Psalm 77
Psalm 77, The Troubled Heart Remembers God’s Great Works
Psalm 77 is titled “To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.” The phrase “To the chief Musician” connects the psalm to the organized worship of Israel. The chief musician may refer to the leader of the temple choir or the one responsible for directing the musical arrangement of worship. The phrase appears often in the Psalms and indicates that this psalm was not merely private reflection, but was given for public worship and instruction among God’s people.
Jeduthun is also mentioned in the titles of Psalm 39 and Psalm 62. He was one of the musicians appointed by David to lead Israel’s public worship. 1 Chronicles 16:41, “And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever.” 1 Chronicles 25:1, “Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals, and the number of the workmen according to their service was.” 1 Chronicles 25:2, “Of the sons of Asaph, Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king.” 1 Chronicles 25:3, “Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun, Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD.”
Jeduthun’s sons were also associated with service as porters or doorkeepers. 1 Chronicles 16:42, “And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters.” This is spiritually instructive. Those who serve well in humble places are often the kind of men God uses in higher places of public worship. Faithful service at the doors of the house of God is not beneath those who sing in the choir of the LORD.
Asaph was the great singer and musician connected with the worship of Israel during the days of David and Solomon. 1 Chronicles 15:17, “So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah, and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah.” 1 Chronicles 15:18, “And with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, the porters.” 1 Chronicles 15:19, “So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass.” 1 Chronicles 16:5, “Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, with psalteries and with harps, but Asaph made a sound with cymbals.” 1 Chronicles 16:6, “Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.” 1 Chronicles 16:7, “Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.”
Asaph’s music was prophetic in character. 1 Chronicles 25:1, “Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals, and the number of the workmen according to their service was.” 2 Chronicles 29:30, “Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.”
Psalm 77 is the testimony of a troubled heart that learns to remember God’s great works. The psalm begins in anguish, sleeplessness, confusion, and spiritual heaviness. Asaph cries to God, stretches out his hand in the night, refuses shallow comfort, and asks hard questions about whether God’s mercy, favor, and promises have failed forever. Yet the psalm does not remain in despair. It turns when Asaph chooses to remember the works of the LORD. He remembers God’s wonders of old, meditates on God’s deeds, and speaks of God’s mighty acts. The answer to his troubled heart is not denial of sorrow, but remembrance of God. To brood only on sorrow is to be broken and disheartened, but to behold God and His works is to find strength even in the darkest day
A. Comfort and Anguish in Remembering the Works of God
Psalm 77:1 through Psalm 77:3, Seeking God and Remaining Troubled
Psalm 77:1, “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me.”
Psalm 77:2, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord, my sore ran in the night, and ceased not, my soul refused to be comforted.”
Psalm 77:3, “I remembered God, and was troubled, I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.”
Psalm 77 begins with earnest prayer. Asaph says, “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice.” This was not a casual prayer. It was vocal, urgent, repeated, and personal. The repetition shows intensity. Asaph is not merely thinking religious thoughts. He is crying out to God. Trouble has driven him to prayer, not away from it.
The verse continues, “and he gave ear unto me.” Asaph knows that God heard him. This is important because the psalm does not begin with atheistic despair. It begins with faith. He believes God hears. Yet the fact that God hears does not immediately remove his trouble. This is part of the difficulty of the psalm. Sometimes a believer prays and receives immediate peace. At other times, the believer prays, knows God has heard, and yet still remains troubled.
Verse 2 says, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.” Trouble should drive the believer to God. Asaph does not first run to entertainment, distraction, wine, recreation, or human diversion. He seeks the Lord. Days of trouble should become days of prayer. Inward trouble especially must be brought before God. The wounded soul cannot be healed by superficial escape. It must seek God and His grace.
The phrase “my sore ran in the night, and ceased not” is difficult in wording, but the idea is that Asaph’s hand or wound was extended before God without ceasing. He stretched himself out in prayer during the night. The night often intensifies sorrow. During the day a man may be distracted by duties, but in the night his grief can press heavily upon him. Asaph continues seeking God even there.
The verse then says, “my soul refused to be comforted.” This is a painful condition. Comfort may be offered, but the soul rejects it. Sometimes the soul refuses comfort because the comfort offered is too shallow. Empty words, trite phrases, and cheap encouragement do not reach deep grief. Sometimes even true comfort is refused because the heart is too distressed to receive it. A sick man may turn away nourishing food, not because the food is bad, but because his condition makes him unable to receive it.
