3 I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him. For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me.
For calamity from God is a terror to me, By reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, The saving help of my countenance, and my God.
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: My Savior, my helper, and my God.
For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help, Set apart among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand. You have laid me in the lowest pit, In the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah. You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can't escape. My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you. Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah. Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction? Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you. Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off. They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me. You have put lover and friend far from me, And my friends into darkness.
For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a firebrand. My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, For I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning, My bones stick to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places. I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop. My enemies reproach me all day. Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse. For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mixed my drink with tears, Because of your indignation and your wrath, For you have taken me up, and thrown me away. My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass. But you, Yahweh, will abide forever; Your renown endures to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come. For your servants take pleasure in her stones, And have pity on her dust. So the nations will fear the name of Yahweh; All the kings of the earth your glory. For Yahweh has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory. He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, And has not despised their prayer. This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah. For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth; To hear the groans of the prisoner; To free those who are condemned to death; That men may declare the name of Yahweh in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem; When the peoples are gathered together, The kingdoms, to serve Yahweh. He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days. I said, "My God, don't take me away in the midst of my days. Your years are throughout all generations. Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed. But you are the same. Your years will have no end. The children of your servants will continue. Their seed will be established before you."
Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.
Don't be a terror to me: you are my refuge in the day of evil.
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.