Notes (NET Translation)
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.
1 I will cry out to God and call for help! I will cry out to God and he will pay attention to me.
The psalm begins as a lament (vv. 1-9).
2 In my time of trouble I sought the Lord. I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. I refused to be comforted.
The nature of the “trouble” is not stated but the psalmist later wonders whether God has rejected him forever (vv. 7-9). He will not be comforted as long as the trouble persists.
3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan; I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” (Selah)
4 You held my eyelids open; I was troubled and could not speak.
The first clause means the psalmist attributes his inability to sleep to God. The trouble is so great he cannot speak.
5 I thought about the days of old, about ancient times.
6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang; I will think very carefully.” I tried to make sense of what was happening.
The remembrance of God’s past good deeds (cf. vv. 13-20) does not allow the psalmist to make sense of his current situation.
7 I asked, “Will the Lord reject me forever? Will he never again show me his favor?
The “favor” of the Lord is his willingness to be reconciled to his people by forgiving their sins and by blessing them with his grace (cf. 85:1–3; cf. Isa 61:2).1
8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever? Has his promise failed forever?
The “loyal love” is God’s covenantal love.
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has his anger stifled his compassion?”
In asking these questions and in expressing his doubts, the heart of the psalmist comes to rest; for he knows that the God of Abraham cannot deny himself and cut himself off from his own people. In questions there lies hope! The people desperately need his “unfailing love,” mercy, and “compassion.” They long for the new era, marked by forgiveness and reconciliation. They believe that the Lord will remain faithful to “his promise.”2
10 Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought that the sovereign One might become inactive.
Verses 10-12 shift to reflection.
11 I will remember the works of the LORD. Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago!
This verse contains a shortened version of the divine name, “Yah,” instead of Yahweh (“the LORD” in the NET) (the name comes from Exod 15:2).
12 I will think about all you have done; I will reflect upon your deeds!”
13 O God, your deeds are extraordinary! What god can compare to our great God?
Verses 13-20 celebrate the great deeds of God during the Red Sea deliverance.
14 You are the God who does amazing things; you have revealed your strength among the nations.
The first clause echoes Exod 15:11.
15 You delivered your people by your strength – the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)
The coupling of Jacob and Joseph as ancestors of the people redeemed from the Egyptians may be due to the insistence of both of them that the Promised Land, not Egypt, must be their final rest (Gen. 47:29ff.; 50:24f.).3
16 The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and trembled. Yes, the depths of the sea shook with fear.
The language of v 17 [16 in NET] reflects the ancient motif of a divine struggle with chaotic forces in bringing forth creation. The turbulent waters of the great primeval seas writhed before the presence of God and the deeps roiled, so great was his power. The language draws from the widely spread myth of the primeval conquest of the waters of chaos (see the discussion of 74:12–17; 104:2–7; J. Day, God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea, 96–97). However, in this context the chaos struggle has been adapted to divine intervention for deliverance (as in Pss 18:8–18; 93) and the historization of the myth in the description of divine action in the Exodus (see Isa 51:9–11; Exod 15:5–10; Ps 114:3–5; Isa 63:12–14).4
17 The clouds poured down rain; the skies thundered. Yes, your arrows flashed about.
The flashing arrows are a metaphor for lightning.
18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind; the lightning bolts lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 You walked through the sea; you passed through the surging waters, but left no footprints.
20 You led your people like a flock of sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The second clause echoes Num 33:1.
The psalm stops abruptly, as psalms sometimes do, but its closing colon might have special point if the suppliant is the people’s leader. If Yhwh then led the people by means of these leaders, can Yhwh not do so now?5
Bibliography
Goldingay, John. Psalms: Volume 2: Psalms 42-89. Kindle Edition. Baker Academic, 2007.
Kidner, Derek. Psalms 73-150: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008.
Tate, Marvin E. Psalms 51-100. Word Biblical Commentary 20. Dallas: Word Books, 1998.
VanGemeren, Willem A. Psalms. Revised Edition. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary 5. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.
Biblical Scholarship 