Psalm 77

Commonplace –

“I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice” (Psalm 77:1a).

Yesterday was a particularly difficult day for me, so reading these words is an encouragement. Like the psalmist, I cried unto God. I looked for comfort from Him, and the words that came to me as comfort were from Psalms 57:7: “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” In my hour of need, the encouragement I received in my prayers was to remain focused on God and not my circumstances. So, when I remark that Psalm 77:1 is an encouragement, it is because I understand what it is like to cry out to God. And, even more so, I understand what the Psalmist means, when he says,

“and he gave ear unto me” (Psalm 77:1b).

I cried, God heard, and He responded. He gave ear to me and sent me encouragement by reminding me of the words of Psalm 57:7. In the rawness of the pain I felt, I said those words aloud to God in the company of Christian friends. Praise God that He is always faithful.

In Psalm 77, the Psalmist cries out to God for a few verses,

“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.

I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah” (Psalm 77:2-3).

After a few verses of expressing his trouble, the Psalmist teaches us what to do, when we are in need:

“I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will He be favourable no more?

The Psalmist acknowledged his own struggle, and, instead of wallowing in it, he searched for a solution. He started asking questions and moved to answers.

“And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalm 77:10-12).

The Psalmist shifted His focus from His circumstances to God. The Psalmist answered his own question of whether God was still present in his life by telling himself to remember what God has done. When he began to do this, he recalled

“Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people” (Psalm 77:14).

Then, the Psalmist recounted specific instances where God brought victory out of what appeared to be defeat; he recalled God leading the Israelites safely and successfully out of Egypt against what seemed like insurmountable circumstances, including the problem of how they were going to get to the other side of the Red Sea, which was blocking their path. The Psalmist reminds us that even nature is subject to God.

“The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled” (Psalm 77:16).

The Psalmist ends with the comfort that God led the Israelites, therefore, He will be faithful and lead me in my time of trouble, too.

“Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalm 77:20).

Matthew Henry sums it up beautifully.

“This psalm, according to the method of many other psalms, begins with sorrowful complaints but ends with comfortable encouragements” (Henry 430).

Works Cited

Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 77.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg