In the Day of My Trouble I Seek the Lord: Psalm 77-Supplication through the Scriptures
In the Day of My Trouble I Seek the Lord
Psalm 77
“I just can’t take it anymore.” Have you ever wept those words? Have you been in a situation that feels hopeless or life keeps stacking more and more on you and you are exhausted and your spirit is feeling crushed? The pressure from outside you and the weariness from within you combine to leave you feeling like you can’t bear up under the weight any longer. You are overwhelmed with the circumstances of your life. What do you do in those moments when your feelings seem supreme and they affect your thinking?
In Psalm 77, we see the psalmist overwhelmed by his trouble. He asks hard questions like, “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?” He’s feeling weak and angry, disappointed and sleepless. But at the end of his psalm, his confidence in the Lord has been renewed and he is hopeful once again. How did he move from distress to hope? We will walk through section by section so that today when our own thoughts and feelings start spiraling, we can stop the downward spiral and reorient ourselves to the truth.
In the Day of My Trouble I Seek the Lord
77:1-3 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
The first thing we see the psalmist do is he cries out to the Lord. His complaining and pleading are directed to the Lord. He doesn’t avoid the problem. He isn’t stuffing it down inside. He’s seeking out the Lord for an answer during his day of trouble. He’s crying out day and night. He refuses to be comforted. He rejects any lesser comfort than the comfort the Lord will provide. We sometimes seek for ourselves temporary comfort from our problems, but the psalmist presses on. He is real about what he is experiencing and how that affects his thoughts and emotions. But at this point when he remembers God, he moans. I can think of reasons the psalmist might murmur at God during in his distress. Perhaps he finds himself in a situation he just doesn’t understand. Maybe he, though righteous, is suffering along with the wicked. Maybe he has been crying out to the Lord for a long time, and waiting on the Lord has led to discouragement and a loss of hope. We do not know the details of the psalmist’s trouble, and there are times in our lives when others do not know the details of our trouble. But the Lord knows, and the psalmist turns to the Lord for help in his distress.
Let’s pause now and pray about those troubles that are pressing in and causing us to be weary and to moan:
▫️Lord, I cry out to You about this trouble. I don’t want to ignore the reality of what I am facing or how I am feeling about it. I know You hear me as I lift my voice to You today. You hear my weeping, my weariness, my distress. I am seeking You, even though I may at times have grumbled and complained about what You have brought into my life. It seems too much for me to handle sometimes. Lord, hear me today as I cry aloud to You.
The Hard Questions Refine What We Believe
77:4-9 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
The psalmist’s trouble is so distressing that he can neither sleep nor speak. He remembers the way things used to be, but “the contrast between the happy past and the agonizing present just heightens his sadness” (Longman). He asks hard questions that confront the extremes of his feelings. He knows the answer to these questions, but the depth of his emotions leads to questions he may not have thought about otherwise. Notice his questions are about the character of God and not his circumstances. Our circumstances force us to deal with what we truly believe about God.
Our feelings can be a gauge to help us refine what we hold to be true. When our feelings are loud and strong, we really need to evaluate what starts coming out of our mouths and what thoughts are running through our minds. How we answer the hard questions about God’s character in our suffering will determine if we remain in despair or we move to hope. That doesn’t mean that if we know all the right answers we will immediately leave despair behind and be instantly filled with hope. Reorienting thoughts and transforming feelings usually takes time and effort. A key component in the battle will be taking captive those thoughts and submitting them to Christ.
We must counter our feelings and thoughts with the truth of God’s Word. Am I calling God’s love into question? I must counter that with His Word that tells me, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” (Lamentations 3:22). So I can tell myself that even though the harshness of my situation makes me feel like God is not acting in love toward me, His Word promises me that His steadfast love never ceases toward me, His mercy is not at an end. He, in love, has brought me to this place, and His mercy will see me through. This requires God’s help because it’s hard work, but with practice and persistence, we can overcome the lies our feelings tell us.
