Remembering God in the Night

During our weekly Prayer Gathering this Wednesday, the Lord used Psalm 77 to grab our attention and help us in two ways:

First, with pleas that were exceedingly frank.  Asaph, the writer, says, “I cry aloud to God… In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying” (77:1-2). Here’s a believer desperate for God’s presence!  Asaph goes on:

“You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak” (v 4)—in other words, he’s lying awake in turmoil; sleep eludes him, and God seems distant.  Asaph asks pointed, penetrating questions: “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?” (vv 7-9).

Such blunt, honest anguish of soul!  Maybe even reading those verses makes you cringe—to think of being so bold with God!  But there’s more—a vital pivot to a second emphasis:

Asaph remembers.  In the midst of the tears and fears and sense of abandonment, the believer stops to say, “Remember!  Think back, focus in—and recall what the Lord has done.”

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.  I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (vv 11-12). This, of course, is where your Bible knowledge comes in; this is that place where Bible memory pays off!  In the midst of the bewilderment, or panic, or anger, go to the Word of God—his promises, and the accounts of his action.

Asaph recalls the Exodus story:  God heard the cries of his people.  And in the Lord’s good time, he took bold action to meet their need:  “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.  You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (vv 19-20).  What a story!  And what a God!  You can trust him—and sleep.