Psalms 77

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

Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of Asaph. I cried to the Lord with my voice; to God with my voice, and he gave ear to me.

2 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.

In the day of my trouble I sought God, with my hands lifted up to him in the night, and I was not deceived. My soul refused to be comforted:

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

I remembered God, and was delighted, and was exercised, and my spirit swooned away.

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

My eyes prevented the watches: I was troubled, and I spoke not.

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

I thought upon the days of old: and I had in my mind the eternal years.

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

And I meditated in the night with my own heart: and I was exercised and I swept my spirit.

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

Will God then cast off for ever? or will he never be more favourable again?

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

Or will he cut off his mercy for ever, from generation to generation?

9 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?”

Or will God forget to shew mercy? or will he in his anger shut up his mercies?

10 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.”

And I said, Now have I begun: this is the change of the right hand of the most High.

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

I remembered the works of the Lord: for I will be mindful of thy wonders from the beginning.

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

And I will meditate on all thy works: and will be employed in thy inventions.

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

Thy way, O God, is in the holy place: who is the great God like our God?

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

Thou art the God that dost wonders. Thou hast made thy power known among the nations:

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

With thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people the children of Jacob and of Joseph.

16 [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.

The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled.

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

Great was the noise of the waters: the clouds sent out a sound. For thy arrows pass:

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

The voice of thy thunder in a wheel. Thy lightnings enlightened the world: the earth shook and trembled.

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

Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in many waters: and thy footsteps shall not be known.

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

Thou hast conducted thy people like sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.