Psalms 77:1

The Bible says in Psalms 77:1, “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.” Anyone who honestly calls upon the Lord will have his prayers answered. That is a given. That is always true, and so we are not surprised to read this here. God answers prayer, and so if you are a wise person, you will be a praying person.

The Bible says in Psalms 77:2-4, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.[3] I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.[4] Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” If you are a person of faith in Christ, and if you learn to pray about the average things in life, then you will be prepared to go to the Lord when the worse things of life come your way. The Psalmist was troubled terribly about something: he could not sleep and he could not speak. But he could pray.

The Bible says in Psalms 77:5-6, “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.[6] I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.” The Psalmist is greatly troubled, he is perplexed, and he is suffering terribly. What is he going to do now? In addition to praying, he thinks. He thinks about “the days of old” and the “ancient times.” Here is another way that the knowledge of the Bible shows its value. Remember all the things that God did for other believers. God does not change. He will do the same things for you that He did for others. In verse six the Psalmist said that he had a “song in the night.” Keep singing the songs of the Lord no matter what happens. It will help to keep you full of faith and happy. Also, the Psalmist thought about things deeply. He said, “I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.” If you seek an answer about your troubles, you will find an answer that is consistent with the Word of God and is full of faith. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.”

The Bible says in Psalms 77:7-9, “Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?[8] Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?[9] Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.” Six questions are asked in these three verses. We know why the questions were asked: because the Psalmist was suffering so very much. He is wondering why the Lord has not done something to intervene, and to fix the problems, and to rescue him from his current disasters. Why hasn’t God done something? By the way, the answer to every one of the six questions is the same: NO. No, God does not “cast off forever.” Once you accept Christ, you have eternal security. The only ones who are cast off forever are the ones who end up in hell. It is just that God does things in His time, not in our time. No, God will never be “favourable no more.” We have the favor of God always directed towards us because of the good deeds of Christ that are credited to our account and not because of our own actions. No, God’s mercy is not “clean gone for ever.” Because of the death of Christ on the cross, we always have God’s mercy available to us. No one should ever doubt the abundant mercy of God. God will always forgive any sin. God will never run out of mercy no matter how often we fail and no matter how wicked we are. No, God’s promise will not “fail for evermore.” God is not like man. God will always keep His promises. That is why when we read the Bible, we want to look for His promises: God always keeps His promises. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” No, God has not “forgotten to be gracious.” God is always gracious. That means that God always gives freely of His great gifts. God is the greatest giver of all. You do not earn these gifts because they also were purchased by the blood of Christ on Calvary. Is God still going to give to you after you have failed Him? Yes, because He gives freely. You do not merit the gifts of God or the grace of God. No, God does not “in anger shut up his tender mercies.” The wrath was poured out upon Jesus when Jesus was hanging on the cross of Calvary. If you are a believer in Jesus, there is no anger from God for you: only love. That includes mercy. If you are a believer in Jesus, God will always have a kind and tender attitude towards you. That is why it says in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

The Bible says in Psalms 77:10-12, “And I said, This is my infirmity: 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 thy wonders of old.[12] I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” In these verses the word “remember” is used three times and the word “meditate” is used once. Use your mind correctly, and you will live a life of faith no matter how great are your troubles. Think about what is true about God. If you have been a student of the Bible, and if you have a history of trusting in the Lord, then you have many things to remember about the power of God and the love of God. The Psalmist remembered “the years of the right hand of the most High.” There was a time when the Psalmist went years under the blessings and power of God. But most things in life are temporary. The years of blessing were followed by a time of trouble, and the Psalmist had to remember all the blessings in order to help get him through the troubles. God can bless, God can help, God can fix the problems. We have seen it in the past and so we know that He can do it now too. Notice in verse twelve that the Psalmist said that he would “talk” of God’s works. One of the best ways to build up your own faith is to use words of faith. If you talk about the Lord, not only will other people hear what you say, you will hear what you say. If you use words of doubt and words of trouble, then you will think about the ideas of doubt and trouble. If you use words about faith, and victory, and the power of God, then you will think about and be built up by those words.

The Bible says in Psalms 77:13-14, “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?[14] Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.” God’s “way” is “in the sanctuary.” The sanctuary represented the closest presence of God. In our age the closest presence of God is found in a relationship with Christ. No matter how close you are, you can always be closer. But you must be close to the Lord in order to know His “way” for you. His way is the way of faith. That is why these two verses mention how great God is, how He does great wonders, and that He has great strength. When you think those thoughts and believe them, your faith increases, and you are able to trust in Him more and thus go His way: the way of faith in Him. God is in control. God is all powerful. Jesus loves me. God will do whatever it takes to make sure that whatever the Lord wants to happen in my life will happen. Notice that verse fourteen says that God “declared” His strength. God wants us to know how powerful He is, and He wants us to believe in that power every moment of every day. And so He has given us His Word so that we can read about His power in the Word and have our faith strengthened. Give attention to reading. Meditate upon these things.

The Bible says in Psalms 77:15, “Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.” If you want to think about the power of God, then think about the greatest miracle of all: to be saved through faith in Christ. Notice the word “redeemed.” That means to be purchased. A price had to be paid. That price was the precious blood of Christ. The power of God arranged all the events of the history of man so that Jesus would die when and how He did. Just to name a few of those events: the rise of the Roman Empire and the eventual placement of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, the granting of local rule to the religious leaders in Jerusalem except for the death penalty, the use of death by crucifixion by the Romans, and even the life of Barabbas so that he would be there as a condemned man at just the right time in order to give the crowd a choice between Jesus and Barabbas. And then the power of God has been manifested in the hearts of every true believer since the foundation of life on earth to bring souls to a willingness to believe. If you have been saved through faith in Christ, then that was the work of a mighty God who arranged many events in your life so that you would hear the gospel and so that your heart would be ready to believe on Jesus. If God would do all of that to save your soul, then He is going to make sure that everything else that takes place in your life will be arranged according to His will too.

The Bible says in Psalms 77:16-18, “The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.[17] The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.[18] The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.” Three quarters of the world is covered by the oceans of the world. In some places the oceans are many miles deep. In a storm the powerful waves of the ocean can do tremendous damage to the shore and to ships. But God commands the oceans and controls them. The apostles wondered at Jesus and said in Mark 4:41, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” If God can control the oceans, and the storms, and the rain, and the thunder, and the lightening, then He can certainly take care of our lives.

The Bible says in Psalms 77:19-20, “Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.[20] Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” A tremendous statement is made in the first part of verse nineteen: “Thy way is in the sea…” Compare that statement to what was said in verse thirteen: “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary…” Where is God’s way? Is it in the sea or in the sanctuary? God’s way is everywhere. You could go to the most significant building ever built on this earth, the temple, and you could see God’s way there. Even though the temple no longer exists, we can read about it in the Old Testament and learn what God wants us to learn about the holiness of God, and the truth from God, and the commandments from God, and God’s provision of food and forgiveness, etc. But God’s way can also be learned from all that He has created. If you understand the world around you, you will see God’s power and provision. You will see that God controls everything in His world. You will find His way wherever you look and wherever you are.

Verse twenty tells us one of the important aspects of God’s way. He leads His children. We are like sheep without a shepherd until we meet Jesus, but once we believe on Him, we are led each step of the way. That is a wonderful promise. The same things that He did for Moses and Aaron, He will do for each of us. He led them out of Egypt. He will lead us out of this world’s system and ideas. He led them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Jesus will lead us through the wilderness of this world each step of the way until we get to heaven. “He leadeth me, O blessed thought.”

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