Psalms 77:2
in Psalms 77In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted.
KJV
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
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This verse in Psalms 77
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThere is, however, some ambiguity in the words. The Hebrew word yd, yad, which I have translated hand, is sometimes taken metaphorically for a wound; and, therefore, many interpreters elicit this sense, My wound ran in the night, and ceased not, that is to say, My wound was not so purified from ulcerous matter as that the running from it was made to stop.
This site's exposition
I cried out to God
on Psalms 77:1-3
The psalmist cries aloud to God and keeps his hands stretched out through the night. His soul refused to be comforted, and remembering God made him groan. The trouble itself is never named.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. All day long his distress drove him to his God, so that when night came he continued still in the same search. God had hidden his face from his servant, therefore the first care of the troubled saint was to seek his Lord again. This was going to the root of the matter and removing the main impediment first. Diseases and tribulations are easily enough endured when God is found of us, but without him they crush us to the earth. My sore ran in the night, and ceased not.
In this refusal to be comforted, David is not to be imitated. His experience in this instance is recorded rather as a warning than as an example. Here is no justification for those professors who, when they suffer bereavements or temporal losses, repine bitterly and reject every consoling thought. We have known persons who made mourning for departed ones the main business of life years after the beloved relative had entered into rest. Like the heathen, they worship the spirits of the dead.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
on jeduthun Concerning the decrees and the laws that pass over Israel.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּי֥וֹם | beyom | in [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| צָרָתִי֮ | tzarati | distress my | H6869 → | 73 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֪י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| דָּ֫רָ֥שְׁתִּי | darasheti | I sought | H1875 → | 164 times |
| יָדִ֤י׀ | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לַ֣יְלָה | laylah | night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| נִ֭גְּרָה | nigerah | it was stretched out | H5064 → | 10 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָפ֑וּג | tafug | it grew numb | H6313 → | |
| מֵאֲנָ֖ה | meanah | it refused | H3985 → | |
| הִנָּחֵ֣ם | hinachem | to be comforted | H5162 → | 108 times |
| נַפְשִֽׁי׃ | nafshi | self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
בְּי֥וֹםin [the] day of
beyomH3117 →2304 times
צָרָתִי֮distress my
tzaratiH6869 →73 times
אֲדֹנָ֪י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
דָּ֫רָ֥שְׁתִּיI sought
darashetiH1875 →164 times
יָדִ֤י׀hand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
לַ֣יְלָהnight
laylahH3915 →233 times
נִ֭גְּרָהit was stretched out
nigerahH5064 →10 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תָפ֑וּגit grew numb
tafugH6313 →
מֵאֲנָ֖הit refused
meanahH3985 →
הִנָּחֵ֣םto be comforted
hinachemH5162 →108 times
נַפְשִֽׁי׃self my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
it leads to
- Psalms 107:28
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Psalms 34:3–4
Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.
- Psalms 107:19
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
- Zechariah 13:9
This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
- Psalms 107:28
Through
Hebrews 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His…
it leads to
- Luke 22:41–44
And He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, where He knelt down and prayed,
- Matthew 27:46
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- John 17:1
When Jesus had spoken these things, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.
- Luke 22:41–44
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 853: “A Sermon for the Most Miserable of Men” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms and John Calvin, Commentaries.