Psalms 77

1 For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me.

I cry out to God; I cry aloud to him, and he hears me.

2 In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.

Whenever have trouble, I pray to the Lord; all during the night I lift up my hands while I pray, [but] nothing causes me to be comforted.

3 I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint.

When I think about God, I (despair/think that he will never help me); when I meditate about him, I am discouraged.

4 You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.

[All during the night] he prevents me from sleeping; I am very worried, with the result that I do not know what to say.

5 I considered the days of old, the years long in the past.

I think about days that have passed; I remember [what happened in] previous years.

6 At night I remembered my song; in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered:

I spend the whole night thinking [about things]; I meditate, and this is what I ask myself:

7 “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?

“Will the Lord always reject us? Will he never again be pleased with us?

8 Is His loving devotion gone forever? Has His promise failed for all time?

Has he stopped faithfully loving us? Will he not do for us what he promised to do?

9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?”

God promised to be merciful to us; has he forgotten that? Because he is angry [with us], has he decided to not be kind to us?”

10 So I said, “I am grieved that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

Then I said, “What causes me to be [very] sad is that [it seems that] God, who is greater than any other god, is no longer powerful.”

11 I will remember the works of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.

[But then], Yahweh, I recall/remember your great deeds; I remember the wonderful things that you did in the past.

12 I will reflect on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds.

I meditate on all that you have done, and I think about your mighty acts.

13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?

God, everything that you do is holy; there is certainly no god [RHQ] who is great like you are!

14 You are the God who works wonders; You display Your strength among the peoples.

You are God, the one who performs miracles; you showed to people of many people-groups that you are powerful.

15 With power You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

By your power [MTY] you rescued your people [from Egypt]; you saved those who were descendants of Jacob and [his son] Joseph.

16 The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.

[It was as though] the waters [of the Red Sea] saw you and became very afraid, and even the deepest part of the water shook.

17 The clouds poured down water; the skies resounded with thunder; Your arrows flashed back and forth.

Rain poured down from the clouds [PRS]; it thundered [very loudly] [PRS], and lightning flashed in all directions.

18 Your thunder resounded in the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.

Thunder crashed in the whirlwind, and lightning (lit up/flashed across) the entire sky [HYP]; the earth shook violently [DOU].

19 Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found.

[Then] you walked through the sea on a path that you made through the deep water, but your footprints could not be seen.

20 You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

You led your people like [a shepherd leads his] flock [of sheep], while Moses and Aaron were the leaders [of your people].