Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank the Father for the blessing of praising him and sitting at his feet, asking that meditation rest on him, trust him as Savior, and rely on him wholeheartedly.
Read
Scripture Passage
Psalm 77
The Consoling Memory of God’s Redemptive Works
To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I cried out to God with my voice—To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.
Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit makes diligent search.
7 Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His promise failed forevermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?
Selah
10 And I said, “This is my anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah
16 The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were afraid;
The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ps 77.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
The psalmist cries to God from sleepless, overwhelming anguish and honestly wonders whether divine mercy and promises have failed. He turns from despair by remembering God's mighty redemption at the Exodus, showing that past acts of covenant faithfulness give present sufferers reason to trust him.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Psalm 77:11
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember your works of old.
The transcript contains no explicit best-verse choice. Verse 11 marks the passage's decisive turn: the overwhelmed psalmist answers his anguish by deliberately remembering God's historic works of redemption.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Cry honestly to God when grief steals your words or sleep, then remember his past mercy. Look back beyond the Exodus to Jesus Christ, the true Passover sacrifice and Shepherd, and take present peace from God's unforgotten promises and continuing grace.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
So we did devotion Psalm 76 earlier today at 9 a.m. and so tonight it's 9 p.m. and we're going to do coffee and devotions now as a Psalm 77. Let me go ahead and make sure that this gets out to everyone real quick. We are almost ready. There we go. We're just about there. All right, so we are at Psalm 77. Thanks so much for joining me this evening. It's great to have you. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together. We get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. Well, why don't we go ahead? I have a little bit of tea here. I'm going to have some tea.
We'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, what a wonderful blessing it is to get to praise you in the morning and to sit at your feet in the evening. Lord, we pray that our meditation might be upon you, that you would be our savior, that we would trust in you with all of our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, here we go. Psalm 77. If you have a copy of your Bible, you're more than welcome to turn there with me now. Psalm 77. a psalm of Asaph.
I cried out to God with my voice, to God with my voice, and he gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled. I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Have you ever been that way before? where you've been overwhelmed by grief, where you've been overwhelmed by sorrow, when you've been so troubled that you cry out and you pray and you pray and you pray.
That's what the psalmist is going through here. You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night. I meditate within my heart and my spirit makes diligent search. Have you ever been there before? where it's like your sleep is being robbed from you, where you try to remember the Lord, where you're on your bed and you're trying to sleep and you're praying, but you just can't find rest for your soul. Isn't it beautiful that the scriptures don't hide things from us, but the Psalms are this full plan of emotions and the real reality of life. Will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more? Has his mercy ceased forever? Has his promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies?
And I said, this, this is my anguish. But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember your works of old. I will also meditate on all your works and talk of all your deeds.
Your ways, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great as a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders. You have declared your strength among the peoples. You have with your arm redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw you, O God. The waters saw you. They were afraid. The depths also trembled. The skies poured out water. The skies sent out a sound. Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea. Your path through the great waters and your footsteps were not known. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
What is the psalmist doing here? What is this about? This is what we're always asking ourselves. A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? The psalmist is saying, I've got problems.
Lord, I'm crying out to you. I don't even have words for how deep the sorrow is in my soul anymore, but I'm crying out to you, Lord. And as he's crying out to the Lord, there's only one thing he can do. See, he knows that the Lord listens to him. He knows that the Lord is hearing him. Indeed, that's what the scriptures tell us, that the Spirit prays for us when we have words beyond groaning. that when our hearts are hard and they're burdened with sorrow, that the Lord still hears us. And so what is this about? He goes from just crying and the sorrow, the pain and the pit of his soul, and where does he turn? I mean, the brutal honesty of this is incredible. Has his mercy ceased forever? Has his promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He, in His anger, shut up His tender mercies? No, He hasn't. Where does the psalmist go? Does the psalmist remember? how great and powerful and good God was when he drew his people up out of Egypt by his mighty right hand.
That at the commandment of the Lord, the seas were split. When God spoke, the earth shook. The Lord cared for his people. And if he cared for his people historically in the past, he would care for the psalmist today. Brothers and sisters, what is this calling us to do? I'm telling you God has spoken in his son Jesus Christ God has historically not just cared in the powerful way with Moses and Aaron But how much more with the shepherd of his sheep his very own son Jesus Christ God has not forgotten his tender mercies. God has not forgotten his promises.
The psalmist looked back and remembered the Exodus. We look back and we remember our sacrifice, our paschal lamb, our atonement, Jesus Christ. But we don't just look to the past. We look to where Jesus is now. And we can take comfort to know that God still loves us. His tender mercies are new every morning. So I don't know what you're going through today. It's late tonight. I don't know. Maybe tonight you might wrestle where you can't put your eyes to sleep. Look to God.
Remember his tender mercies in the past. Remember his work in Jesus Christ. And have peace in your soul. Let's pray. Father, what a blessing it is to know that you have not forgotten your grace, but it is new every morning. Father, we pray that we would fix our eyes on the things above, that we would look to Jesus Christ, and that we might have hope for today. Please give us sweet sleep as we rest in Jesus. In his name we pray, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you tonight. May he give you a great night of sleep. May you enjoy the peace of Jesus Christ, and I'll see you tomorrow, bye.