Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 77:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 77:3. My spirit was overwhelmed. — As the verb is in the hithpael conjugation, the word must mean my spirit was overpowered in itself. It purposed to involve itself in this calamity. I felt exquisitely for my poor suffering countrymen.

"The generous mind is not confined at home;

It spreads itself abroad through all the public,

And feels for every member of the land."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 77:0 Has God’s favour of old changed?

Once again Asaph has a problem that is causing him much anxiety. (For his earlier problem see Psalms 73:0.) He cries to God in his distress but receives no answer (1-2). The more he thinks of God’s dealings with him, the more distressed he becomes. It seems that God not only refuses to comfort him, but even prevents him from sleeping (3-4). So as he lies awake on his bed, he thinks of God’s kindness to him in days gone by (5-6). God was gracious to him then; has he forgotten him now? It certainly seems so. It is as if God no longer helps him (7-10).

As his thoughts go beyond his troubles his confidence in the controlling care of God returns. The whole history of Israel is proof of God’s love and power (11-15). Events of particular note are Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea and God’s coming to his people at Mount Sinai (16-19). These events are an encouragement to Asaph. He knows that the God who guided Moses and Aaron is still the shepherd of his people (20).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

DESCRIPTION OF THE PSALMIST'S CONDITION

"I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he will give ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted. I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. (Selah)"

One may feel nothing but sympathetic concern for all of God's children who suffered the incredible agony of living through all of the sorrows that fell upon national Israel during those days leading up to the captivity. It was indeed a time of darkness and doubt for all of them.

"I sought the Lord" "My soul refused to be comforted" (Psalms 77:2)… "I remember God… am disquieted… and my spirit is overwhelmed" (Psalms 77:3). The trouble was due to the cessation of God's blessings upon national Israel in the manner that he had once so gloriously done. The impossibility was not with God; it was with Israel; their sins and rebellion against the Lord had finally reached a climax beyond which God was determined to "cut them off." The precious saints who still loved the Lord still prayed for the beloved nation; but God could no longer answer such prayers. Given the lack of understanding on the part of the saints, and the rapidly worsening conditions afflicting the nation, and their doubt is easily understood.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

I remembered God - That is, I thought on God; I thought on his character, his government, and his dealings; I thought on the mysteries - the incomprehensible things - the apparently unequal, unjust, and partial doings - of his administration. It is evident from the whole tenor of the psalm that these were the things which occupied his attention. He dwelt on them until his whole soul became sad; until his spirit became so overwhelmed that he could not find words in which to utter his thoughts.

And was troubled - The Septuagint renders this, εὐφράνθην euphranthēn - I was rejoiced or delighted. So the Vulgate. Luther renders it, “When I am troubled, then I think on God.” Our translation, however, has probably given the true idea; and in that has expressed

(a) what often occurs in the case of even a good man - that by dwelling on the dark and incomprehensible things of the divine administration, the soul becomes sad and troubled to an extent bordering on murmuring, complaint, and rebellion; and may also serve to illustrate

(b) what often happens in the mind of a sinner - that he delights to dwell on these things in the divine administration:

(1) as most in accordance with what he desires to think about God, or with the views which he wishes to cherish of him; and

(2) as justifying himself in his rebellion against God, and his refusal to submit to him - for if God is unjust, partial, and severe, the sinner is right; such a Being would be unworthy of trust and confidence; he ought to be opposed, and his claims ought to be resisted.

I complained - Or rather, I “mused” or “meditated.” The word used here does not necessarily mean to complain. It is sometimes used in that sense, but its proper and common signification is to meditate. See Psalms 119:15, Psalms 119:23, Psalms 119:27, Psalms 119:48, Psalms 119:78,Psalms 119:148.

