Psalm 77 – By Pastor Paul

  Posted on May 28, 2023  by   No comments

“Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You lead your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Psalm 77:19-20

At times we hear the mocking voices of the world saying to believers in troubled circumstances, “Where is your God? I don’t see him!” “True,” the Christian says, “you cannot see God, but the evidence of His workings are more than abundant to show He is here!” This is a confession of the Christian, yet it is still something even the most mature believer struggles to hold to in the “in the day of my trouble” (Psalm 77:2). Have you ever been in days of trouble where you ask, “Where are you Lord?” The psalmist paves the steps for the follower of God to walk in the midst of trouble, looking for evidence of God’s presence.

First, we are to “cry aloud to God” (vs.1). Yes, it’s that simple: cry out fervently to Him who hears. Even when in the depths of our wearied spirit we ask questions like those in verses 7-9, “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?”  For, it is in the depths of our troubled circumstance that our earthly eyes are leading us to conclude that somehow God has changed His ways. But this is not so, for the Lord never changes. We are the ones that need to be changed, and the way we are changed is as we look to Him.

Second, we are to take those thoughts captive and test them to the Word. Of course the answer to all these questions posed is an emphatic NO. But how can the psalmist go from the present doubts about the promises, character, and nearness of God, back again to faith and trust? He must, “remember the deeds of the Lord,” “ponder all His works,” and “meditate on his mighty deeds” (vs. 11-12).  

Thirdly, the psalmist is led to specifically recount the redemption of God for His people Israel who he delivered from slavery in Egypt and brought safely through the great and terrifying waters. If, then, God has delivered His people in this way in the past, how much more will he be able to deliver in any and all troubles in the future. In addition, the psalmist acknowledges how though the footsteps of the Lord were “unseen” or unperceived, he was not at all distant from his people, rather graciously very near them. They walked through the waters by faith in an unseen God, who led them lovingly through the water like a flock is led by their shepherd.

You see, our troubled circumstances, our weary souls, and our despairing eyes can tempt us as believers to wonder if the Lord is still with us, or if He has changed in his actions and promises towards His redeemed because we cannot see Him in the moment. Just as the psalmist is led to cry out, so too, we must call out in prayer to our unchanging Rock of Ages. Though our soul may be tempted to doubt, we confront our doubts with the truth by recounting the wonderful deeds of our Lord, the Ancient of Days. Now we recount not the exodus of old (Red Sea), but the redemption seen in the cross of Jesus Christ, where the greater exodus event occurs, remembering we once were in the domain of darkness but now have been transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son!

How much more confidence can we have as New Covenant believers that if God has provided for us in the greatest need, surely God will lead his people through the troubles of today (afflictions, temptations, burdens, ungodly rulers, etc.) through a way unseen to earthly eyes, but through faith in the one who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He does by the hand of a better mediator and prophet than Moses and by means of a better priesthood than that of Aaron, one without beginning or end and as one who goes into the Holy of Holies, pleading with His own blood and ever interceding on our behalf.

When we look for God, we do not see a form, but we can see Him with spiritual eyes as we behold his mighty deeds which show us His character, attributes, holiness, goodness, and steadfast love towards us as his redeemed flock. How is it that we are so loved!?

At the conclusion of this psalm, did our circumstances change?  Probably not. Did God change? No, but as we recall the cross and the grandeur of the salvation we have received and we are renewed in faith in our God who is sovereign over all our circumstances, we are changed. Through His steps unseen and unperceived by the world and earthly eyes, He has opened the eyes of His people to see His mighty deeds, His character and attributes, and granted them to follow the voice of the true shepherd to pass through affliction, trials, and death unto eternal life.

God will remain unseen and unperceived by those who refuse to acknowledge him as Lord, but to those who would but diligently seek him and humbly cry out in the midst of their trouble, they will see and behold His great and mighty deeds, namely the cross of Jesus Christ, and this will be forever their comfort in the depths of any trouble. We also look forward to the final day when the Lord triumphantly returns to make all things new, with unveiled faces we will finally behold our Savior unhindered forever and ever as the redeemed of God!

Looking to Christ,

Pastor Paul