Praying in Times of Trouble
Psalm 77
Main Idea: In times of trouble, we must keep remembering and meditating on God’s faithfulness to us in Christ.
I. Crying Out (77:1-3)
Rather than ignoring the pain, turning inward in despair, or venting to others, Asaph is committed to “crying aloud to God” in honest prayer (1 Thess. 5:17). Though he is in a ‘day of trouble,’ his ‘soul refuses to be comforted,’ and his remembrance and meditation of God only produces further ‘moaning’ and ‘fainting,’ he commits to wrestling with the Lord in lament.
Hebrews 5:7: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
“Praying in the midst of pain isn’t a guarantee the emotional struggle will immediately lift. He’s praying, but it’s not bringing immediate comfort or resolution. His prayers are not ‘working.’ Yet, he still prays. You need to know that lament does not always lead to an immediate solution. It does not always bring a quick or timely answer. Lament isn’t a simplistic formula. Instead, it is the song you sing believing that one day God will answer and restore. Lament invites us to pray through our struggle with a life that is far from perfect.”
~ Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
II. Asking Honest Questions (77:4-9)
Asaph’s trouble runs deep enough for him to lose sleep and become speechless (77:4). Even as he considers God’s mighty deeds in the past to try and find consolation during his sleepless tossing, this search only increases the contradiction of his present experience.
This "diligent search” of his own soul leads to Asaph asking six specific questions (77:7-9):
Will the Lord “spurn” forever?
Will he never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?
In his questions, Asaph is not merely “venting” or blowing off steam in anger; all of his questions are directly related to God’s self-disclosure of his very character and nature.
Exodus 34:6–7a: The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…
“The Psalmist is not just being a stoic and gritting his teeth till the storm passes. Nor is he simply venting his feelings. He redirects his thoughts and feelings toward the truth about God… The psalmist is arguing against his own heart, which had ruled that things were hopeless.”
~ Tim Keller, The Songs of Jesus
III. Remembering God’s Faithfulness (77:10-15)
Asaph keeps on “remembering” and “meditating” until a turn happens in his soul in 77:10, as he makes an “appeal” to a higher power and authority than his experience (cf. Ps. 111:3-5). This kind of remembering and meditation take both effort and time.
“The central Biblical strategy for coming out of darkness and discouragement and doubt is a conscious effort of the mind. Notice these strong words of intentionality: remember, ponder, and meditate… These are conscious acts that he chooses to do. This is the fight of faith. This is the fight for delight. This is the opposite of passivity and resignation. This is a strategy of life.”
~ John Piper, “I Will Meditate on All Your Work and Muse on Your Deeds”
As Asaph’s perspective is drawn up into worship of God, he praises God’s faithfulness, stirring his own soul to remember:
The Lord’s Holiness (77:13a): Though we do not always understand, we trust God’s ways are higher than our ways (cf. Isa. 55:8-9)
The Lord’s Greatness (77:13b-14): He is the God who works wonders and has made his might known in the past
The Lord’s Care (77:15): He has redeemed a people to himself and is working all things for their good
As this turn happens in the Psalm, Asaph’s attention moves away from his own trouble and predicament (18 references to “I” and “me” in 77:1-6) to the praiseworthy attributes and work of the Lord (21 mentions of God in 77:13-20). This is always the trajectory of prayer of lament as we move from heartache to hope and pain to praise.
IV. Meditating on God’s Salvation (77:16-20)
As Asaph’s prayer and song builds to a crescendo, his mind is drawn to God’s mighty salvation in the Exodus (Ex. 14) and in the wilderness at Sinai (Ex. 19). Asaph is reminding his own soul and the people of God that because the Lord has been faithful in the past, there is no reason to doubt his faithfulness in the present and in the future, despite what trouble they experience.
The Psalm ends with a reminder that the mighty God who delivers his people in glory and splendor is also a tender and near shepherd (77:20), present with his people through the wilderness and trials of life.
“Our central meditation ought to rest on the eternal excellencies of God in his holiness and how those perfections are known to us in Christ, who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. This foundation underpins the logic of remembering. We do not remember the exodus simply because it is vaguely encouraging to see what God did in the past; we look back to that event because it foreshadowed a later, timeless, supreme, wonderful work of redemption in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
~ Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary (Vol. 3)
Romans 8:31–32: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
