The psalmist seems to be all over the place here in Psalm 77. As we pray through the verses, notice the great shifts in energy or mood. In a heartbeat he transitions from sleepless worrying and lament to proclaiming God's wonderful deeds. This kind of tension is seen in many psalms, but we'll notice that no matter how deep the psalmist's despair may be, the psalm always ends with a tender reaffirmation of faith and hope in God's goodness and care.
Verses 1 and 2: Right from the start we feel the psalmist's tension. We can relate. The first verse is in the future tense, "I will cry aloud," "God will hear me." Then in the second verse he quickly shifts to the past tense, "I sought the Lord," "my hands were stretched out." The psalmist is also something of an insomniac - anguishing through the night. Maybe his troubles press on him so deeply he doesn't even want to hear a word that might help to make things better.
Verses 3 and 4: This fellow is in a bad way. He tells God he is feeling restless. We can imagine him in the night with his eyes wide open. He feels as if he's fainting inside. Words don't even adequately express what he's feeling. Ever experienced anything like that? Ugh!
Verses 5 and 6: What beautiful words he uses to describe his inner life: consider, remember, commune, ponder, search. These are soul-words. And with the psalmist, I can consider the "days of old and the years long past." What has upheld me and brought me to today? Maybe I can tell of something wonderful having happened to me over the years that I could never have dreamed of - something I might consider a great blessing and a sign of God's closeness through the worst of it.
Verses 7, 8 and 9: These verses feel like what's called a dark night of the soul. All consolations have left him. He can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the present moment he feels abandoned by God. He knows that God grants favors, is full of loving-kindness, and compassion, but now he worries that God might even be angry with him. Poor fellow. We might know this place or someone close who suffers this way.
Verses 10 and 11: In these verses the psalmist is having a real heart-to-heart with himself. What a struggle! He says to God, "Maybe you're not omnipotent after all." Then he shifts again, remembering all God has done for him and his people. He's very fair with God: calling to mind God's wonders of old and meditating on God's mighty past deeds.
Verse 13: "Who is so great a god as our God?" Notice he says "our God." He recognizes he's not alone but is part of a larger community. We might shout-out confidence that God will see the Church through difficult times, where there is scandal, indifference, persecution, divisions and closures. I'm remembering that as a boy, one of the first things I learned about God came off of television: God is good; God is great... That was the way the Romper Room Gace Before a Snack began. I never want to forget that.
Verses 14 and 15: This fellow seems to acknowledge that there are other gods, but only his God works wonders. Of course there are other gods; we create them all the time. Anything that we think is really supreme or first or matters the most. Remember the monk who went into one of the well-known stores with the million products for sale: "The THINGDOM come" he called it.
Verses 16-19: Here he celebrates the manifestations of God through the power of nature: the ground being shaken, the torrential rains, the turbulent sea, the crashing thunder, the whirlwind. We've largely lost this sense, living in climate controlled spaces, never touching the soil, observing the remaining wild places only through a calendar page, magazine, TV documentary or movie. I'm wondering, if the "ground being shaken" might be a poetic reference to our own personal inner ground being shaken - a personal upheaval, where some person or event shakes us to the core, after which everything is changed for us. God can be there.
Verse 20: And then, after all the inner grief, tension and struggle to believe, the psalmist falls into the hands of God who he likens to a shepherd, so gentle, aware, sensitive and protective. The Christian sees an anticipation of Jesus who knows the sheep by name. Let's run to read where Jesus tells us about these things: John 10:1-21!
Verse 20: And then, after all the inner grief, tension and struggle to believe, the psalmist falls into the hands of God who he likens to a shepherd, so gentle, aware, sensitive and protective. The Christian sees an anticipation of Jesus who knows the sheep by name. Let's run to read where Jesus tells us about these things: John 10:1-21!
