Psalm 77— To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I cried out to God with my voice— to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought Yahweh; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
It seems that the Jews had been cast off, but Jews and Gentiles could still come to God, but only through His right hand. “If through all thy discouragements thy condition prove worse and worse, so that thou canst not pray, but are struck dumb when thou comest into his presence, as the psalmist, then fall making signs when thou canst not speak; groan, sigh, sob, ‘chatter,’ as Hezekiah did; bemoan thyself for thine unworthiness, and desire Christ to speak thy requests for thee, and God to hear Him for thee.” (Thomas Goodwin)
4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search.
“In meditation he pondered the records of God's ancient dealings. [He held his eyelids open-He sustained his life, not allowing the sleep of death.] The annals abounded in evidence that God's love had never failed. They displayed His arm always mighty to deliver. He next reviewed his own eventful story [that of the Jews]. He remembered times of lively joy, when the night heard his songs of praise. It is well that the same periods be treasured in our minds. Past pleasures should revive. He sought, also, the cause of his discomfort. He probed the recesses of his heart. He used all efforts to discover what leaks admitted these waters of bitterness.” (Grace Gems) I remember “my songs of the night”—a favorite phrase of the Old Testament dispensation.
7 Will Yahweh cast off forever? and will He be favorable no more? 8 Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
“Wave upon wave of doubts and fears break over the mind. Apprehensions in terrific forms appear like specters. God's dark frown of anger seems to look down. Smiles are obscured by unbroken gloom. The gate of favor no longer opens. He trembles lest he should be cast off forever, and mercy no longer give solace. He plaintively inquires, ‘Will lovingkindness no longer cheer me?’ He had feasted on the rich meal of precious promises; these promises no longer brought support. Can it be that he is forever excluded from this heritage of God's people?” (Grace Gems)
10 And I said, “This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.” 11 I will remember the works of Yahweh; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 12 I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. 13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God? 14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. 15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
This is my anguish, but I will remember the years of the dispensation to my people. “But this bare, vague, and abstract Monotheism leaves the mind in darkness, while the heart is chilly and desolate. (Dr. Adolph Saphir) “This is my sorrow, that the right hand of the Highest hath changed.’ Yes, God's providence had changed, but not His heart.” (Homilies by S. Conway)
Thus: “‘I will remember the works of Yahweh; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God,’— all along—
‘is in the sanctuary;’ (V. 13) — The character, mind, and heart of God are revealed there. His holiness, that nothing unclean may approach Him; yet also His mercy and compassion, as seen in the forgiveness through sacrifice proclaimed there; the worship He delights in and demands; the surrender of the self to Him, symbolized by the shedding of the blood of the sacrifices, for ‘the blood is the life.’ So must the heart, the will, the real self, of the worshipper be presented to God; the transforming power of the Holy Spirit which He will give to us who thus come in full surrender to Him, for the fire which consumed the sacrifice was no man-enkindled flame, but came down from heaven, and set forth how the blessed Holy Spirit of God would take hold of our poor dead fleshly nature, and transform it and uplift it heavenward, Godward, as did the fire the sacrifice. Thus was God's way of saving sinful men set forth and shown… The path leads by the altar. The soul that would enter in and know the blessedness of the sanctuary of God, must come along that path; the path of lowly penitence and trust and heart surrender, so that on him may come the blessed fire of the Holy Spirit, bringing him into the presence of God.” (Homilies by S. Conway)
16 The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You, they were afraid; the depths also trembled. 17 The clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. 18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. 19 Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known. 20 You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The way of God is thus not only in the sanctuary, but also “in the sea.” (v. 19) Not just on the mountain top but in the valleys: “There was another and a better current which then influenced me. It was the national history, as recorded in the books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets, and commemorated in the festivals. There I was met by no abstract idea of unicity, but by a loving God, who appeared unto Abraham and spoke to him; who led Israel through the wilderness and dwelt among them; and after, when I thought of the friendly, kind, concrete, and human way in which the Lord God then appeared unto His people and dwelt with them, I wondered why He was not now with us, known, loved, and followed… One day I was looking at some books, and the title of one arrested my eye. It was Die Menschwerdung Gottes - God becoming man.” (Adolph Saphir)
All Israel was brought out of Egypt by His mighty works, “which is here ascribed not to the hand but to the arm of the Lord, because it was the fulness of his might. Ancient believers were in the constant habit of referring to the wonders of the Red Sea, and we also can unite with them, taking care to add the song of the Lamb to that of Moses, the servant of God. ” (C. H. Spurgeon) “And yet, what we find even in connection with his footsteps being in the sea is, ‘Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.’ That was through the sea; afterwards, it was through the wilderness. But it had been through the sea. The beginnings of the ways of God with His people were there; because, from first to last, God must be the confidence of the saint. It may be an early lesson of his soul, but it never ceases to be the thing to learn. How happy to know that, while the sanctuary is open to us, yet God Himself is nearer still—and to Him we are brought now. As it is said (1 Peter 3), ‘Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.’ This is a most precious thing; because there we are in the sanctuary at once, and brought to God Himself. And I am bold to say, that heaven itself would be but a small matter if it were not to God that we are brought. It is better than any freedom from trial—better than any blessing, to be in the presence of the One we belong to; who is Himself the source of all blessing and joy. That we are brought to Him now is infinitely precious. There we are in the sanctuary brought to God. But, still, there are other ways of God outside the sanctuary—In the sea. And there we often find ourselves at a loss. If we are occupied with the sea itself, and with trying to scan God's footsteps there, then they are not known. But confidence in God Himself is always the strength of faith. May the Lord grant us increasing simplicity and quietness in the midst of all that we pass through, for His name's sake.” (From “Things New and Old." 1865)