Psalms 77

1 “For the leader of the music of the Jeduthunites. A psalm of Asaph.” I call upon God; I cry aloud for help; I call upon God, that he would hear me!

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

2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; In the night is my hand stretched forth continually; My soul refuseth 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 remember God, and am disquieted; I think of him, and my spirit is overwhelmed.

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

4 Thou keepest mine eyelids from closing; I am distressed, so that I cannot 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 think of the days of old, —The years of ancient times.

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

6 I call to remembrance my songs in the night; I meditate in my heart, And my spirit inquireth:

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

7 Will the Lord be angry for ever? Will he be favorable no more?

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

8 Is his mercy utterly withdrawn for ever? Doth his promise fail from generation to generation?

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

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up 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 Then I say, “This is mine affliction, A change in the right hand of the Most High.”

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 remember the deeds of Jehovah; I think of thy 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 meditate on all thy works, And talk of thy doings.

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

13 Thy ways, O God! are holy! Who so great a god as our God?

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

14 Thou art a God who doest wonders; Thou hast manifested thy power among the nations.

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

15 With thy strong arm thou didst redeem thy 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 thee, O God! The waters saw thee, and feared, And the deep trembled.

[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 out water, The skies sent forth thunder, And thine arrows flew.

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

18 Thy thunder roared in the whirlwind; Thy lightning illumined the world; The earth trembled and shook.

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

19 Thy way was through the sea, And thy path through great waters; And thy footsteps could not 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 Thou didst lead thy people like a flock, By the hands 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].