Psalm 77--In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

Psalm 77
English Standard Version

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
77 I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

​16 When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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God hears us when we cry out to Him, even in the dead of night.  He hears even our unintelligible groanings of pain, grief, and suffering, and He can make sense of them.  His Spirit prays for us when we do not know how to pray for ourselves.

God gives us the strength to make it through each day when we are mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted so that we are fighting to stay awake.  During the hard times when it appears He has withdrawn His hand of blessing and maybe even appears to us that His covenant love has failed or He has outright broken His covenant promises to us, He is still Faithful and True, even if we don't see it.  God will not sweep the righteous up in judgment with the wicked, nor will He forget His promises.  His timing is not our timing though, and His ultimately goal is to make us into the image of Jesus, and that requires pruning and shaping that feels quite uncomfortable and downright unpleasant at times.  It's not something we choose to go through, but once we've been through it and seen the results, we can better understand what it was that the LORD was doing through that situation.  However, even if we never understand what it is the LORD is doing, we are sure that He is always doing what is right.

When we don't see the hand of the LORD, we can remember what the LORD has done in the past, as He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The LORD is the Redeemer and Savior of His people, and that will never change.  He is also the Mighty God who is Creator of all things--meaning He is the owner and ruler of all things.  He spoke the world into existence out of nothing, and one day in the future, He will put an end to this creation and make a New Heaven and a New Earth that is the perfect place for Him to abide with His people forever and ever.  It will be a new beginning for us.  Do any of us have position to question him?  No!  The author of this psalm seems to be familiar with the book of Job where God asked Job many questions and Job stood silent because he had answers to none of them.  Yet even though "My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty," He is still the Shepherd of His people.  He desires a personal relationship with us, and that is quite profound, considering that we have nothing to offer Him other than our worship.