There is likely an echo here of Jacob’s refusal to be comforted when he believed Joseph was dead. Genesis 37:35, “And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.” Asaph’s grief is of that kind. His soul is so burdened that comfort does not easily enter.
Verse 3 says, “I remembered God, and was troubled.” This is striking because believers usually think that remembering God immediately brings peace. Often it does. But here, remembering God increases Asaph’s trouble. He thinks about God and becomes more distressed because he cannot understand why the God he knows has not helped him in the way he desires. The thought is, God, I know You are there, I know You hear, so why does my trouble remain?
He continues, “I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.” Asaph pours out his complaint, but the act of complaint does not yet bring relief. His spirit is overwhelmed. This is a real spiritual struggle. It is the kind known by believers who have walked with God long enough to know His truth, yet find themselves unable to reconcile their present pain with what they know of His goodness.
The verse ends with “Selah.” This kind of anguish deserves reflection. Scripture does not rush past it. God allows His people to see that faithful men may experience deep sorrow, unresolved questions, and overwhelmed spirits, yet still cry out to Him.
Paul knew something of the tension between prayer and God’s answer being different than expected. 2 Corinthians 12:7, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure.” 2 Corinthians 12:8, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Paul prayed for removal, but God gave sufficient grace. Asaph prayed and remained troubled. Both teach that God may answer the faithful in a way that forces deeper trust.
Psalm 77:4 through Psalm 77:6, The Diligent Search
Psalm 77:4, “Thou holdest mine eyes waking, I am so troubled that I cannot speak.”
Psalm 77:5, “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.”
Psalm 77:6, “I call to remembrance my song in the night, I commune with mine own heart, and my spirit made diligent search.”
Verse 4 says, “Thou holdest mine eyes waking.” Asaph cannot sleep. His sorrow keeps him awake, and he recognizes even this under God’s hand. The picture is strong. It is as though God Himself holds his eyelids open, forcing him to stare into the darkness. Anyone who has known deep grief understands this. Night can become a battlefield. The body is weary, but the mind will not rest.
He continues, “I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” His grief has moved beyond words. Earlier he cried aloud. Now he is silent because his distress is too heavy for expression. There are sorrows that make a man speak, and there are sorrows that make a man unable to speak. Asaph has reached the second kind.
Verse 5 says, “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.” In his distress, Asaph turns his mind backward. He considers what God has done in former days. Yet at this point, the memory does not immediately comfort him. It may actually intensify his pain because he wonders why God seemed to act with such power in the past but seems silent in the present. The contrast between yesterday’s deliverance and today’s anguish can be difficult for the believer.
Verse 6 says, “I call to remembrance my song in the night.” Asaph remembers better seasons. There were nights when he sang. There were times when worship rose from his heart even in darkness. Now he remembers those songs, perhaps longing to recover the joy he once knew. The memory of past fellowship with God becomes part of his search.
He says, “I commune with mine own heart.” This is inward examination. Asaph is not merely reacting emotionally. He is thinking, searching, questioning, and examining his own soul. He is willing to face what is inside him.
The verse ends, “and my spirit made diligent search.” This is not lazy despair. Asaph is searching diligently. He wants an answer. He wants understanding. He wants God. The troubled believer must sometimes wrestle deeply, not with shallow curiosity, but with determined spiritual searching. The soul must ask what is true, what is false, what is felt, what is known, and what God has revealed.
Psalm 77:7 through Psalm 77:9, The Searching Questions
Psalm 77:7, “Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?”
Psalm 77:8, “Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?”
Psalm 77:9, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.”
Asaph now puts his anguish into questions. These questions are severe, but they are not faithless in the sense of rejecting God. They are the questions of a believer fighting through unbelief. He asks, “Will the Lord cast off for ever?” This is the fear that the present darkness may never end. Many saints have felt this. The trial feels permanent. The silence feels permanent. The distance feels permanent.
He asks, “and will he be favourable no more?” Asaph fears that God’s favor has ended. He remembers earlier blessing, but wonders whether favor will ever return. This is a spiritual agony, because the believer knows that life without the favor of God is unbearable.
Verse 8 continues, “Is his mercy clean gone for ever?” Mercy is the covenant kindness of God, His compassion toward the undeserving and needy. Asaph knows God is merciful, but his circumstances tempt him to think mercy has disappeared. He asks whether mercy has completely vanished.
