When it is said
Pray it when you lie awake and your thoughts will not stop.
It gives words to the hard questions of the night, then turns from them to remembering what God has done.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
A psalm for a sleepless night
The Hebrew heading gives this psalm to Asaph. Its writer cries to God through the night, so troubled that he cannot sleep or speak (Psalm 77:4). Six questions follow, ending with whether God in anger has shut off His compassion. Then the writer turns to remembering what God has done (Psalm 77:7-12), and the psalm ends with God leading His people through the sea like a flock (Psalm 77:19-20).
The Hebrew Bible with the Jewish Publication Society’s 1917 English, on Mechon Mamre
Sung on the evening of Pascha
On the evening of Pascha (Easter), the Orthodox sing verses of this psalm at Vespers, just before the Gospel is read. The refrain is “Who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that alone doest wonders” (Psalm 77:13-14). The verses sung with it come from the place where the psalm turns, among them “I have remembered the works of the Lord, and called to mind Thy wonders of old time” (Psalm 77:11).
St Athanasius’s advice
St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to a man named Marcellinus about which psalm to pray in each kind of trouble. For a time when enemies have cut off every way of escape, his advice was to pray and not despair, even when shaken. When the cry is heard, the letter says to give thanks to God with the words of this psalm.
St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus, in Greek (the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae text)
What the words mean
Grief, or hope?
Translations differ over verse 10, where the Hebrew is hard. The Jewish Publication Society’s English reads it as grief, “This is my weakness, that the right hand of the Most High could change.” The Greek Psalter that the Orthodox pray hears hope in the same words. An English service book of 1891 gives them as “this is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High.”
The Hebrew Bible with the Jewish Publication Society’s 1917 English, on Mechon Mamre; G. V. Shann, Euchology (1891), Vespers on Holy Pascha
The Scripture in it
I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me. In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak. I considered the days of old, the years long in the past. At night I remembered my song; in my heart I mused, and my spirit pondered: “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again? Is His loving devotion gone forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah So I said, “I am grieved that the right hand of the Most High has changed.” I will remember the works of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old. I will reflect on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God Who works wonders; You display Your strength among the peoples. With power You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Your path led through the sea, Your way through the mighty waters, but Your footprints were not to be found. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.