Psalms 77:10–20

In verse 10 Asaph seems to jolt awake, like a man rousing out of sleep, and he says, "This is my infirmity." Perhaps he had been thinking that all this self-occupation, and the misery that comes with it, was very pious and very right. There are dear Christian people who live in inward misery, and in a way they pride themselves on it. If they were not miserable, they would begin to be miserable because they were not miserable. The fact is that all of this is our infirmity. It is a great thing to label things by their right names. This is INFIRMITY, and not piety!

He sees where the thought came from. The idea that God could cast off His people rose out of the weakness of his own mind, which had judged God's ways towards His people by the way they had acted towards Him. So he stops these thoughts. Instead of recalling his own experiences and the years of ancient times, he now remembers "the years of the right hand of the most High," "the works of the Lord," and His "wonders of old."

And so we come to the point. Shall we argue that the weakness is in Him, or in ourselves? Here there can be no question, and the trouble is over: "And I said, This is my infirmity" — "my malady," we might translate it: "there are years of the right hand of the Most High." It is an inadequate statement, and that makes it all the more effective. "God has had years of experience," he says to himself. That represents the truth so weakly, and yet in that weak form it so forbids doubt, that at once he is master of himself again, and can only praise Him.

Before, he had "the years of ancient times" in front of him, plainly tied to his own experiences. Now he has "the years of the right hand of the Most High" in front of him. We spend our years like a story that is told, whether in ancient times or today. But His years run through all generations, since from everlasting to everlasting He is God.

In verses 2 to 6, it was all "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all "Your" — "Your years … Your wonders … Your work … Your doings … Your way … Your strength … Your arm … Your arrows … Your thunder … Your path … Your footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.

There is a difference between "crying with the voice to God" and "communing with one's own heart." While the communing went on, his spirit was overwhelmed. The cry was self-renunciation and owned dependence, and God gave ear to it. Everything that went on inside him before, though genuine, only produced trouble... but when the cry brought in God, His ways of old reassured the heart. Before, we judged by the resources of our own heart; now, by the favour and resources God has shown.

As in weakness, David's words have often been strength to me — "This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." ... When the soul is turned to seek His face, and Him only as our aim and object, we discover with amazement how many false props we have had. We have often been leaning on the love and approval of others, and not on a Father's love alone.

In verses 2 to 6, it was all "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all "Your" — "Your years … Your wonders … Your work … Your doings … Your way … Your strength … Your arm … Your arrows … Your thunder … Your path … Your footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.

Before, he was thinking about the "days of old" and finding no comfort in it. Now he is remembering "your wonders of old," which must have been a very welcome change.

This would include creation, then God's dealings in the flood, His choosing and blessing of Abraham, and His raising up of the nation Israel. It would include the power He showed when He delivered them from Egypt, brought them through the wilderness into the promised land, and did many other marvellous works of power and grace. Today we can add the wonders of the New Testament: the Son of God becoming man, His life of great goodness, His sacrifice of infinite value, His resurrection, and His return to heaven.

We first meet Jah in Exodus 15:2, after God delivered the people from Pharaoh at the Red Sea. It appears often in the Psalms in the well-known compound Hallelujah, and it occurs in Psalm 77:11 too. If we look at the context of most of the places where it occurs, I think we will be convinced that it is not just a short form of Jehovah. It has a meaning of its own, reminding His people that He has stepped in with power for them, and will do so again.

Only the enjoyment of grace, felt and known, casts fear out of the heart of a person born again. And you can never work out grace from the inward experience of a heart that judges itself by the truth. The springs of grace are in God. They flow out to meet the sinner in the word of His grace… Light and joy come back to the sin-burdened spirit of the self-condemned believer in one way only. The heart must turn away from cutting itself open and look at Him in whom the brightness of the Father's glory shines in loving mercy on us, as the effect of His atoning work.

Before, we judged from the resources of our own heart. Now we judge from the favour and resources God has shown. Remembrance of His doings is one of the marks of faith. "They soon forgot his works."

A moment ago this broken-hearted man thought of God and only ended in complete confusion. Now his spirit revives at the fresh remembrance of God's ancient ways of truth and mercy. He finds heart and speech to trust Him and to speak His praise as he talks of His wonderful works. All turns to peace and hope when we remember God according to the proven truth of His own righteous and triumphant grace.

In verses 2 to 6, it was all "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all "Your" — "Your years … Your wonders … Your work … Your doings … Your way … Your strength … Your arm … Your thunder … Your footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.

It soothes the troubled soul of the psalmist to realize this: the sin of God's people can never be greater than the grace of God. He sees where the thought came from that God's people could be cast off. It came from the weakness of his own mind, which had judged God's ways towards His people by the way they had acted towards Him.