And my spirit was overwhelmed - With the result of my own reflections. That is, I was amazed or confounded by the thoughts that came in upon me.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

3.I will remember God, and will be troubled. The Psalmist here employs a variety of expressions to set forth the vehemence of his grief, and, at the same time, the greatness of his affliction. He complains that what constituted the only remedy for allaying his sorrow became to him a source of disquietude. It may, indeed, seem strange that the minds of true believers should be troubled by remembering God. But the meaning of the inspired writer simply is, that although he thought upon God his distress of mind was not removed. It no doubt often happens that the remembrance of God in the time of adversity aggravates the anguish and trouble of the godly, as, for example, when they entertain the thought that he is angry with them. The prophet, however, does not mean that his heart was thrown into new distress and disquietude whenever God was brought to his recollection: he only laments that no consolation proceeded from God to afford him relief; and this is a trial which it is very hard to bear. It is not surprising to see the wicked racked with dreadful mental agony; for, since their great object and endeavor is to depart from God, they must suffer the punishment which they deserve, on account of their rebellion against him. But when the remembrance of God, from which we seek to draw consolation for mitigating our calamities, does not afford repose or tranquillity to our minds, we are ready to think that he is sporting with us. We are nevertheless taught from this passage, that however much we may experience of fretting, sorrow, and disquietude, we must persevere in calling upon God even in the midst of all these impediments.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 77:1-20

Psalms 77:1-20 :

I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me ( Psalms 77:1 ).

Now notice in the seventy-seventh psalm how the first part of it is centered around I. You might find it beneficial to underline every time he refers to my or I. The whole first part centers around I. "I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice. And He gave ear unto me."

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? ( Psalms 77:2-9 )

When my attention is always on myself, I do lose that consciousness of God and it does seem that I am apart from Him.

And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings ( Psalms 77:10-12 ).

And now he gets turned around in verse Psalms 77:12 , as he begins now to refer to God, "Thy work and Thy doings." And thus, the psalm ends in a brighter note than it begins, because now the emphasis is taken off of me and put upon God.

How many times they say prayer changes things, and I believe this, but how many times prayer changes me and changes my attitudes. While I'm in prayer, God is working and changing my heart and my attitude.

We had a friend in Huntington Beach who was an alcoholic. And the family was always in an uproar. He would get to drinking and just everything would break lose. And there were always the threats of divorce and threats of everything. So one night, the doorbell rang. I went to the door, and here he stood. And he said, "I need help. My wife is going to leave me. My family doesn't love me. And I just had a big fight, tore the phone off of the wall and all. And I need help. I need God. But there is no one who will pray me through." Well, I didn't know what he meant to pray him through, what he was trying to pray through. He said, "No one will just pray with me long enough." And so I accepted that as a challenge. So I said, "Let's go over to the church." We were living right next door to it at the time. And I said, "I will pray with you just as long as you need prayer."

So he went over, we went over together, actually, and of course he smelled like a brewery itself. And we knelt down and he began to pray. I knelt beside him and I began to pray. But I was listening to his prayer. And it was, "Oh God, You know how they haven't been treating me right. You know, Lord, how they are so mean to me, and they don't understand me." It was just, "Lord, You know them and how bad they have been," and so forth. And he went on for an hour telling the Lord how bad the family was and how mistreated he was and how unfortunate and everything. And after an hour I noticed there came a change in the prayer. "God, my life is really messed up. Lord, I haven't been serving You. I know I should serve You. God, I am sorry that I haven't been serving You, and I have failed You, God. And I repent, Lord, and I am sorry." And I thought, "All right, now we are getting somewhere." We finally have prayed through, and I found out what his praying through all of the garbage that he had in his heart towards the family. Now he began to deal with the issues of his own heart. And after about an hour of praying this way, then his prayers changed again, and they were sort of, "Oh Lord, I thank You for Your help. Lord, I thank You that You love me. Lord, I thank You. Father, thank You." And then pretty soon he was sleeping.

So I went back to the office and got a blanket and I covered him and I went home. And when I got home, my wife said, "Well, how did it go?" And I said, "Well, I don't know for sure, but I left him sleeping in the Lord." And I relayed to her how there was an obvious change in the whole tone of his prayer which sounded good. Next morning I went over to the church and he was already gone, so I still didn't know how it went. But that evening at five o'clock, the doorbell rang again, and there he was spruced up suit, looking great, and he says, "What time does church start this evening anyhow?" God did a real work, a change in his life. But it was when he got his eyes off of himself and onto God that God began to work.

And that is always true. We need to get our eyes off of ourselves, off of our situation, off of our problem. We are so self-centered. And it's usually reflected so much in our prayers, "I, I, I, I, I, me, me, me." But when we can get our eyes off of ourselves and begin to focus on God, that is when God can really work.

