). The earth trembled and shook. Joining the atmosphere, the earth quaked and reverberated at the presence of the miracle-working God. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters. God had made a way for the Israelites to escape the treacheries of Pharaoh and his armies. In the deep secret channels of the Red Sea, God had prepared the pathway. Thy footsteps are not known. It is not for man to attempt to understand the way God leads, but simply to trust the way He leads. Thou leddest shy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. From the tempests of the storm the palmist concludes with the tenderness of the shepherd. Notice that it is God who leads His people by the hand of His servants Moses and Aaron. When we have successfully traversed the depths of despair, we will be able to look back and recognize that we have been led through by the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls (I Pet 2:25). Commmentary is sourced from: KJV Bible commentary. 1997, c1994 (1076). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 22:41:26 +0000
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