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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 77

Psalm 77: a sleepless complaint that turns to remembering the Lord's wonders of old

General context

The speaker cries to God with the voice and says God gave ear. In the day of trouble the speaker sought the Lord; the sore ran in the night and the soul refused to be comforted. Remembering God brings trouble, the spirit is overwhelmed, and the first Selah falls here. God holds the speaker's eyes waking, and the speaker cannot speak. The speaker considers the days of old, recalls a song in the night and searches with the spirit. Six questions follow: will the Lord cast off for ever, be favourable no more, is his mercy gone, does his promise fail, has God forgotten to be gracious, has he shut up his tender mercies in anger. A second Selah closes the questions. The speaker then says, This is my infirmity, and resolves to remember the years of the right hand of the most High, the works of the Lord and his wonders of old. From here the poem addresses God directly: his way is in the sanctuary, no god is so great, he does wonders and has declared his strength among the people, and with his arm redeemed the sons of Jacob and Joseph. A third Selah follows. The waters saw God and were afraid; clouds poured water, skies sent a sound, arrows went abroad, thunder and lightning shook the earth. God's way is in the sea and his footsteps are not known. The poem ends with God leading his people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Cited passages: Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:3, Psalms 77:4, Psalms 77:5, Psalms 77:6, Psalms 77:7, Psalms 77:8, Psalms 77:9, Psalms 77:10, Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:13, Psalms 77:14, Psalms 77:15, Psalms 77:16, Psalms 77:17, Psalms 77:18, Psalms 77:19, Psalms 77:20

Psalms 77 (KJV)

1I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

2In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

3I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

4Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

6I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

7Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?

8Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

9Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

10And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

11I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

12I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

13Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

14Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

15Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

16The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

17The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

18The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

19Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

20Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

This source prints no superscription for the psalm; verse 1 opens directly with the cry to God, so nothing about author, dedication or musical direction can be quoted from the text as printed. The speaker is a single voice using I and my throughout, and the trouble is described only by its effects: a running sore, a soul refusing comfort, sleeplessness, an inability to speak. The poem never names an enemy, an illness or an event. What it does name are the ones God redeemed, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, and the leaders through whom God led the people like a flock, Moses and Aaron. The waters, thunder and lightning of the closing verses are joined to that leading, but the text itself does not say which crossing or which storm it means. The three Selah markers stand after verses 3, 9 and 15; the text does not explain them. The six questions are the speaker's own, and the speaker then labels them This is my infirmity rather than answering them.

Cited passages: Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:4, Psalms 77:15, Psalms 77:20, Psalms 77:19, Psalms 77:3, Psalms 77:9, Psalms 77:10

Literary context

The poem turns on remembering. Early on, remembering God brings trouble and a diligent search; after verse 10 the same verb becomes a resolve to remember the works of the Lord. The six questions of verses 7 to 9 are stacked without answers, and the Selah after them leaves the doubt hanging before the turn. The address changes with the turn: the first half speaks about God and the Lord in the third person, while from verse 11 the speaker says thy wonders and then O God, thy way. The opening doubling, unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, is matched near the end by the waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee. The closing storm piles up water, sound, arrows, thunder, lightning and a shaking earth, then ends in quiet with a path in the sea whose footsteps are not known and a flock led by hand. The poem gives no report that the personal trouble is resolved; it ends on the remembered deliverance instead.

Cited passages: Psalms 77:3, Psalms 77:6, Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:7, Psalms 77:13, Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:16, Psalms 77:18, Psalms 77:19, Psalms 77:20

Key moments

  1. A soul that refuses comfort (Psalms 77:2). The speaker seeks the Lord in the day of trouble while the sore runs all night.
  2. Six unanswered questions (Psalms 77:7). The speaker asks whether the Lord will cast off for ever and be favourable no more.
  3. This is my infirmity (Psalms 77:10). The speaker names the doubt and resolves to remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
  4. The waters saw thee (Psalms 77:16). The address turns to God directly as the waters and depths are afraid.
  5. Led like a flock (Psalms 77:20). The poem closes with God leading his people by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

For reflection

The speaker never says the sleepless trouble ended, only that the memory of the sons of Jacob and Joseph being redeemed took its place. What does it mean that the poem stops there, with a path in the sea whose footsteps are not known?

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