Day 15 — Psalm 77

HEBREW

PSALM 77

Meditation on Israel's past

For the choirmaster, Jeduthun of Asaph, psalm.

Loudly I cry to God,

loudly to God who hears me.

When in trouble I sought the Lord,

all night long I stretched out my hands,

my soul refusing to be consoled.

I thought of God and sighed,

I pondered and my spirit failed me.

You stopped me closing my eyes,

I was too distraught to speak;

I thought of the olden days,

years long past came back to me,

I spent all night meditating in my heart,

I pondered and my spirit asked this question:

‘If the Lord has rejected you, is this final?

If He withholds His favor, is this forever?

Is His love over for good

and the promise void for all time?

Has God forgotten to show mercy,

or has His anger overcome His tenderness? Selah.

‘This,’ I said, ‘is what distresses me:

that the power of the Most High

is no longer what it was.’

Remembering Yahweh's achievements,

remembering Your marvels in the past,

I reflect on all that You did,

I ponder on all Your achievements.

God, Your ways are holy!

What god so great as God?

You are the God who did marvelous things

and forced nations to acknowledge Your power,

with Your own arm redeeming Your people,

the sons of Jacob and Joseph, selah.

When the waters saw it was You, God,

when the waters saw it was You, they recoiled,

shuddering to their depths.

The clouds poured down water,

the sky thundered,

Your arrows darted out.

Your thunder crashed as it rolled,

Your lightning lit up the world,

the earth shuddered and quaked.

You strode across the sea,

You marched across the ocean,

but Your steps could not be seen.

You guided Your people like a flock

by the hands of Moses and Aaron.

Next… Psalm 78