I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 77:1–20

I think I am safe in saying that anyone who walks with the Lord for any length of time has experienced some period of spiritual desperation. It is not abnormal. The author of this Psalm is in the middle of one of these seasons of spiritual desperation. There are indications of a mixture of faith and doubt. Verse one is a statement of faith, “When I cry aloud, aloud to God, he will hear me.” One lesson here is that desperate prayers get answered. Desperate prayers that don’t give up that is.

Out of this loud cry for help, which the author expects to be answered, comes his doubt.

 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

Psalm 77:7-9

But even his doubt shows the seeds of his faith. When he is questioning God, he is drawing on the revelation of the core character of God. Compare Psalm 77:7-9 to Exodus 34:6-7a where God proclaims his name to Moses.

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”

Exodus 34:6-7a

In his time of desperation, the Psalmist remembers God’s self-revelation. It is the basis of his faith.

During the times of sleeplessness, which he attributes to God, he prays, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Songs in the night belong to people who know the Lord. During his season of desperation, he finds it hard to sing his songs in the night, even though he can’t sleep.

Then comes to key to surviving a season of desperation. The Psalmist announces his strategy for dealing with his desperation. Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” The right hand of the most High is a euphemism for the power or strength of God. He appeals to the years of Israel’s and the Psalmist’s history of their experience with the right hand of the Most High.

Verses eleven through twenty are a rehearsal of some of the mighty deeds of God, the right hand of the Most High. The Psalmist ends the Psalm not with a shout of victory but with a calm assurance of the continued faithfulness of the God who led his people like a flock of sheep through his shepherds Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron succeeded in getting Israel to the Promised Land. There were many difficulties along the way, but the faithful God, through his miracle works and the sometimes faulting obedience of Moses and Aaron, got them to their destination.

So, what is the critical lesson from this Psalm for those who are in spiritual desperation? Appeal to the years of the right hand of the Most High. Look both to his ancient deeds in Scripture and to your own history of the right hand of the Most High. If you are a follower of Jesus, there was a point in time when you repented and believed and were delivered from your enslaving sin, just as Israel was delivered from their bondage to Egypt. You have your own eternally earth-shaking day of deliverance, your own day of walking through the waters of the Red Sea, your ultimate day of deliverance. Appeal to that day as your assurance of ultimate deliverance from your current day of spiritual desperation. You just may rediscover your song in the night.