To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph
1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, the years long ago.
6 I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 "Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?" Selah
10 Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High."
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
This psalm clearly brings out the personal individual nature of all the psalms, for they are very different from the history books of the Bible, and different from the prophetic books of the Bible and also from the books of the New Testament. The psalms are personal, they speak of me and my relations with God, of you and your conflicts and sufferings, and how you or I or any other individual can obtain rest and peace and comfort and deliverance even in the present circumstance. The psalms are not primarily for the nation of Israel or the Church or any congregation, but for us personally, for you and for me as individuals.
That does not mean the psalmist did not see the social and national troubles around him. And, yes, he knew that he lived among people who did not care about their fellowship with God while he cared and was concerned. The troubles were his. His to bear, his to overcome, his to seek atonement for, and his before God without blaming others or God for them. Yes, they were annoying and terrifying to him partly because he was a human being like others and his flesh and bones and feelings were hurting, but inward peace was his desire. And very often this is just where we find ourselves.
Fortunately the psalm does have a resolution and there is a way to peace with God. It is a matter of the will, to be willing to seek God where He can be found, in His sanctuary not in my works or worries or wonderings or blaming others. Then Asaph recounts all the wonderful things that God has done in the past for others down through the ages, proving that God can give rest and peace and deliverance. And He is the same as ever. He has not forgotten to be gracious, He is good to all.
Perhaps the psalmist’s friends had been asking, “But how can you believe God if you do not know why He is allowing this to happen, and when you do not know what he will do next?” To which, if the author had been a New Testament believer, he might have answered, “I believe that Jesus did walk on the water of the Lake of Galilee, that His footprints were on the top of that lake, but I would not be foolish enough to try to find them today. He is God and I believe Him.”
Again in verse 15 we notice that he understands very well the difference between the rest and peace he so desired and what the merely human sons of Abraham were concerned about. He refers not to father Abraham but to Jacob after the promise of rest had been narrowed down to him and not his brother. And then he narrows it down to the only son of Jacob that we can be sure who did find rest, to Joseph. If we compare the older brother Judah with the younger brother Joseph we see no hint that the wayward Judah ever was a true believer or that he ever was interested in finding peace with God, but to Joseph that was most important thing. In his circumstances of bondage and slavery he rested in God knowing that God meant it for good just as he means the present circumstances that we are in for our good.
I am not a Jew as Asaph was but God had him write this psalm as much for me and my needs as it was for himself and for every other Jew. And whether or not you are a Jew the psalms are for your comfort and restoration too. They are for you without asking what your national or ethnic or religious background is. Let us each one get personal with God and cry as Asaph did at the very beginning of this psalm, “My voice is unto God.”
The old song said,
Footprints of Jesus that make the pathway glow:And we should follow the steps of Jesus as long as they can be seen in the sand, but when they are in the water our faith will be tested and we will still believe as the Psalmist did, and we will trust in God.
I will follow the steps of Jesus where e’er they go.
