Psalm 77 was written by a man named Asaph who lived in the time of Jeremiah. The
Babylonians, who sometimes are called Chaldeans in the Old Testament, had
attack Israel, and subdued it. But somewhat left it intact with appointed
rulers and if they cooperated and paid their tribute to Babylon they would be
left alone. But when the leaders rebelled against Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar
sent his armies to destroy Jerusalem and everyone and everything in it.
Jeremiah was prophesying and telling the people to surrender, or they would all
die. It is during this time that Asaph, the worship leader, is writing this
Psalm.
Asaph
begins this Psalm in the despair of darkness and is praying (vv. 1-2) and is
sharing how he feels. You get a real sense of his mood when you read these
first nine verses. As you read these verses, look how many times he says, “I”
or “my”. He is in a bad mood!
This sounds a lot like many of us when we are overwhelmed with a crisis that is
devastating! We focus on how bad things are and how bad we have it. We become
dark and moody, asking questions like Asaph does in verses 7-9. We feel like
God has forsaken us, as well as everyone else. So, what should we do?
During the crisis experiences of life, there comes a time when we must get ourselves
by the nape of the neck and shake ourselves out of pity into reality, and
that's what Asaph did. Notice how the “I” and “my” of Asaph’s inward focus in
the first verses changes in verses 10-12 into the repeated "I will". This indicates that he had come to the place
of decision and determination.
I
love what Oswald Chambers said in “His Utmost for His Highest” devotional on
May 20: “There are certain things we must not pray about moods, for instance.
Moods never go by praying, moods go by kicking. A mood nearly always has its
seat in the physical condition, not in the moral. It is a continual effort not
to listen to the moods which arise from a physical condition; never submit to
them for a second. We have to take ourselves by the scruff of the neck and
shake ourselves, and we will find that we can do what we said we could not. The
curse with most of us is that we won't. The Christian life is one of incarnate
spiritual pluck.”
In verse 10, Asaph sums up his mood and feeling with, “And I said, This is my
anguish”. I believe he is referring to the previous verses where he was
expressing his “complaints” and his “spirit being overwhelmed” (v. 3).
Basically, what he was feeling was that "God has deserted His people, and
this is a burden I must bear!" He was wrong, of course, because the Lord
doesn't change (Psalm 102:26; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29).
But Asaph by an act of will, decided to abandon his former posture of doubt, worry
and fear and determined to see the matter through, come what may (vv. 10b-12).
He decided to meditate on what God had done for Israel in the past and to learn
from His deeds what He was intending for His people. It is interesting that
Jeremiah personally expressed this same thing in Jeremiah 20:9, “Then I
said, "I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His
name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my
bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.”
Today, or whenever you are facing a crisis, by an act of the will and by the grace of
God, refuse to be overcome by it and begin to mediate on God’s Word and His
greatness, and I’ll guarantee you, you will find out that what the devil meant
for evil in your life, God will turn it into something good (Romans 8:28).
God bless!