We exercise our minds when we use them for reflection and meditation. Of this the Psalms are full, speaking of meditation on God Himself, on His word and His works. It is often worth going over again in our minds the scriptures we have just read, the main point of a message we have heard, or some experience we have been through. That way we make sure we have taken in what it has to say to us.

This would include creation, then God's dealings in the flood, and His choosing and blessing of Abraham. It would include raising up the nation Israel, showing His power in their rescue from Egypt, and bringing them through the wilderness into the promised land, along with many other marvellous works of power and grace. Today we can add the wonders of the New Testament: the Son of God becoming man, His life of great goodness, His sacrifice of infinite value, His resurrection and His ascension back to heaven.

If our eyes were completely clear, where would we find one thing that could not be a text for speaking of the "works of the Lord"? And with what blessing to our own souls, as well as to the souls of others! Even the "wonders of old" are only the visible signs and marks of a way of working that everywhere carries the stamp of the same Author. Indeed that is what gives them their main charm and interest.

Now, meditating on all the work of the Lord, he found his tongue once more. He had found something which gave him a worthy theme. "I will … talk," he said, "of Your doings."

Verses 11, 12 describe the renewing effect on the tried spirit of turning like this from self to God. Meditation on His work first fills the heart with joyful assurance and a full sense of blessedness, and then makes the lips open in His praise: "I will talk of Your doings."

How infinitely precious it is to meditate like this on all God's work and to speak of His deeds! Thinking over all these wonderful works is more than enough to fill our hearts with eternal praise. In verse 19 we shall see that God's way is "in the sea," so far as our experience goes. Yet verse 13 gives us this assurance: "Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary." Certainly only in God's presence, in the calm of the sanctuary, will we truly learn God's way, and realize that no one could possibly be so great a God as our God, the God who does wonders.

In verses 2 to 6, it was all "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all "Your" — "Your years … Your wonders … Your work … Your doings … Your way … Your strength … Your arm … Your arrows … Your thunder … Your path … Your footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.

Suppose we fix the eye of our hearts, not on the seen things, not on the failings of others and on the peculiar things they say and do, but on the God who marches through the circumstances, who works His sovereign will, who has revealed Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ… we should be transformed! There could not be a greater contrast than between the spirit of these early verses of the psalm and the spirit of verse 13… borrowing the language of Romans 7, he was previously saying, "Who is so wretched a man as I am?" Now he says, "Who is so great a God as our God?"

When perplexed by the prosperity of the wicked, the soul found the answer to its difficulties in the sanctuary (Ps. 73:17). So, when puzzled by God's apparent silence while His people are in trial, he again finds an answer to his exercises in the sanctuary. There he learns that God has a settled way that governs His acts; that God is great and does wonders. In accordance with His way God makes known His strength among the peoples to redeem His own.

He quite recognised that God had worked great wonders in the past, as the following verses of the psalm show. Still, in saying, "You are the God who works wonders," he laid the stress on the present, and that is the great test of faith. It is comparatively easy to believe that God has done great wonders in the past, and that He will do them in the future. To genuine faith God is a present reality: He is a God who is doing wonders today.

What wonders does He not do in the hearts and minds of His saints? — lifting them out of themselves, in their littleness and feebleness, into the greatness and strength and love which is found in Himself. It is by faith that His people are enabled to endure, and out of weakness are made strong, for Hebrews 11 tells us this plainly. Still it is God who does it, and faith on our side simply lays hold on His strength.

His own perfection must hide Him. Yet He is not outside the knowledge of men everywhere, for "You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples." And in Israel especially — through His relationship to them — He makes Himself known, and known in the grace which this declares: "You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph."

Jacob is mentioned to indicate their unworthiness of the blessing, while Joseph indicates the place of blessing to which God will elevate His people.

He remembers Jehovah's works. When he reached Jehovah with his own humbled spirit, he reached One who had always been for His people, who had worked for them and redeemed them long ago. Their God became the source of his thoughts, not his own state towards Him.

The part of the body that can lift burdens and defend the person: Scripture uses it as a picture of the power and strength of God on behalf of His saints (Ex. 15:16; Ps. 77:15; Isa. 51:9). The arm of Jehovah is often spoken of in the Old Testament. It redeemed (Ex. 6:6); it gathers His own (Isa. 40:11); and it rules for Him (Isa. 40:10), as in the kingdom... God reveals the arm of the Lord to those who repent and believe the report He sends (Isa. 53:1; Rom. 10:16). Even the far-off nations are to trust in it — that is, sinners everywhere in creation (Isa. 51:5).

