7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
{To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.} Thou hast been favourable, Jehovah, unto thy land; thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob:
Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger from generation to generation?
though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for Jehovah upholdeth his hand.
But thou hast cast off, and put us to confusion, and dost not go forth with our armies;
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
But thou hast rejected and cast off; thou hast been very wroth with thine anointed:
Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? saith Jehovah. I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy falsehood in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall [this] be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
For the Lord will not cast off for ever; but if he have caused grief, he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses:
I say then, Has God cast away his people? Far be the thought. For *I* also am an Israelite, of [the] seed of Abraham, of [the] tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Know ye not what the scripture says in [the history of] Elias, how he pleads with God against Israel?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 77
Commentary on Psalms 77 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 77
Ps 77:1-20. To Jeduthun—(See on Ps 39:1, title). In a time of great affliction, when ready to despair, the Psalmist derives relief from calling to mind God's former and wonderful works of delivering power and grace.
1. expresses the purport of the Psalm.
2. his importunacy.
my sore ran … night—literally, "my hand was spread," or, "stretched out" (compare Ps 44:20).
ceased not—literally, "grew not numb," or, "feeble" (Ge 45:26; Ps 38:8).
my soul … comforted—(compare Ge 37:35; Jer 31:15).
3-9. His sad state contrasted with former joys.
was troubled—literally, "violently agitated," or disquieted (Ps 39:6; 41:5).
my spirit was overwhelmed—or, "fainted" (Ps 107:5; Jon 2:7).
4. holdest … waking—or, "fast," that I cannot sleep. Thus he is led to express his anxious feelings in several earnest questions indicative of impatient sorrow.
10. Omitting the supplied words, we may read, "This is my affliction—the years of," &c., "years" being taken as parallel to affliction (compare Ps 90:15), as of God's ordering.
11, 12. He finds relief in contrasting God's former deliverances. Shall we receive good at His hands, and not evil? Both are orderings of unerring mercy and unfailing love.
13. Thy way … in the sanctuary—God's ways of grace and providence (Ps 22:3; 67:2), ordered on holy principles, as developed in His worship; or implied in His perfections, if "holiness" be used for "sanctuary," as some prefer translating (compare Ex 15:11).
14-20. Illustrations of God's power in His special interventions for His people (Ex 14:1-31), and, in the more common, but sublime, control of nature (Ps 22:11-14; Hab 3:14) which may have attended those miraculous events (Ex 14:24).
15. Jacob and Joseph—representing all.
19. waters … , footsteps—may refer to His actual leading the people through the sea, though also expressing the mysteries of providence.