Psalm 77 NLT
For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry out to God; yes, I shout.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord.
All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven,
but my soul was not comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan,
overwhelmed with longing for his help. Interlude
4 You don’t let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
VERSE 1-4 The Psalmist is crying out to God but actually the focus is on himself and how he feels – I was in deep trouble, … my soul was not comforted…. I moan longing for his help. The focus is on “I”, “Me”, “Myself” here
5 I think of the good old days,
long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and ponder the difference now.
Verse 5-6 – Just like most of us, after a period of long silence from God to unanswered prayers, the psalmist gets into a mode of comparing and contrasting his past life, younger, joyful, carefree days to the current miserable, troubled situation and how life has gotten so bitter.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? Interlude
10 And I said, “This is my fate;
the Most High has turned his hand against me.”
Verse 7-10 -Then comes the a period of blaming, doubting and questioning God, even His very character, His infallible qualities and unfailing promises. Sounds familiar?
11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
Verse 11-12 – In verse 11, “BUT THEN” suggests a SHIFT in his thoughts – a SHIFT of FOCUS from himself and his situation to the mighty GOD – a SHIFT from doubting God to acknowledging and recalling the wonderful deeds that God has done for him in the past. When we shift our thoughts to ‘remember and recall’ with a a heart of GRATITUDE, to what the Lord has already done in our lives, our perspectives of how we see GOD shifts. Note the Psalmist is not even talking about himself or his situation anymore!
13 O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of great wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
15 By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Interlude
Verse 13-14 The Psalmist’s perspective of God has now shifted from God forsaking him to God being holy, mighty, powerful, strong and the redeemer of His people.
16 When the Red Sea saw you, O God,
its waters looked and trembled!
The sea quaked to its very depths.
17 The clouds poured down rain;
the thunder rumbled in the sky.
Your arrows of lightning flashed.
18 Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world!
The earth trembled and shook.
Verse 16-18 The Red Sea seemed as an impossible insurmountable expanse of water to cross as the enemies were closing in on the Israelites, causing their anguish and distress and regret why they left Egypt and the good old days of slavery. Verse 16 says the waters of the “Red Sea” looked and trembled at God. Your insurmountable “Red Sea “ kind of problem for which you were crying out to God doubting him, was actually seeing God and shaking and trembling the whole time knowing that it has to dissipate, dissolve, disappear or shift grounds to give way to God’s purpose and plan in your life.
19 Your road led through the sea,
your pathway through the mighty waters—
a pathway no one knew was there!
20 You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.
Verse 19-20: Of course the Red Sea was looming as mighty waters that could paralyze you on your tracks but there was God’s road right through it, his pathway , his solution to your problem that was already laid, even before you came across the overwhelming expanse of water in front of your eyes. The Psalmist says “No one knew the path was already there!” No one but the ONE! God has a solution for His people long before the problem occurred. You just have to know Him and what He is capable of based on His track record in your past with heart of gratitude and awe. And you wait and watch how He is going to show up this time in faithful expectancy!
There is a saying ” Don’t tell God how big your problem is but tell your problem how Big your God is. ” When your focus shifts from you, your situation, your feelings, your misery, your doubt to WHO HE IS and WHAT He is capable of, perhaps you don’t need to know the HOW? And the WHERE? Only He knows the Path – a dry path under the Red Sea. You just have to know the One who knows the path. When God is in your boat in the middle of the storm, you just keep gazing at Him, recalling and testifying to all the wonderful deeds He has already performed and then wait in anticipation for Him to act , to reveal himself as the Creator who makes the wind and waves obey Him.
We all go through similar situations in anguish, pain, suffering, loss of a loved one, losing a job, breaking up with a loved one, unforeseen accident, a wayward child, abuse, questioning, doubting, not comprehending why we go through such situations, catastrophes and calamities in life but there is a ‘BUT THEN’ moment which simply starts with a heart of GRATITUDE to what He has already done, to shift your thinking to the Shepherd who will come to rescue just that ‘one sheep’ (You) by shifting the mighty waters of the Red Sea to reveal a dry path which He already laid even before the beginning of time.