Then he asks, “doth his promise fail for evermore?” This is the deepest doctrinal issue. If God’s promise fails, then faith collapses. Asaph is not merely asking whether he feels better. He is asking whether God’s Word still stands. The question itself shows that he knows God’s promise matters.
Verse 9 asks, “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?” This question is impossible if answered by sound doctrine, yet understandable in anguish. God cannot forget. He cannot cease to be gracious in His character. Yet the troubled heart may feel as though grace has been forgotten.
He asks further, “hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?” The imagery is of a spring stopped up so that the waters no longer flow. Asaph fears that God’s anger has closed the channel of mercy. This is the feeling of a believer under heavy spiritual darkness.
The verse ends with “Selah.” Again the psalm calls for meditation. These are questions many believers are afraid to say out loud. Scripture records them honestly. It is better to bring these questions to God than to hide them in bitterness. Asaph’s example shows that the path through anguish is not pretending, but honest prayer, careful questioning, and eventual remembrance of God’s works.
B. The Greatness of God
Psalm 77:10 through Psalm 77:12, Anguish Turns to Remembering
Psalm 77:10, “And I said, This is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.”
Psalm 77:11, “I will remember the works of the LORD, surely I will remember thy wonders of old.”
Psalm 77:12, “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.”
Verse 10 marks the turning point. “And I said, This is my infirmity.” Asaph recognizes his condition. The trouble is real, but so is his weakness in interpreting it. His anguish has affected how he sees God. He acknowledges that his present frame of mind is an infirmity, a weakness, a painful limitation.
Then he says, “but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” This is where faith begins to answer fear. Asaph makes a deliberate decision. He will remember. He will not let present distress define all reality. He will recall the years when God’s right hand was clearly seen, the seasons when God’s power, skill, and saving strength were evident.
Memory becomes the servant of faith. When present experience is dark, the believer must search the past for the works of God. This is not nostalgia. It is theological remembrance. God’s past faithfulness is evidence of His unchanging character.
Verse 11 repeats the decision, “I will remember the works of the LORD, surely I will remember thy wonders of old.” Asaph does not merely remember better feelings. He remembers God’s works. Feelings shift, but God’s works stand. The wonders of old reveal who God is. The God who acted then remains the same God now.
Verse 12 gives a threefold pattern for strengthening the soul. “I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” First, Asaph remembers. Second, he meditates. Third, he talks. This is an important order.
To remember is to bring God’s works back into conscious thought. To meditate is to dwell on them, study them, weigh them, and draw truth from them. To talk of them is to confess them publicly, teach them, sing them, and encourage others with them. A believer should not merely have fleeting thoughts about God’s faithfulness. He should rehearse them, think deeply on them, and speak of them.
This is how the troubled heart begins to regain strength. It stops feeding only on sorrow and begins feeding on the record of God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 77:13 through Psalm 77:15, The Greatness of God in His Sanctuary
Psalm 77:13, “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary, who is so great a God as our God?”
Psalm 77:14, “Thou art the God that doest wonders, thou hast declared thy strength among the people.”
Psalm 77:15, “Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.”
Verse 13 says, “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary.” The sanctuary revealed the way of God. In the tabernacle and later the temple, God taught Israel about holiness, sacrifice, priesthood, mediation, atonement, worship, cleansing, and covenant fellowship. The sanctuary showed that sinful man does not approach God casually. He approaches God through blood sacrifice and God appointed mediation.
This ultimately points to Christ. The way to God is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus, the true sacrifice, true priest, true mediator, and true temple. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Hebrews 10:19, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” Hebrews 10:20, “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” Hebrews 10:21, “And having an high priest over the house of God.” Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Asaph then asks, “who is so great a God as our God?” This is the proper result of remembering God’s works. The question is rhetorical. There is no God like the LORD. He is incomparable in holiness, power, mercy, wisdom, covenant faithfulness, and saving might.
Verse 14 says, “Thou art the God that doest wonders.” God is not merely a God of ideas. He acts. He does wonders. He intervenes in history. He displays power in creation, redemption, judgment, and providence.
The verse continues, “thou hast declared thy strength among the people.” God’s strength has been made known among the nations. His acts are public testimony. Egypt saw His strength. Israel saw His strength. The nations heard of His strength. God’s mighty works are not hidden from history.
