Psalm 77

Psalm 77 is the 77th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 76. In Latin, it is known as "Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi".

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music.

Hebrew
The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

 * 1) I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
 * 2) In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
 * 3) I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
 * 4) Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
 * 5) I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
 * 6) I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
 * 7) Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
 * 8) Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?
 * 9) Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
 * 10) And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.
 * 11) I will remember the works of the : surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
 * 12) I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.
 * 13) Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
 * 14) Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
 * 15) Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
 * 16) The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
 * 17) The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.
 * 18) The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
 * 19) Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
 * 20) Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Content
The psalm begins with a cry of distress: the psalmist has been experiencing profound difficulties, and his cries to God appear to have been ignored; only his memories of the past seem to bring anything even resembling joy. However, the psalmist then remembers God's integrity and realises that the failure of his hopes is the result of misplaced expectations of God's actions, rather than God's failure to act. Recalling God's actions in the past and his rule even over the natural world, he concludes with praise of "the God who performs miracles" (verse 14).

Interpretations
Coming from an evangelical Protestant perspective, Charles Spurgeon deemed the psalm the words of a single individual, in contrast to others who had interpreted it as representing the voice of the nation: "It utterly destroys all the beauty, all the tenderness and depth of feeling in the opening portion, if we suppose that the people are introduced speaking in the first person." John Calvin observed parallels to certain other biblical poetry, such as Psalm 118:18 and the hymn in the final chapter of Habakkuk: according to Calvin, the three share a common theme of becoming aware of ultimate divine deliverance from seemingly intractable terrors.

Judaism
Psalm 77 is recited along with Parshat HaChodesh and is recited on the third through sixth days of Sukkot.

It is one of the ten Psalms of the Tikkun HaKlali of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.

Book of Common Prayer
In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the fifteenth day of the month.

Song
Peter van Essen's Dutch song, In het diepst van de nacht is based on Psalm 77.

Musical settings
Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 77 in a metred version in German, "Ich ruf zu Gott mit meiner Stimm", SWV 174, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628.