But Israel was not redeemed — though perfectly safe under the shelter of the blood — as long as they were in Egypt. So the second part, the completion of their redemption, came when God brought them out of the land of Egypt through the Red Sea with a high hand and an outstretched arm. There He destroyed Pharaoh and all his army in its mighty waters. On the basis of the shed blood, God — now satisfied as Judge — can act for His people as their Deliverer.

The use of the divine names is beautiful and definite. In the day of his trouble the psalmist seeks Adonay, the Deliverer of His people (v. 2), and asks, "Will Adonay cast off for ever?" (v. 7). He asks, "Has El [the Supreme over evil in holy power] forgotten to be gracious?" — "the El that does wonders" (vv. 9, 14), the Redeemer of His people (v. 15).

And here He makes Himself known especially in Israel, through His relationship to them — known in the grace which this declares: "You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph."

With His arm He will have redeemed His peoples, the sons of Jacob and Joseph (v. 15). The work of redemption was accomplished at Calvary, and believers today enjoy it. But Israel will share in the blessing of redemption only when the millennium comes in. Jacob's name shows how little they deserve the blessing, while Joseph shows the place of blessing to which God will raise His people.

Reuben lost the birthright by his sin, and it came naturally to Joseph, Rachel's firstborn. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were the two-fold witness of this, and so was the tabernacle at Shiloh in the land of Ephraim... It is no wonder, then, that Asaph should make Joseph prominent, since he goes back to the beginning of the nation.

Here the fifth section opens. God showed Himself as with His people and for their deliverance. In that we see how the powers of nature, in which He so much hides Himself, are still completely at His disposal, and work on behalf of those with whom He is. The psalmist is plainly drawing the picture of the deliverance at the Red Sea, though the history gives no account of the upheavals in nature he describes. The lesson drawn from it applies very widely.

"When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters saw You, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled." Nature acknowledged His power, while men doubted the Arm they leaned on, or else defied it after much experience. Nature did not only tremble and make way. The elements also gave themselves up to His will: "the clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; Your arrows flew far and wide."

What God did long ago for Israel is a lesson to study right to the end. That nation once knew redemption by power. Could God drop those He has redeemed? Impossible. By redeeming power at the Red Sea, God became their God, and they became His people. Light now breaks in on him in his trouble, and we hear no more of doubts about his God. A saint, and one of the redeemed nation — how could God forsake him? So he should expect deliverance, though he might not see the way of it.

The comfort of the soul is that God's way is in the sanctuary, according to the nature and ways of God Himself, so far as He has revealed Himself. If I look out and judge as a man, His way is in the sea — I cannot trace it; His footsteps are not known. Who can follow the One who arranges everything by a thought? By faith we do know God's own nature and character toward us. We can count on it in all He does, as faithful and unchangeable. But we cannot know and judge His ways in themselves. So the unbeliever is discontented and will blame God. The believer is happy, because he knows what his God is, and that is the key to it all.

We are encouraged to know that however great the confusion, God has a way through it all — a path through the wilderness — by which to lead His flock. It is good, then, for us to stretch out our hands to Him, even though at times we may have to do so in the dark.

Verse 16 reminds us of Israel's passage of the Red Sea, when the waters responded to God's action; but the main point of this section is what He does during the Great Tribulation, when creation itself will tremble because He steps in... But as in days of old He led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron, so He will lead them through the Tribulation by sovereign power.

Here the fifth section opens. God showed Himself to be with His people and to be acting for their deliverance. In doing so He showed that the powers of nature, behind which He so often hides Himself, are still completely at His disposal, and that they work for those He is with. The psalmist is plainly picturing the deliverance at the Red Sea. Yet the history itself gives no account of the violent upheavals in nature that he describes. The lesson drawn from it applies very widely.

Nature acknowledged His power, while men doubted the Arm they leaned on, or else defied it after plenty of experience. Nature did not only tremble and give way. The elements also yielded themselves to His will: "The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side."

Verse 16 reminds us of Israel's passage through the Red Sea, when the waters responded to God's action. But the main point of this section is what He does during the Great Tribulation. Then creation itself will tremble because He steps in. The clouds pouring out water (v. 17) stand in contrast to a gentle, refreshing rain. The water stands for the Word of God. It is a great blessing to the earth that drinks it in. But a flood of water is devastating, and so is God's Word in judgment. The lightning flashes that come with it can be terrifying, and so can the thunder of the voice of God.

But there is another side to this. God's way (v. 19) is in the sea, and His paths in the great waters. Thunder, lightning, storm, and rain come before this verse, and the earth itself shakes. We would very much like to go on to glory in calm weather, with no storms, but this can never be. God's way lies in the very middle of the storm and the trackless sea.

