Psalms 77

1 For the chief musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph. I will call out with my voice to God; I will call with my voice to God, and my God will hear me.

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

2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; at night I stretched my hands out, and they would not become tired. 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 thought of God as I groaned; I thought about him as I grew faint. (Selah)

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

4 You held my eyes open; I was 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 thought about the days of old, about times long past.

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

6 During the night I called to mind the song I once sang. I thought carefully and tried to understand what had happened.

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

7 Will the Lord reject me forever? Will he never again show me favor?

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

8 Was his covenant faithfulness gone forever? Had his promise failed forever?

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

9 Had God forgotten to be gracious? Had his anger shut off his compassion? (Selah)

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 I said, “This is my sorrow: the changing of the right hand of the Most High toward us.”

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 But I will call to mind your deeds, Yahweh; I will think about your wonderful deeds 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 ponder all your deeds and will reflect on them.

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

13 Your way, God, is holy; what god compares to our great 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 does wonders; you have revealed 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 You gave your people victory by your great power— the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)

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, God; the waters saw you, and they were afraid; the depths 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 down water; the cloudy skies gave voice; your arrows flew about.

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

18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind; the lightning lit up 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 Your path went through the sea and your way through the surging waters, but your footprints were not seen.

[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].