Psalm 77 (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

numbering: Psalm 76) is the 77th

psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

in the biblical Book of Psalms. In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

version of the bible, and in its Latin translation in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

, this psalm is ''Psalm 76''.

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).Spurgeon, Charles Haddon,
The Treasury of David: Psalm 77
'', digital edition, 2011. Accessed 2013-11-08.

Interpretations

Coming from an evangelical Protestant perspective,

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

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 Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost a ...

: according to Calvin, the three share a common theme of becoming aware of ultimate divine deliverance from seemingly intractable terrors.

Uses

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 ''Tikkun HaKlali'' ( he, תיקון הכללי, lit., "The General (or Comprehensive) Rectification"), also known as The General Remedy, is a set of ten Psalms whose recital serves as ''teshuvah'' (repentance) for all sins — in particular the ...

of Rebbe

Nachman of Breslov Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...

Song

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

References

External links

* in Hebrew and English - Mechon-mamre * King James Bible - Wikisource {{Psalms 077