Path of Hope
Last week I wrote about Psalm 126 and the importance of calling to mind God’s past deliverance. Through Psalm 77, written by Asaph, we see this act in more detail.
The first nine verses of this psalm are dedicated to Asaph’s emotional state. He cries aloud to God and refuses either to stop or to be comforted by anything other than a reply. He is in a state of turmoil: “Will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased?”
At the height of distress, the psalm tips toward trust. “Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High’” (v. 10). Asaph decides to find God’s answer in what He has already done for His people.
Asaph focuses specifically on what God has done to save. He then ponders and meditates on these things in a progression that moves beyond the rote act of memory to the personal act of application. Through this kind of remembrance, the psalmist begins to praise God for who He is (“Your way, O God, is holy”) and for what He has done (“You are the God who works wonders”).
He ties a ribbon on this in verse 15: “You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.” These names are significant. This psalm is placed in Book Three of the Psalter and likely relates to the Babylonian captivity. The psalmist therefore calls to mind two patriarchs who died outside of the land and yet who were no less a part of God’s redemptive work.
In a long final section, Asaph, as if caught up in his reverie of remembrance and praise, gives us a poetic rendering of the crossing of the Red Sea bringing it to a close with an urgent reminder to himself: “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Asaph reminds himself that God’s direction is often unknowable, yet he gives us what we need to follow it: His Word and the leaders he provides.
You have the ability to do exactly what Asaph did. God has given you rich detail of His saving grace in the remembrance of your own testimony. Don’t stop with, “God saved me.” Keep going with how, why, when, and where. God has also given you the testimony of the church to which you belong. Do you realize that God has been providing for this church since 1949? Finally, and most importantly, God has given you the testimony of His Word. His acts and deeds still resound through history, and your leaders are dedicated to guiding this flock in light of that revealed Word.
The mandate of scripture is clear. Pour your cares out to your God and your Savior. He will call to your remembrance who He is and what He has done. Then take that testimony to others. Instead of sharing with each other how awful things are, start sharing how good God is.
