The Psalm records the writer’s experience of personal perplexity and darkness, which has been caused by the contemplation of Israel's national distress. Verses 1~3 describe the Psalmist's trouble, in which even prayer has brought no comfort. Verses 4~9 speak of his meditations on the brighter past, which lead to the question whether God has finally rejected His people. In verses 10~20 he turns for comfort to the story of God's wonderful works of old, and dwells especially upon God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt (v. 15), His wonderous manifestation of power at the Red Sea (v. 16~19), and His guidance of His people through the wilderness (v. 20).
Verse 77:10 is the pivot on which the whole psalm turns, from a description of an experience of darkness and sorrow to one of gladness and praise. The first part tells of sorrow overwhelming the soul. The second gives a song which is the outcome of a vision that has robbed sorrow of its sting. In the first part, a great infirmity overshadows the sky, and there is no song. In the second, a great song pours itself out, and sorrow is forgotten. The difference is that between a man brooding over trouble and a man seeing high above it the enthroned God.
In the first half, self is predominant. In the second, God is seen in His glory. A very simple method with the Psalm makes this perfectly clear. In verses 1~9 the first personal pronoun occurs twenty-two times, and there are eleven references to God by name, title, and pronoun. In the second, there are only three personal references and twenty-four mentions of God. The message of the psalm is that to brood on sorrow is to be broken and disheartened, while to see God is to sing on the darkest day. Once we come to know that our years are of His right hand, there is light everywhere, and the song ascends.
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