Before I was born, my cousin died of spinal meningitis, who lived just two blocks away from my family in Ventura, or from where my family was building their new home. And my sister evidently was exposed by her cousin, and she too had spinal meningitis, and for all apparent signals had died. She had gone into convulsions, her eyes rolled back in her head, her jaw locked, she ceased breathing. My mother had been a lifelong Baptist. But on the way to the Baptist church, she was passing by a Pentecostal church where she used to sometimes stop in and enjoy their services and didn't make it always to the Baptist church, because it was two blocks further up the street. And when she saw her little daughter lying there in that rigid position, she knew it was too late for doctors to help, and she went running up the street to this Pentecostal church, because she knew that they knew how to really pray. The parsonage was next door to the church and she went up and rapped on the door, and when the minister came, she held her daughter. She was hysterical and she said, "My baby, my baby. I need God to heal my baby." And so she laid my sister's stiff body on the floor and as she was just really hysterically crying out to the Lord, the pastor, Dr. Mitzner, said to her, "Young lady, get your eyes off of your baby and get your eyes on Jesus, and just begin to worship Jesus and praise the Lord."

My father had come in from the pool hall, where he spent most of his time. And when my mother wasn't there... they were living in a hotel while their home was being built, the Fasno Hotel there in Ventura. He said to some people in the lobby, "Have you seen my wife?" And a nurse said, "Yes, Mr. Smith. Your little girl, I think, is dead, and she went running up the street I think to the church." And so my dad took off for the church, intending to beat up on the minister and grab his daughter and get her to some competent help. But when he saw her lying there, he realized that she was beyond man's help, and he just fell down on his knees and began to cry out to God. The pastor kept encouraging my mother, "Get your eyes off of your little girl. Get your eyes on the Lord." And she began to turn her eyes upon the Lord. She began to worship the Lord and she said, "Lord, if You will just give me my little girl back again, I will give my life to You. I will serve You the rest of my life. I will minister; I will do anything You ask me to do, God. I'll be Your servant the rest of my life, but give me my daughter back." And with that, my sister regained consciousness, was instantly healed completely. They took her home, and she was just laughing and just completely well.

Two months later, I was born in the Big Sisters Hospital in Ventura. When the doctors came in and told my mother, "You have a baby boy," she closed her eyes and said, "Lord, I will fulfill my vow to You through my son." My dad went down the hallway of the hospital saying, "Praise the Lord. It's a boy!" And so I grew up in a godly environment.

But the importance of getting your eyes off of yourself and on the Lord. How it changes the whole situation. I'll tell you, you get your eyes on yourself and your surrounding circumstances and you can go down fast. There is no quicker way to sink than to get your eyes on the waves and on your surrounding circumstances, upon yourself. But you get your eyes upon the Lord and you can walk on water.

So the psalmist began, eyes on himself. "I, I, me, my, me, I, I." But then he turns in the middle of the psalm and now the attention is towards the Lord. And thus, the psalm ends in a note of victory.

Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron ( Psalms 77:14-20 ).

So turning the situation around. Get your eyes off of yourself and get your eyes on the Lord, and you'll come in to the victory. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Some unspecified distress resulted in the psalmist’s insomnia. In his restless condition he cried out to God, but he received no relief (cf. Hebrews 5:7).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Asaph’s problem 77:1-9

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 77

Asaph described himself as tossing and turning on his bed, unable to sleep, in this individual lament psalm. He found that meditating on God’s deliverance of His people in the Exodus brought him comfort. This led him to ask God to manifest His power for His people again.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

I remembered God, and was troubled,.... Either the mercy, grace, and goodness of God, as Jarchi; how ungrateful he had been to him, how sadly he had requited him, how unthankful and unholy he was, notwithstanding so much kindness; and when he called this to mind it troubled him; or when he remembered the grace and goodness of God to him in time past, and how it was with him now, that it was not with him as then; this gave him uneasiness, and set him a praying and crying, that it might be with him as heretofore, Job 29:2, or rather he remembered the greatness and majesty of God, his power and his justice, his purity and holiness, and himself as a worm, a poor weak creature, sinful dust and ashes, not able to stand before him; he considered him not as his father and friend, but as an angry Judge, incensed against him, and demanding satisfaction of him:

I complained; of sin and sorrow, of affliction and distress: or "I prayed", or "meditated" l; he thought on his case, and prayed over it, and poured out his complaint unto God, yet found no relief:

and my spirit was overwhelmed; covered with grief and sorrow, pressed down with affliction, ready to sink and faint under it:

Selah: Job 29:2- :.

l אשיחה "meditabor", Montanus, Junius Tremellius, Gejerus "meditabor", Musculus, Piscator, Cocceius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician, to Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.

