Read
(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.)
In Times of Trouble
1I pray to you, Lord God,
and I beg you to listen.
2In days filled with trouble,
I search for you.
And at night I tirelessly
lift my hands in prayer,
refusing comfort.
3When I think of you,
I feel restless and weak.
4Because of you, Lord God,
I can't sleep.
I am restless
and can't even talk.
5I think of times gone by,
of those years long ago.
6Each night my mind
is flooded with questions:
7“Have you rejected me forever?
Won't you be kind again?
8Is this the end of your love
and your promises?
9Have you forgotten
how to have pity?
Do you refuse to show mercy
because of your anger?”
10Then I said, “God Most High,
what hurts me most
is that you no longer help us
with your mighty arm.”
11Our Lord, I will remember
the things you have done,
your miracles of long ago.
12I will think about each one
of your mighty deeds.
13Everything you do is right,
and no other god
compares with you.
14You alone work miracles,
and you have let nations
see your mighty power.
15With your own arm you rescued
your people, the descendants
of Jacob and Joseph.
16The ocean looked at you, God,
and it trembled deep down
with fear.
17Water flowed from the clouds.
Thunder was heard above
as your arrows of lightning
flashed about.
18Your thunder roared
like chariot wheels.
The world was made bright
by lightning,
and all the earth trembled.
19You walked through the water
of the mighty sea,
but your footprints
were never seen.
20You guided your people
like a flock of sheep,
and you chose Moses and Aaron
to be their leaders.
Reflect
A sleepless night, and the psalmist blames God. After all, God had promised his people that he would be kind, loving, and merciful to them, but trouble has come into his life anyway. The psalmist, though disappointed in God, nonetheless still turns to God in his present difficulties and boldly calls him to account through a series of challenging questions (vv 7-9).
Psalm 77 is a lament, a prayer directed to God when life is hard. Most laments, like this one, end with praise or confidence, but most of the time they do not give any explanation for why they turn from sadness to joy. Psalm 77 is different. The psalmist turns to the past (God’s “mighty deeds,” v 12) in order to gain confidence for the present and hope for the future. In particular, the psalmist remembers the crossing of the Red Sea (vv 16-20). He thinks his situation is helpless, but then he remembers that his people were helpless as Pharaoh’s chariots raced toward them with an impassable sea behind them. As God opened up the sea to let the Israelites escape, so he can rescue the psalmist from his trouble.
Christians have an advantage even over the psalmist. After all, we have the greatest of God’s mighty acts to remember, namely the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, the Gospels go to great lengths to point out that Jesus is the greater reality anticipated by the Exodus. After all, his ministry was patterned on the events of the Exodus and wilderness wandering (baptism [Matt. 3:13-17, see 1 Cor. 10:1-2]; forty days and nights in the wilderness [Matt. 4:1-11], talking about the law on a mountain [Matt. 5-7]), and dying on the eve of the Passover, the celebration of the Exodus). Jesus is our “Passover Lamb” (2 Cor. 5:7). When we experience trouble, we turn to the past, the cross, in order to find confidence and hope.
Respond
O Christ, our Passover lamb, we look to the cross and your great victory over death in the resurrection to find our confidence and hope in a difficult world. We thank you Lord that you offered your life on our behalf that we might live, both now and forever. Amen.
Tremper Longman III
Tremper Longman III (BA Ohio Wesleyan University; MDiv Westminster Theological Seminary; MPhil and PhD Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College and author of over thirty books. His most recent books are Psalms (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary; InterVarsity, 2014) and Genesis (Story of God Bible Commentary; Zondervan, 2016). He is married to Alice and has three sons and four granddaughters. For fun, he plays squash. Publications: A Biblical History of Israel, 2nd edition, with I. Provan and V. P. Long; Westminster John Knox, 2015. Genesis. Story of God Commentary Series; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016