I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me.
PSALM 77
In the day of trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying. My soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan. When I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah.
You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled I cannot speak. I consider the days of old; the years long ago. I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search. “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has His steadfast love forever ceased? Are His promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious. Has He, in anger, shut up His compassion?” Selah
ThenI said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember Your wonders of old. I will ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds Your way, O God, is holy. What god is like our God?You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your might among the peoples. You, with Your arm, redeemed Your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters saw You they were afraid; indeed the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water, the skies gave forth thunder, Your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; Your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
What a Psalm! I feel the emotions of Asaph as he pours out his heart to God. He obviously knows God, knows God’s ways and knows God as a shepherd, a powerful shepherd. But his emotions are all over the place at this moment. I don’t think he believes for a moment that God has closed up shop, never again to be gracious or offer compassion, never again to be faithful, never again to offer His steadfast love. But there are, what some call, dark nights of the soul where, as Asaph says, “My soul refuses to be comforted.” I have had that kind of agony, and even though that was the feelings, and my ‘soul’ was refusing comfort, my spirit knew enough to reach out, spirit to Spirit – which is what Asaph did. At first he could only moan. He describes his spirit as one that faints.
When I remember God, I moan. When I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah.
This groaning is a loud, wailing kind of groaning. His soul was in an uproar and even his spirit felt weak. But then…
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search.
This reminds me of Romans 8:26-27 – “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
I am being reminded that SELAH happens a few times in this Psalm. One of those times is when he says “when I meditate, my spirit faints. SELAH.” So, he does just that – he pauses to reflect, to exalt God once again to the proper place in his heart and mind.
At first he said, “when I meditate my spirit faints.” Then he says, “Let me meditate IN MY HEART.” Something shifted for him. It causes me to ask a pertinent question – when I ‘meditate’ am I simply going on rote-control? Funny thought, but serious one. When I move from meditation that is not straight from my heart, but more from my head, I wallow in self pity and degradation – BUT…
In that ‘proper place’ where God is exalted, in those SELAH’s, I am free to ask the hard questions of God. Five questions came to Asaph’s heart as he puts his own soul on pause. They are:
Will the Lord spurn (reject) me forever?
Will He never show me favor again?
Has His steadfast love ceased?
Are His promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Is He so angry He has shut up His compassion?
Wow, those are hard questions, and only when processed through the heart can they be reconciled. Processed through the mind, or my soul, leaves me subject to current feelings, presuppositions that are based on past experiences, or some bad teaching somewhere along the line. When I pause and let my spirit be led by my heart, my redeemed heart, I am able to process God’s eternal goodness. I am able to do so eve when my soul just feels like it wants to wallow in despair.
Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy. What god is like our God?
You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your might among the peoples.
You, with Your arm, redeemed Your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
In the appeal of his heart, Asaph finds perspective! He appeals, he remembers, he ponders and comes to some conclusions:
God’s deeds are evident and provable!
God’s ways are wondrous!
God’s works are mighty!
God is holy and there is no god like Him!
God still works wonders!
God makes His power known to His people!
God, by His own arm, has redeemed His people!
By my count, that is a 5-7 win between the soul and the spirit! 5 speculations put down by 7 truths about God. That’s what happens when we let our redeemed heart do the meditating. When we pause, SELAH, and exalt the Lord our God; when my meditating is not speculating.
2 Corinthians 10:5 - We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters saw You they were afraid; indeed the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water, the skies gave forth thunder, Your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; Your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters, yet Your footprints were unseen.
The waters, the deepest of waters (fears, speculations, trials, troubles, insurmountable obstacles) TREMBLE when they see God!
Clouds, thunder and lightening are all under His control. Every problem thrown at me has no power because my God is in control! He is fully sovereign over all my life and my ways! He is a good, good God.
And even when I cannot see His footprints, He leads me THROUGH the sea and the greatest of waters. There are no problems my God does not foreknow, foresee, and forecast for His glory! He goes ahead of me and parts the seas! He goes before me and LEADS me through the depths of anguish, despair, sorrows and sufferings. My God’s RIGHT HAND REDEEMS ME! Past, present and future!
So, with a resounding NO! I Say, no matter what my feelings tell me:
The Lord will NEVER reject me!
He ALWAYS shows me His favor again and again!
His steadfast love NEVER CEASES! HIS MERCIES NEVER COME TO AN END!
His promises ARE ALWAYS YES AND AMEN!
God DOES NOT EVEN KNOW HOW TO FORGET TO BE GRACIOUS! It is not in His DNA
God’s anger is real, but He NEVER shuts up His compassion.
Nehemiah 9:17 - “They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them.
Psalm 86:15 – “But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.
I’ve Joel 2:!3 – “Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil.
To all this, I say, SELAH and GLORY!
SMCS 4/17/2023