The comfort of the soul is that God's way is in the sanctuary, in keeping with the nature and ways of God Himself, as far as He is revealed. If I look at things and judge as a man does, His way is in the sea. I cannot trace it. His footsteps are not known, for who can follow the One who arranges all things with a thought? By faith we do know God's own nature and character toward us, and we can count on it as faithful and unchangeable in everything He does. But we cannot know and judge His ways in themselves. So the unbeliever is discontented and blames God. The believer is happy, because he has the key to it all: he knows what his God is, and he can count on how that God orders everything.

The devil might try to make the believer think that God is indifferent to the trials of His people and has cast them off. Yet faith knows that no amount of failure can thwart the purposes of God's grace. It encourages us to know that, however great the confusion, God has a way through it all — a path through the wilderness — by which to lead His flock. It is good, then, for us to stretch out our hands to Him, even though at times we may have to do so in the dark.

In verses 2 to 6, it was all "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all "Your" — "Your years… Your wonders… Your work… Your doings… Your way… Your strength… Your arm… Your arrows… Your thunder… Your path… Your footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.

Thunder happens rarely in Palestine. Scripture treats it as the voice of God in power — both in the Old Testament of the past and in the Revelation of the future.

"The Lord looked through the pillar of fire and cloud, and troubled the Egyptians." That was about two o'clock in the morning — about the middle of that stormy night. (Ps. 77:17-18.) Israel had reached the far shore. It was early morning, and God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea again, and "the sea returned to its strength." So the sea covered Pharaoh's army; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Nature owned His power, while men doubted the Arm they leaned on, or else defied it, after plenty of experience. Nature did not only tremble and give way. The elements gave themselves up to His will: "the clouds poured out water; the skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flew in every direction." But one thing has always seemed to man more like God showing Himself, and Scripture treats it in this way: "The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; the earth trembled and quaked."

Verse 16 reminds us of Israel's passage through the Red Sea, when the waters answered God's action. But the main point of this section is what He does during the Great Tribulation, when creation itself will tremble because He steps in. The clouds pouring out water (v. 17) are the opposite of a gentle, refreshing rain. The water stands for the Word of God, a great blessing to the earth that drinks it in; but a flood of water destroys, and so does God's Word in judgment. The lightning flashes that come with it can be terrifying, along with the thunder of the voice of God, making the earth tremble and shake (v. 18).

God's way (v. 19) is in the sea, and His paths in the great waters. Thunder, lightning, storm, and rain come before this verse, and the earth itself shakes. We would very much like to travel on to glory in calm weather, but that can never be. The way of God lies right in the middle of the storm and the sea that has no path.

God clothes Himself in these forms of nature, and now comes the lesson. His footsteps may not be known, yet this "way" is with His people and on their behalf: "You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." So in the dark as in the light He is the same. And in the dark, we can still trust Him.

Here is the lesson of God clothing Himself in these forms of nature. "Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters; Your footsteps were unknown." True as that may be, yet this "way" is with His people and on their behalf: "You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." So in the dark as in the light He is the same. And in the dark, we can still trust Him.

The comfort of the soul is that God's way is in the sanctuary, according to the nature and ways of God Himself, as far as He is revealed. If I look out to judge as a man, His way is in the sea — I cannot trace it. His footsteps are not known. Who can follow out the One who disposes of all things with a thought? By faith we do know God's own nature and character toward us. We can count on it in all He does, as faithful and unchangeable. But we cannot know and judge His ways in themselves. So the unbeliever stays discontented and will blame God. The believer is happy, because he has the key to it all in what the God is whom he knows. God is for us, and so He orders all things for us. He leads His people like sheep.

In all their troubles He led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron; note, the whole people. Confidence returns, and it is well grounded.

Once He led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron — the one the apostle, the other the high priest of that era. Neither apostle nor high priest was perfect, yet He brought them into the promised place. Today we are called to "consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession," and in Him we find perfection. He never fails.

God of old had led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (Psalm 77:20). Would their countrymen remind them of that? The Hebrews could tell of a Shepherd who far surpassed them — the Lord Jesus Christ, at once the great, the good, and the chief Shepherd. A great High Priest He is, a great Shepherd too.

By redeeming power at the Red Sea, God became their God, and they became His people. Light now breaks in on him in his trouble (13-20), and we hear no more doubts about his God. A saint, and one of the redeemed nation — how could God forsake him? So he should expect deliverance, though he may not see how it will come.

In days of old He led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. So He will lead them through the Tribulation by His sovereign power. It will not depend on whether any leaders arise at the time.

We are encouraged to know that however great the confusion, yet God has a way through it all — a path through the wilderness — by which to lead His flock. Good then for us to stretch out our hands to Him, even though at times we may have to do so in the dark.