      1 I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.   2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.   3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.   4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.   5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.   6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.   7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?   8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?   9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.   10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

      We have here the lively portraiture of a good man under prevailing melancholy, fallen into and sinking in that horrible pit and that miry clay, but struggling to get out. Drooping saints, that are of a sorrowful spirit, may here as in a glass see their own faces. The conflict which the psalmist had with his griefs and fears seems to have been over when he penned this record of it; for he says (Psalms 77:1; Psalms 77:1), I cried unto God, and he gave ear unto me, which, while the struggle lasted, he had not the comfortable sense of, as he had afterwards; but he inserts it in the beginning of his narrative as an intimation that his trouble did not end in despair; for God heard him, and, at length, he knew that he heard him. Observe,

      I. His melancholy prayers. Being afflicted, he prayed (James 5:13), and, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly (Psalms 77:1; Psalms 77:1): My voice was unto God, and I cried, even with my voice unto God. He was full of complaints, loud complaints, but he directed them to God, and turned them all into prayers, vocal prayers, very earnest and importunate. Thus he gave vent to his grief and gained some ease; and thus he took the right way in order to relief (Psalms 77:2; Psalms 77:2): In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. Note, Days of trouble must be days of prayer, days of inward trouble especially, when God seems to have withdrawn from us; we must seek him and seek till we find him. In the day of his trouble he did not seek for the diversion of business or recreation, to shake off his trouble that way, but he sought God, and his favour and grace. Those that are under trouble of mind must not think to drink it away, or laugh it away, but must pray it away. My hand was stretched out in the night and ceased not; so Dr. Hammond reads the following words, as speaking the incessant importunity of his prayers. Compare Psalms 143:5; Psalms 143:6.

      II. His melancholy grief. Grief may then be called melancholy indeed, 1. When it admits of no intermission; such was his: My sore, or wound, ran in the night, and bled inwardly, and it ceased not, no, not in the time appointed for rest and sleep. 2. When it admits of no consolation; and that also as his case: My soul refused to be comforted; he had no mind to hearken to those that would be his comforters. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that sings songs to a heavy heart,Proverbs 25:20. Nor had he any mind to think of those things that would be his comforts; he put them far from him, as one that indulged himself in sorrow. Those that are in sorrow, upon any account, do not only prejudice themselves, but affront God, if they refuse to be comforted.

      III. His melancholy musings. He pored so much upon the trouble, whatever it was, personal or public, that, 1. The methods that should have relieved him did but increase his grief, Psalms 77:3; Psalms 77:3. (1.) One would have thought that the remembrance of God would comfort him, but it did not: I remembered God and was troubled, as poor Job (Job 23:15; Job 23:15); I am troubled at his presence; when I consider I am afraid of him. When he remembered God his thoughts fastened only upon his justice, and wrath, and dreadful majesty, and thus God himself became a terror to him. (2.) One would have thought that pouring out his soul before God would give him ease, but it did not; he complained, and yet his spirit was overwhelmed, and sank under the load. 2. The means of his present relief were denied him, Psalms 77:4; Psalms 77:4. He could not enjoy sleep, which, if it be quiet and refreshing, is a parenthesis to our griefs and cares: "Thou holdest my eyes waking with thy terrors, which make me full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day." He could not speak, by reason of the disorder of his thoughts, the tumult of his spirits, and the confusion his mind was in: He kept silence even from good while his heart was hot within him; he was ready to burst like a new bottle (Job 32:19), and yet so troubled that he could not speak and refresh himself. Grief never preys so much upon the spirits as when it is thus smothered and pent up.

