Psalm 77, Reaching Out at 3 AM

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

Jeduthun, with Heman, is described in 1 Chronicles 16: 41-42 as one of those designated by David to lead music in the temple.

Psalm 77: 1-2, Stretching out hands at 3 am

 I cried out to God for help; 

I cried out to God to hear me.

 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; 

at night I stretched out untiring hands 

and my soul refused to be comforted.

The psalmist lies on his bed at night, reaching out to plead to God, unable to be comforted. Many of us have joined David, in the late hours of the night, lying awake, in distress.

Psalm 77: 3-4, Remember and groan

 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; 

I mused, and my spirit grew faint.

 You kept my eyes from closing; 

I was too troubled to speak.

And so the psalmist remembers and yearns for God, still troubled. Indeed, the psalmist says that God propped his eyelids open.

Psalm 77: 5-9, Will God reject us forever?

 I thought about the former days, 

the years of long ago;

 I remembered my songs in the night. 

My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

 "Will the Lord reject forever? 

Will he never show his favor again?

 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? 

Has his promise failed for all time?

 Has God forgotten to be merciful? 

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"

Selah.

"Remember when God blessed us! As He turned away forever?" asks the psalmist.

Psalm 77: 10-15, Remember the miracles

 Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High."

 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; 

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

 I will meditate on all your works 

and consider all your mighty deeds.

 Your ways, O God, are holy. 

What god is so great as our God?

 You are the God who performs miracles; 

you display your power among the peoples.

With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, 

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Selah.

The psalmist sings about the miracles of long ago, how the "mighty arm" of YHWH saved the people of Israel (Deuteronomy 4: 34.)

Psalm 77: 16-20, God over sea and storm

 The waters saw you, O God, 

the waters saw you and writhed; 

the very depths were convulsed.

 The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; 

your arrows flashed back and forth.

 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, 

your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.

 Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, 

though your footprints were not seen.

 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses andAaron.

God rules over the chaotic sea. He controls the thunder and lightning. This is the God even of Moses and Aaron. And the God on which the psalmist trusts!

The "mighty arm" phrase in verse 15 harkens back to the exodus from Egypt and the verses that follow might remind us of the dramatic parting of the Red Sea and crossing it with Moses and Aaron. If that passage recalls the Red Sea crossing, it also hints at a cosmological battle in which God is always victorious over Chaos, represented by the sea.

The Cornerstone Collection (out of Grand Rapids, Michigan) has a version of Psalm 77 here  put to music as part of their Cadillac Collections. (I write this blog just a few miles north of Cadillac....) 

In the TV series The Chosen, Season 3m Episode 8, Sustenance, has Psalm 77 as the background theme, beginning and ending with people reciting this psalm.