Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

that his army was slain by the angel of the Lord. “When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morn- ing, they found corpses everywhere. Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.” (2 Kgs. 19:35,36) His arrogance and pride were broken. The story of his attack against Judah, Jerusalem and Mount Zion have turned into a chapter of praise for the great God who is known in Judah, lives in Salem and has his ‘lair’ on the mountain of worship!

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Spurgeon

PSALM 77: I REMEMBER YOUR WONDERFUL DEEDS The Pathway to Strength

Asaph, the author of this psalm, draws spiritual strength and encouragement for the present by look- ing back to the faithfulness of God in the past. His deep discouragement is overcome by the remem- brance of God’ goodness to him personally and his greatness to his people as he delivered them from Egypt. The one whose path is in the sea is a foreshadow of Jesus walking on the water and being Lord of nature. Verses 1-12 are centered upon the feelings of the psalmist as he uses the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’ 18 different times. In verses 13-20 Asaph changes his focus to think upon God and his works mentioning his name 21 times 1 . It is divided into 4 parts by 3 different ‘interludes’.

I THE PRAYER - 1-3 Interlude II THE PROMISE FORGOTTEN ?- 4-9 Interlude III THE PAST REMEMBERED - 10-15 Interlude IV THE PATHWAY THROUGH THE WATERS - 16-20

INTRODUCTION:

“For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of Asaph.”

While the author of this psalm is Asaph, it was written and assigned to Jeduthun for arrangement and for performance. Jeduthun was also known as Ethan in the Bible and along with Asaph and Heman, was one of the three main musicians who led Israel in worship during the reigns of David and Solomon. “David assigned the following men to lead the music at the house of the Lord after he put the Ark there. They ministered with music there at the Tabernacle until Solomon built the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Then they carried on their work there, following all the regulations handed down to them.” (1 Chronicles 6:31,32) Jeduthun was a versatile musician who was a vocalist as well as a instrumentalist; “David also or- dered the Levite leaders to appoint a choir of Levites who were singers and musicians to sing joyful songs to the accompaniment of lyres , harps, and cymbals.” (1 Chronicles 15:16) Jeduthun’s greatest contribution was fully realized as a prophetic musician who played the stringed instrument and proph- esied thanksgiving and praise.

“Jeduthun had six sons:…they worked under the direction of the father… who proclaimed God’s messages to the accompaniment of the harp, offering thanks and praise to the Lord.”(1 Chronicles 25:3)

I THE PRAYER (1-3)

“I cry out to God without holding back. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trou- ble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading. There can be no joy for me until he acts. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. IN- TERLUDE.” (1-3)

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