Verse 15 says, “Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.” The arm of God represents His power in action. Redemption means deliverance by purchase or rescue from bondage. This especially recalls the exodus, where God redeemed Israel from Egypt with a mighty hand.
Exodus 6:6, “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments.”
The phrase “the sons of Jacob and Joseph” recalls the patriarchal history of Israel. Jacob and Joseph both looked beyond Egypt to the promised land. Jacob did not want his final resting place to be Egypt. Genesis 47:29, “And the time drew nigh that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me, bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.” Genesis 47:30, “But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.”
Joseph also looked forward to God bringing Israel out of Egypt. Genesis 50:24, “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Genesis 50:25, “And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”
The verse ends with “Selah.” The believer should pause and consider redemption. God’s arm redeems His people. God’s promises outlive generations. God’s purposes are not buried in Egypt. He brings His people through.
Psalm 77:16 through Psalm 77:20, The Greatness of God at the Red Sea
Psalm 77:16, “The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, they were afraid, the depths also were troubled.”
Psalm 77:17, “The clouds poured out water, the skies sent out a sound, thine arrows also went abroad.”
Psalm 77:18, “The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven, the lightnings lightened the world, the earth trembled and shook.”
Psalm 77:19, “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.”
Psalm 77:20, “Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”
The final section focuses on one of the greatest works of God in Israel’s history, the crossing of the Red Sea. Verse 16 poetically pictures the waters as seeing God and trembling. “The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, they were afraid, the depths also were troubled.” Creation responds to its Creator. The Red Sea was no obstacle to the LORD. The waters were personified as afraid, because the presence of God commands even the depths.
This recalls the historical account in Exodus. Exodus 14:21, “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” Exodus 14:22, “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”
Verse 17 says, “The clouds poured out water, the skies sent out a sound, thine arrows also went abroad.” Asaph describes storm imagery, rain, thunder, and flashes like arrows. Exodus 14 does not give every one of these details explicitly, so this may either preserve additional historical memory or use poetic language to describe the overwhelming presence and power of God on that night. There is nothing unbelievable about a mighty storm accompanying the judgment of Egypt and the deliverance of Israel.
The arrows likely refer to lightning or thunderbolts. Other psalms use similar language. Psalm 18:14, “Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.” Psalm 144:6, “Cast forth lightning, and scatter them, shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.”
Verse 18 says, “The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven, the lightnings lightened the world, the earth trembled and shook.” The presence of God is described as cosmic in force. Thunder is His voice. Lightning illuminates the world. The earth trembles and shakes. Asaph is not minimizing the exodus into a natural event. He is magnifying it as a manifestation of divine power.
Verse 19 says, “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.” God made a way where there was no way. His path was in the sea. His road ran through the great waters. This is the God who turns impossible barriers into paths of deliverance.
The phrase “and thy footsteps are not known” reminds the believer that God’s ways are often hidden. He truly leads, but we do not always trace His steps. We see the result, but not every movement of providence. God can be present and active even when His footsteps are not visible. This is a direct answer to Asaph’s earlier anguish. He did not understand what God was doing, but the Red Sea reminds him that God’s path may run through deep waters and yet still lead to deliverance.
Verse 20 closes the psalm with tenderness, “Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” The God who terrifies the waters also shepherds His people. The God whose thunder shakes the earth leads His flock with care. He is mighty and gentle, sovereign and pastoral, terrible to His enemies and tender toward His people.
God led Israel directly, but He also led them through appointed human instruments, Moses and Aaron. This shows that divine power and human leadership are not opposites. God can work through miracles, and He can work through faithful servants. He parted the sea, and He led by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The shepherd imagery is deeply important. God’s people are not driven like cattle to slaughter. They are led like a flock. The same God who struck Egypt shepherded Israel. He went before His people. He did not overdrive them. He led them through danger toward promise.
This points forward to Christ, the Good Shepherd. John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Psalm 77 therefore begins with a troubled man who cannot sleep, cannot speak, and cannot be comforted. It ends with the God who parts seas and leads His people like a flock. The movement of the psalm is not from sorrow to denial, but from sorrow to remembrance. Asaph does not pretend his anguish is unreal. He brings it before God, asks honest questions, then deliberately remembers the works of the LORD.
The lesson is clear. The troubled heart must not brood only on sorrow. It must remember God’s works, meditate on God’s ways, and speak of God’s deeds. The God who redeemed His people before remains the same God. His way may be in the sea, His footsteps may not be known, but He still leads His flock.