Let’s pray, submitting our emotions and hard questions to God:
▫️Father, at times these troubles are so deep that I cannot even speak, and other times I feel so overwhelmed I just want to yell. It can be hard to not look back on better days and long for a different result or a different path than the one I’m on now. The past seems more abundant than the present. I know there are hard questions lurking in my heart and mind that call Your goodness into question. Forgive me when I ask those in doubt and unbelief. Help me to come to You honestly yet with reverence. Help me to submit my difficult emotions and questions to the truth of Your Word. Give me truth to combat the lies.
He is the God who works wonders
77:10-15 Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Even though the psalmist has asked hard questions, he doesn’t follow the path of unbelief. This may be the turning point for him. Instead of continuing in angry disappointment, questioning the truthfulness and character of God, he turns his attention to the Lord’s prior faithfulness to him. Earlier he had thought about former times and it had heightened his sadness, here he focuses on what God has done for him in the past, and his faith is renewed. He remembers his God is a God who works on behalf of His people.
Our God is not sitting idly by or unconcerned for His people. He has performed mighty deeds and wonders for His children. His way is perfectly holy, even His dealings with the psalmist and with us. We serve the God who has worked wonders and continues to work wonders. He did the greatest wonder of all by redeeming us with the life of His own perfect Son, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:32, 37). He did the greater thing, namely giving His Son in our place, will He not do the lesser and redeem whatever circumstance we face today? He provided our greatest need, He will provide all our lesser needs as well.
Let’s pray for a renewed heart and focus on His goodness and power for our trouble and distress:
▫️Heavenly Father, I can recall many ways in which You have performed wonderful deeds and worked amazing things on my behalf. I remember now when You ______ and how confident I felt in Your care of me through that answer. Help my confidence and trust in You to increase for my current trouble as I remember how You have always been faithful, not just to me but to all Your people throughout all ages. Your way is holy. All You do is just. You are the God who works wonders. Work wonders in this situation to bring glory to Your name and bring blessing to Your people.
He leads His people, sometimes with unseen footprints
77:16-20 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
We are now at the end of the psalm and we reach the point where the psalmist has looked “to the past and finds confidence for the present and hope for the future” (Longman). He remembers God’s great deliverance of His people when they had reached a place far beyond any human help. When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the Egyptians were eager for them to leave and the Israelites even plundered them on their way out of the land (Exodus 12:35-36). However, shortly after they leave, the Egyptians realize their folly in releasing all their slave labor, and Pharaoh and his army pursue the Israelites and overtake them when they are camped by the Red Sea. The Israelites are fearful, but Moses reassures them, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:13-14).
The psalmist remembers that when the Israelites were vulnerable, pursued, and trapped, God provided their deliverance in a completely unexpected way. The waters of the Red Sea parted at the raising of Moses’ staff, and the people of Israel passed through the Red Sea. “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen” (Psalm 77:19). Sometimes the greatest deliverance stories are the ones where God’s great hand works for us through the deep waters and not just a deliverance out of deep waters. We may not always be able to see day by day where His path is leading us, sometimes His ways are unseen, but we have this hope: our God is a “God who saves in impossible situations” (Longman). This is living by faith. We do not get to see right now all that God is doing, or all the ways He is working, or the fruit He is producing. But we believe that He is doing something more beautiful and more glorious than we could imagine. Like a shepherd, He is leading us as we walk through the trouble we face today.
Let’s pray for faith that trusts the unseen ways of God:
▫️Lord, I know the Israelites were fearful when they were trapped there by the Red Sea. Yet, You fought for them. You brought about a great deliverance. When I am fearful about my situation, remind me that You are the God of impossible situations. Nothing is too hard for You. Give me confidence in You that You are leading and guiding my steps. I may not be able to see where this path is headed, or how this will all work out, but I know You are working. I know You always do what is right and best for Your people, and You will do that in my trouble too.
May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All right reserved.
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