Psalm 77:1-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 77:1-10

We have here the lively portraiture of a good man under prevailing melancholy, fallen into and sinking in that horrible pit and that miry clay, but struggling to get out. Drooping saints, that are of a sorrowful spirit, may here as in a glass see their own faces. The conflict which the psalmist had with his griefs and fears seems to have been over when he penned this record of it; for he says (Ps. 77:1), I cried unto God, and he gave ear unto me, which, while the struggle lasted, he had not... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 77:1

I cried unto God with my voice ,.... Which is to be understood of prayer, and that vocal, and which is importunate and fervent, being made in distress; see Psalm 3:4 , or "my voice was unto God" F8 קולי אל אלהים "vox mea ad Deum", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, "fertur", Junius & Tremellius; "erat", Cocceius. , "and I cried"; it was directed to him, and expressed in a very loud and clamorous way: even unto God with my voice ; or "my voice was unto God"; which is repeated... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 77:2

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord ,.... Not the creature, for help, and creature amusements to drive away trouble, but the Lord, in private, by prayer and supplication; a time of trouble is a time for prayer, James 5:13 , all men have their trouble, but the people of God more especially; and there are some particular times in which they have more than usual, and then it may be said to be "a day of trouble" with them; which sometimes arises from themselves, the strength of their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 77:3

I remembered God, and was troubled ,.... Either the mercy, grace, and goodness of God, as Jarchi; how ungrateful he had been to him, how sadly he had requited him, how unthankful and unholy he was, notwithstanding so much kindness; and when he called this to mind it troubled him; or when he remembered the grace and goodness of God to him in time past, and how it was with him now, that it was not with him as then; this gave him uneasiness, and set him a praying and crying, that it might be... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:1

I cried unto God - The repetition here marks the earnestness of the psalmist's soul; and the word voice shows that the Psalm was not the issue of private meditation, but of deep mental trouble, which forced him to speak his griefs aloud. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:2

My sore ran in the night, and ceased not - This is a most unaccountable translation; the literal meaning of נגרה ידי yadi niggerah , which we translate my sore ran, is, my hand was stretched out, i.e., in prayer. He continued during the whole night with his voice and hands lifted up to God, and ceased not, even in the midst of great discouragements. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:3

My spirit was overwhelmed - As the verb is in the hithpaeI conjugation, the word must mean my spirit was overpowered in itself. It purposed to involve itself in this calamity. I felt exquisitely for my poor suffering countrymen. "The generous mind is not confined at home; It spreads itself abroad through all the public, And feels for every member of the land." read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:1

Verse 1 1.My voice came to God, and I cried. This is not a mere complaint, as some interpreters explain it, denoting the surprise which the people of God felt in finding that he who hitherto had been accustomed to grant their requests shut his ears to them, and was called upon in vain. It appears more probable that the prophet either speaks of the present feeling of his mind, or else calls to remembrance how he had experienced that God was inclined and ready to hear his prayers. There can be no... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:2

Verse 2 2.I sought the Lord in the day of my trouble. In this verse he expresses more distinctly the grievous and hard oppression to which the Church was at that time subjected. There is, however, some ambiguity in the words. The Hebrew word יד , yad, which I have translated hand, is sometimes taken metaphorically for a wound; and, therefore, many interpreters elicit this sense, My wound ran in the night, and ceased not, (286) that is to say, My wound was not so purified from ulcerous matter as... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:3

Verse 3 3.I will remember God, and will be troubled. The Psalmist here employs a variety of expressions to set forth the vehemence of his grief, and, at the same time, the greatness of his affliction. He complains that what constituted the only remedy for allaying his sorrow became to him a source of disquietude. It may, indeed, seem strange that the minds of true believers should be troubled by remembering God. But the meaning of the inspired writer simply is, that although he thought upon God... read more

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