Psalms 77

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

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.

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

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.

You held my eyes open; I was too troubled to speak.

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

I thought about the days of old, about times long past.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?”

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

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.”

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

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

But I will call to mind your deeds, Yahweh; I will think about your wonderful deeds of old.

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

I will ponder all your deeds and will reflect on them.

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

Your way, God, is holy; what god compares to our great God?

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

You are the God who does wonders; you have revealed your strength among the peoples.

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

You gave your people victory by your great power— the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)

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 you, God; the waters saw you, and they were afraid; the depths trembled.

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

The clouds poured down water; the cloudy skies gave voice; your arrows flew about.

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

Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind; the lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.

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

Your path went through the sea and your way through the surging waters, but your footprints were not seen.

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

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.