Psalm 77:3 Komentář

This psalm, according to the method of many other psalms, begins with sorrowful complaints but ends with comfortable encouragements. The complaints seem to be of personal grievances, but the encouragements relate to the public concerns of the church, so that it is not certain whether it was penned upon a personal or a public account. If they were private troubles that he was groaning under, it teaches us that what God has wrought for his church in general may be improved for the comfort of particular believers; if it was some public calamity that he is here lamenting, his speaking of it so feelingly, as if it had been some particular trouble of his own, shows how much we should lay to heart the interests of the church of God and make them ours. One of the rabbin says, This psalm is spoken in the dialect of the captives; and therefore some think it was penned in the captivity in Babylon. I. The psalmist complains here of the deep impressions which his troubles made upon his spirits, and the temptation he was in to despair of relief (Psa 77:1-10). II. He encourages himself to hope that it would be well at last, by the remembrance of God's former appearances for the help of his people, of which he gives several instances (Psa 77:11-20). In singing this psalm we must take shame to ourselves for all our sinful distrusts of God, and of his providence and promise, and give to him the glory of his power and goodness by a thankful commemoration of what he has done for us formerly and a cheerful dependence on him for the future. To the chief musician, to Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 77 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph. Jeduthun was the name of the chief musician, to whom this psalm was inscribed and sent; see Ch1 25:1, though Aben Ezra takes it to be the first word of some song, to the tune of which this was sung; and the Midrash interprets it of the subject of the psalm, which is followed by Jarchi, who explains it thus, "concerning the decrees and judgments which passed upon Israel;'' that is, in the time of their present captivity, to which, as he, Kimchi, and Arama think, the whole psalm belongs. Some interpreters refer it to the affliction of the Jews in Babylon, so Theodoret; or under Ahasuerus, or Antiochus; and others to the great and last distress of the church under antichrist; though it seems to express the particular case of the psalmist, and which is common to other saints.

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: See Gill on Psa 3:2. (l) "meditabor", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus; "meditabor", Musculus, Piscator, Cocceius.

Prayers are recited early in the morning so that the first movements of the soul and the mind may be consecrated to God and that we may take up no other consideration before we have been cheered and heartened by the thought of God, as it is written: “I remembered God and was delighted,” and that the body may not busy itself with tasks before we have fulfilled the words “To you will I pray, O Lord; in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will stand before you and will see.”

Let us flee from here. You can flee in spirit, even though you are kept back in body. You can both be here and be in the presence of the Lord, if your soul clings to him and you walk after him in your thoughts, if you follow his ways, not in pretense but in faith, and take refuge in him. For he is a refuge and a power, and David says to him, “I fled to you for refuge, and I was not deceived.” And so, because God is a refuge, and because he is, moreover, in heaven and above the heavens, surely we must flee from here to there, where there is peace and rest from labors and where we can feast upon the great sabbath, even as Moses said, “And the sabbaths of the land shall be food for you.” For it is a banquet, and one filled with enjoyment and serenity, to rest in God and to look on his delight. We have taken refuge with God; shall we return to the world? We have died to sin; shall we seek sins again? We have renounced the world and the use of it; shall we stick fast again in its mire?

..."My soul has refused to be comforted" [Psalm 77:2]. So great weariness did here possess me, that my soul did close the door against all comfort. Whence such weariness to him? It may be that his vineyard has been hailed on, or his olive has yielded no fruit, or the vintage has been interrupted by rain. Whence the weariness to him? Hear this out of another Psalm. For therein is the voice of the same: "weariness has bowed me down, because of sinners forsaking Your law." He says then that he was overcome with so great weariness because of this sort of evil thing; so as that his soul refused to be comforted. Weariness had well near swallowed him up, and sorrow had ingulfed him altogether beyond remedy, he refuses to be comforted. What then remained? In the first place, see whence he is comforted. Had he not waited for one who might condole with him?. .."I have been mindful of God, and I have been delighted" [Psalm 77:3]. My hands had not wrought in vain, they had found a great comforter. While not being idle, "I have been mindful of God, and I have been delighted." God must therefore be praised, of whom this man being mindful, has been delighted, and has been comforted in sorrowful case, and refreshed when safety was in a manner despaired of: God must therefore be praised. In fine, because he has been comforted, in continuation he says, "I have babbled." In that same comfort being made mindful of God, I have been delighted, and have "babbled." What is, "I have babbled"? I have rejoiced, I have exulted in speaking. For babblers they are properly called, that by the common people are named talkative, who at the approach of joy are neither able nor willing to be silent. This man has become such an one. And again he says what? "And my spirit has fainted."

Notice, too, what the psalmist said. When he told them, “On the day of my distress I sought God,” he also added, “My hands were stretched out”; further, “by night” and also “before him.” What is distress? What does it mean to stretch out one’s hands, and what does it mean to do so before God? There is distress when we suffer annoyances and stretching out of hands [when we engage] in good deeds. Searching by night occurs in this world when the truth has not yet shed light. This world will certainly come to an end and will meet Christ [in judgment]. And when Christ comes, he will be like the sun shining in the hearts of all people. Why did he add “before him”? The person who stretches out his hands performs good deeds. However, the person who thus performs good deeds in order to please people does not do so before God; that is, in order to please him rather than human beings. Quite rightly, then, “I was not deceived” follows; a person who has sought God in this way [may say,] “I have not been deceived.” He has found what he was seeking, and therefore he has told us, “Ask, seek, knock.”

This Psalm appears to have been occasioned by the removal of the sanctuary from Shiloh in the tribe of Ephraim to Zion in the tribe of Judah, and the coincident transfer of pre-eminence in Israel from the former to the latter tribe, as clearly evinced by David's settlement as the head of the Church and nation. Though this was the execution of God's purpose, the writer here shows that it also proceeded from the divine judgment on Ephraim, under whose leadership the people had manifested the same sinful and rebellious character which had distinguished their ancestors in Egypt. (Psa. 78:1-72) my people . . . my law--the language of a religious teacher (Psa 78:2; Lam 3:14; Rom 2:16, Rom 2:27; compare Psa 49:4). The history which follows was a "dark saying," or riddle, if left unexplained, and its right apprehension required wisdom and attention.

His sad state contrasted with former joys. was troubled--literally, "violently agitated," or disquieted (Psa 39:6; Psa 41:5). my spirit was overwhelmed--or, "fainted" (Psa 107:5; Jon 2:7).