Comfort in Trouble from Recalling God’s Mighty Deeds.

For the music director; [a]according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

77 My voice rises to God, and I will (A)cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will listen to me.
In the (B)day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
(C)In the night my (D)hand was stretched out and did not grow weary;
My soul (E)refused to be comforted.
When I remember God, then I am (F)restless;
When I (G)sigh, then (H)my spirit feels weak. Selah
You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I (I)cannot speak.
I have considered the (J)days of old,
The years of long ago.
I will remember my (K)song in the night;
I (L)will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit [b]ponders:

Will the Lord (M)reject forever?
And will He (N)never be favorable again?
Has His (O)favor ceased forever?
Has His [c](P)promise come to an end [d]forever?
Has God (Q)forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger [e]withdrawn His (R)compassion? Selah
10 Then I said, “(S)It is my [f]grief,
That the (T)right hand of the Most High has changed.”

11 I shall remember the (U)deeds of [g]the Lord;
I will certainly (V)remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will (W)meditate on all Your work,
And on Your deeds with thanksgiving.
13 Your way, God, is (X)holy;
(Y)What god is great like our God?
14 You are the (Z)God who works wonders;
You have (AA)made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 By Your [h]power You have (AB)redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and (AC)Joseph. Selah

16 The (AD)waters saw You, God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The ocean depths also trembled.
17 The (AE)clouds poured out water;
The skies [i](AF)sounded out;
Your (AG)arrows [j]flashed here and there.
18 The (AH)sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The (AI)lightning lit up the world;
The (AJ)earth trembled and shook.
19 Your (AK)way was in the sea
And Your paths in the mighty waters,
And Your footprints were not known.
20 You (AL)led Your people like a flock
By the hand of (AM)Moses and Aaron.

God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.

A [k]Maskil of Asaph.

78 (AN)Listen, my people, to my [l]instruction;
(AO)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will (AP)open my mouth in a parable;
I will tell (AQ)riddles of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And (AR)our fathers have told us.
We will (AS)not conceal them from their children,
But we will (AT)tell the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His power and His (AU)wondrous works that He has done.

For He established a (AV)testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a (AW)law in Israel,
Which He (AX)commanded our fathers
That they were to [m](AY)teach them to their children,
(AZ)So that the generation to come would know, (BA)the children yet to be born,
That they would arise and (BB)tell them to their children,
So that they would put their confidence in God
And (BC)not forget the works of God,
But (BD)comply with His commandments,
And (BE)not be like their fathers,
A (BF)stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that (BG)did not [n]prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not (BH)faithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim [o]were (BI)archers equipped with bows,
Yet (BJ)they turned back on the day of battle.
10 They (BK)did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to (BL)walk in His Law;
11 They (BM)forgot His deeds
And His [p]miracles that He had shown them.
12 (BN)He performed wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the (BO)field of Zoan.
13 He (BP)divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand (BQ)up like a heap.
14 Then He led them with the cloud by (BR)day
And all the night with a (BS)light of fire.
15 He (BT)split the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them plenty to drink like the ocean depths.
16 He (BU)brought forth streams from the rock
And made waters run down like rivers.

17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To (BV)rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And in their heart they (BW)put God to the test
By asking for (BX)food [q]that suited their taste.
19 Then they spoke against God;
They said, “(BY)Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, He (BZ)struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He also provide bread?
Will He prepare (CA)meat for His people?”

21 Therefore the Lord heard and [r]was (CB)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they (CC)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the clouds above
And (CD)opened the doors of heaven;
24 He (CE)rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them [s](CF)food from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of [t]angels;
He sent them [u]food [v](CG)in abundance.
26 He (CH)made the east wind blow in the sky
And by His [w]power He directed the south wind.
27 When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even (CI)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 He let them fall in the midst of [x]their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29 So they (CJ)ate and were well filled,
And He [y]satisfied their longing.
30 [z]Yet before they had abandoned their longing,
(CK)While their food was in their mouths,
31 The (CL)anger of God rose against them
And killed [aa]some of their (CM)strongest ones,
And [ab]subdued the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they (CN)still sinned
And (CO)did not believe in His wonderful works.
33 So He brought (CP)their days to an end in futility,
And their years to an end in sudden terror.

34 When He killed them, then they (CQ)sought Him,
And they returned and searched (CR)diligently for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their (CS)rock,
And the Most High God their (CT)Redeemer.
36 But they (CU)flattered Him with their mouth
And (CV)lied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not (CW)steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful with His covenant.
38 But He, being (CX)compassionate, [ac](CY)forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them;
And often He [ad](CZ)restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
39 So (DA)He remembered that they were only (DB)flesh,
A [ae](DC)wind that passes and does not return.

