Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

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 77:4

Thou holdest mine eyes waking ,.... Or, "the watches", or rather "keepers of the eyes" F13 שמרות עיני "vigilias", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version; "palpebras oculorum meorum", Musculus, Cocceius; "palpebras quasi custodias oculorum", Michaelis. ; the eyebrows, which protect the eyes; these were held, so that he could not shut them, and get any sleep; so R. Moses Haccohen interprets the words, as Jarchi observes; and so the Targum, "thou holdest the brows of my... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 77:5

I have considered the days of old ,.... Either the former part of his life, the various occurrences of it, how it had been with him in time past, what experience he had had of the divine goodness; so the Syriac version renders it, "I have considered my days of old"; or the preceding age, and what has happened in that, which his ancestors had acquainted him with; or rather many ages past, from the days of Adam to the then present time; at least it may include the Israelites coming out of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 77:6

I call to remembrance my song in the night ,.... What had been an occasion of praising the Lord with a song, and which he had sung in the night seasons, when he was at leisure, his thoughts free, and he retired from company; or it now being night with him, he endeavoured to recollect what had been matter of praise and thankfulness to him, and tried to sing one of those songs now, in order to remove his melancholy thoughts and fears, but all to no purpose: I commune with mine own heart ;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:4

Thou holdest mine eyes waking - Literally, thou keepest the watches of mine eyes - my grief is so great that I cannot sleep. I am so troubled that I cannot speak - This shows an increase of sorrow and anguish. At first he felt his misery, and called aloud. He receives more light, sees and feels his deep wretchedness, and then his words are swallowed by excessive distress. His woes are too big for utterance. "Small troubles are loquacious; the great are dumb." Curae leves loquuntur;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:5

I have considered the days of old - חשבתי chishshabti , I have counted up; I have reckoned up the various dispensations of thy mercy in behalf of the distressed, marked down in the history of our fathers. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:6

I call to remembrance my song in the night - I do not think that נגינתי neginathi means my song. We know that נגינת neginath signifies some stringed musical instrument that was struck with a plectrum, but here it possibly might be applied to the Psalm that was played on it. But it appears to me rather that the psalmist here speaks of the circumstances of composing the short ode contained in the seventh, eighth, and ninth verses; which it is probable he sung to his harp as a kind of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:4

Verse 4 4.Thou hast held the watches of my eyes. (288) This verse is to the same effect with the preceding. The Psalmist affirms that he spent whole nights in watching, because God granted him no relief. The night in ancient times was usually divided into many watches; and, accordingly, he describes his continued grief, which pre. vented him from sleeping, by the metaphorical term watches. When he stated a little before that he prayed to God with a loud voice, and when he now affirms that he... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:5

Verse 5 5.I have recounted the days of old. There is no doubt that he endeavored to assuage his grief by the remembrance of his former joy; but he informs us that relief was not so easily nor so speedily obtained. By the days of old, and the years of ancient times, he seems not only to refer to the brief course of his own life, but to comprehend many ages. The people of God, in their afflictions, ought, undoubtedly, to set before their eyes, and to call to their remembrance, not only the Divine... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 77:6

Verse 6 6.I will call to remembrance my song in the night. By his song he denotes the exercise of thanksgiving in which he had engaged during the time of his prosperity. (289) There is no remedy better adapted for healing our sorrows, as I have just now observed, than this; but Satan often craftily suggests to our thoughts the benefits of God, that the very feeling of the want of them may inflict upon our minds a deeper wound. It is, therefore, highly probable, that the prophet was pierced with... read more

Grupo de Marcas