      IV. His melancholy reflections (Psalms 77:5; Psalms 77:6): "I have considered the days of old, and compared them with the present days; and our former prosperity does but aggravate our present calamities: for we see not the wonders that our fathers told us off." Melancholy people are apt to pore altogether upon the days of old and the years of ancient times, and to magnify them, for the justifying of their own uneasiness and discontent at the present posture of affairs. But say not thou that the former days were better than these, because it is more than thou knowest whether they were or no, Ecclesiastes 7:10. Neither let the remembrance of the comforts we have lost make us unthankful for those that are left, or impatient under our crosses. Particularly, he called to remembrance his song in the night, the comforts with which he had supported himself in his former sorrows and entertained himself in his former solitude. These songs he remembered, and tried if he could not sing them over again; but he was out of tune for them, and the remembrance of them did but pour out his soul in him,Psalms 43:4. See Job 35:10.

      V. His melancholy fears and apprehensions: "I communed with my own heart,Psalms 77:6; Psalms 77:6. Come, my soul, what will be the issue of these things? What can I think of them and what can I expect they will come to at last? I made diligent search into the causes of my trouble, enquiring wherefore God contended with me and what would be the consequences of it. And thus I began to reason, Will the Lord cast off for ever, as he does for the present? He is not now favourable; and will he be favourable no more? His mercy is now gone; and is it clean gone for ever? His promise now fails; and does it fail for evermore? God is not now gracious; but has he forgotten to be gracious? His tender mercies have been withheld, perhaps in wisdom; but are they shut up, shut up in anger?" Psalms 77:7-9; Psalms 77:7-9. This is the language of a disconsolate deserted soul, walking in darkness and having no light, a case not uncommon even with those that fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servant,Isaiah 50:10. He may here be looked upon, 1. As groaning under a sore trouble. God hid his face from him, and withdrew the usual tokens of his favour. Note, Spiritual trouble is of all trouble most grievous to a gracious soul; nothing wounds and pierces it like the apprehensions of God's being angry, the suspending of his favour and the superseding of his promise; this wounds the spirit; and who can bear that? 2. As grappling with a strong temptation. Note, God's own people, in a cloudy and dark day, may be tempted to make desperate conclusions about their own spiritual state and the condition of God's church and kingdom in the world, and, as to both, to give up all for gone. We may be tempted to think that God has abandoned us and cast us off, that the covenant of grace fails us, and that the tender mercy of our God shall be for ever withheld from us. But we must not give way to such suggestions as these. If fear and melancholy ask such peevish questions, let faith answer them from the Scripture: Will the Lord cast off for ever? God forbid, Romans 11:1. No; the Lord will not cast off his people,Psalms 94:14. Will he be favourable no more? Yes, he will; for, though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion,Lamentations 3:32. Is his mercy clean gone for ever? No; his mercy endures for ever; as it is from everlasting, it is to everlasting,Psalms 103:17. Doth his promise fail for evermore? No; it is impossible for God to lie,Hebrews 6:18. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? No; he cannot deny himself, and his own name which he hath proclaimed gracious and merciful,Exodus 34:6. Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? No; they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23); and therefore, How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?Hosea 11:8; Hosea 11:9. Thus was he going on with his dark and dismal apprehensions when, on a sudden, he first checked himself with that word, Selah, "Stop there; go no further; let us hear no more of these unbelieving surmises;" and he then chid himself (Psalms 77:10; Psalms 77:10): I said, This is my infirmity. He is soon aware that it is not well said, and therefore, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? I said, This is my affliction" (so some understand it); "This is the calamity that falls to my lot and I must make the best of it; every one has his affliction, his trouble in the flesh; and this is mine, the cross I must take up." Or, rather, "This is my sin; it is my iniquity, the plague of my own heart." These doubts and fears proceed from the want and weakness of faith and the corruption of a distempered mind. note, (1.) We all know that concerning ourselves of which we must say, "This is our infirmity, a sin that most easily besets us." (2.) Despondency of spirit, and distrust of God, under affliction, are too often the infirmities of good people, and, as such, are to be reflected upon by us with sorrow and shame, as by the psalmist here: This is my infirmity. When at any time it is working in us we must thus suppress the rising of it, and not suffer the evil spirit to speak. We must argue down the insurrections of unbelief, as the psalmist here: But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. He had been considering the years of ancient times (Psalms 77:5; Psalms 77:5), the blessings formerly enjoyed, the remembrance of which did only add to his grief; but now he considered them as the years of the right hand of the Most High, that those blessings of ancient times came from the Ancient of days, from the power and sovereign disposal of his right hand who is over all, God, blessed for ever, and this satisfied him; for may not the Most High with his right hand make what changes he pleases?