40 How often they (DD)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And (DE)grieved Him in the (DF)desert!
41 Again and again they [af](DG)tempted God,
And pained the (DH)Holy One of Israel.
42 They (DI)did not remember (DJ)His [ag]power,
The day when He (DK)redeemed them from the enemy,
43 When He performed His (DL)signs in Egypt
And His (DM)marvels in the field of Zoan,
44 And (DN)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent swarms of (DO)flies among them that devoured them,
And (DP)frogs that destroyed them.
46 He also gave their crops to the (DQ)grasshopper
And the product of their labor to the (DR)locust.
47 He [ah]destroyed their vines with (DS)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He also turned their (DT)cattle over to the hailstones,
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He (DU)sent His burning anger upon them,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
A band of [ai]destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their souls from death,
But (DV)turned their lives over to the plague,
51 And (DW)struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The (DX)first and best of their vigor in the tents of (DY)Ham.
52 But He (DZ)led His own people out like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness (EA)like a flock;
53 He led them (EB)safely, so that they did not fear;
But (EC)the sea engulfed their enemies.

54 So (ED)He brought them to His holy [aj]land,
To this [ak](EE)hill country (EF)which His right hand had gained.
55 He also (EG)drove out the nations from them
And (EH)apportioned them as an inheritance by measurement,
And had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they [al](EI)tempted and (EJ)rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and (EK)acted treacherously like their fathers;
They (EL)turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58 For they (EM)provoked Him with their (EN)high places
And (EO)moved Him to jealousy with their (EP)carved images.
59 When God heard them, He [am]was filled with (EQ)wrath
And He utterly (ER)rejected Israel;
60 So that He (ES)abandoned the (ET)dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent [an]which He had pitched among people,
61 And He gave up His (EU)strength to captivity
And His glory (EV)into the hand of the enemy.
62 He also (EW)turned His people over to the sword,
And [ao]was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63 (EX)Fire devoured [ap]His young men,
And [aq]His (EY)virgins had no wedding songs.
64 [ar]His (EZ)priests fell by the sword,
And [as]His (FA)widows could not weep.

65 Then the Lord (FB)awoke as if from sleep,
Like a (FC)warrior [at]overcome by wine.
66 He [au](FD)drove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting disgrace.
67 He also (FE)rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount (FF)Zion, which He loved.
69 And He (FG)built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70 He also (FH)chose His servant David
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From [av](FI)the care of the [aw]ewes (FJ)with nursing lambs He brought him
To (FK)shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel (FL)His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the (FM)integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 77 Title 1 Chr 16:41
  2. Psalm 77:6 Lit searched
  3. Psalm 77:8 Lit word
  4. Psalm 77:8 Lit from generation to generation
  5. Psalm 77:9 Lit shut up
  6. Psalm 77:10 Or infirmity, the years of the right hand of the Most High
  7. Psalm 77:11 Heb Yah
  8. Psalm 77:15 Lit arm
  9. Psalm 77:17 Lit gave a sound
  10. Psalm 77:17 Lit went
  11. Psalm 78 Title Possibly, Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm
  12. Psalm 78:1 Or law, teaching
  13. Psalm 78:5 Lit make them known
  14. Psalm 78:8 Or put right
  15. Psalm 78:9 Or being
  16. Psalm 78:11 Or wonderful works
  17. Psalm 78:18 Lit to their soul
  18. Psalm 78:21 Or became infuriated
  19. Psalm 78:24 Lit grain
  20. Psalm 78:25 Lit mighty ones
  21. Psalm 78:25 Or provision
  22. Psalm 78:25 Lit to satiation
  23. Psalm 78:26 Or strength
  24. Psalm 78:28 Lit His
  25. Psalm 78:29 Lit brought to them their
  26. Psalm 78:30 Lit They did not turn away from their
  27. Psalm 78:31 Lit among their fat ones
  28. Psalm 78:31 Lit caused to bow down
  29. Psalm 78:38 Lit covered over, atoned for
  30. Psalm 78:38 Lit turned away
  31. Psalm 78:39 Or breath
  32. Psalm 78:41 Or put God to the test
  33. Psalm 78:42 Lit hand
  34. Psalm 78:47 Lit was killing
  35. Psalm 78:49 Lit angels of evil ones; another reading is evil angels
  36. Psalm 78:54 Lit border, territory
  37. Psalm 78:54 Or mountain
  38. Psalm 78:56 Or put to the test
  39. Psalm 78:59 Or became infuriated
  40. Psalm 78:60 Some ancient versions where He dwelt
  41. Psalm 78:62 Or became infuriated
  42. Psalm 78:63 Or their
  43. Psalm 78:63 Or their
  44. Psalm 78:64 Or their
  45. Psalm 78:64 Or their
  46. Psalm 78:65 Or sobered up from
  47. Psalm 78:66 Lit struck
  48. Psalm 78:71 Lit following
  49. Psalm 78:71 Lit ewes that wet-nurse, He

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