PSALM 77 -The Sleepless Night of the Soul

Introduction

Back in 1980, Senator Bob Dole was soundly defeated by then Governor Ronald Reagan in the New Hampshire Republican primary. A reporter asked Dole how he slept that night, and he famously answered, “I slept like a baby—every two hours I woke up and cried!”

That’s funny coming from a politician who got his clock cleaned by a rival in an election bid, but if you’ve ever had one of those nights, it’s not so funny, is it? When the darkness that surrounds you isn’t just the darkness of your bedroom at night, but the darkness of depression or heaviness or despair that God has forgotten you. Your circumstances weigh on you, your failures in your battles with sin weigh on you, the difficulties and sorrows that your loved ones are suffering crush you, your own physical frailties burden you. You toss and turn, you weep, and you feel like all of your cries to God just bounce off of the ceiling that you stare at all night.

And of all the dread that assails you during those sleepless nights, the most insidious of all is that good Christians never feel this way… A real Christian would never have a night like this; a faithful Christian rests comfortably in God all the time, right? If that is how you think about nights like this, consider what Charles Spurgeon wrote in his commentary on this Psalm

Alas, my God, the writer of this exposition well knows what thy servant Asaph meant, for his soul is familiar with the way of grief. Deep glens and lonely caves of soul depressions, my spirit knows full well your awful glooms! (Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The Treasury of David: Psalms 56-87 (Vol. 3, p. 313). Marshall Brothers.)

Spurgeon’s studies of the psalms, The Treasury of David, was produced between 1865 and 1885, and during those twenty years he experienced much ill health, which continued to deteriorate until his death in 1892. He had neuralgia and gout, which left him with swollen, red, painful limbs, so that he frequently could not walk or even write. He had debilitating headaches, and with these physical ills came frightful bouts of depression, leading almost to despair… (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (pp. 638–639). Baker Books.)

You can’t hear three sermons from this pulpit without hearing a Spurgeon quote (at the least). And if the man who has been called “The Prince of Preachers” could not escape sleepless nights of the soul like that, where do you get off thinking that you are immune?

Asaph wrote this psalm as a record of what he did during one of those nights where he “slept like a baby”—the imagery he uses in this song puts us in mind of a child crying through the night:

Psalm 77:1–4 (ESV)

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.

Once again, Asaph comes through in this psalm, no holds barred, saying what no one wants to say about our walk with God: “One thing you have to say about Asaph: He tells it like it is. He is respectful. But if he is unhappy or puzzled about what God is doing (or not doing) in the lives of his people, he says so. And he also describes his own state of mind—his doubts and struggles, his questions and his inability to find satisfying answers to life’s great problems. (Boice, J. M. (2005). Psalms 42–106: An Expositional Commentary (p. 637). Baker Books.)

This psalm is a record of the battle Asaph fought with the darkness of a sleepless night of his soul. This psalm has been a great comfort to giants of the faith like Charles Spurgeon, it has been a light to hold on to in the gloom of many a weary, despondent Christian. And so for us today, I pray that this psalm will strengthen you to

Dispel the NIGHT of your soul with the REMEMBRANCE of God’s CHARACTER

We can divide this psalm into three steps—in the first nine verses of Psalm 77, we see the first step. When you find yourself in the midst of one of those sleepless nights of the soul, use this psalm to

I. Fight the DEPTHS of your soul’s DARKNESS (Psalm 77:1-9)

Look at Asaph’s cry in the first three verses of this psalm:

Psalm 77:1–3 (ESV)

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

The first step in fighting the darkness that surrounds you on that sleepless nights is—by all means--

Make your CRY to GOD (vv. 1-6)

The image here is a striking one, of Asaph crying in the night, stretching out his hands like a child in the darkness, refusing to be comforted until his Dad comes to him. And just as that little boy cries in the night knowing that his daddy can hear him, Asaph cries out knowing that when he cries aloud to God, “He will hear me!”

This isn’t the cry of someone who doesn’t even know whether Someone is out there to hear; this is the cry of a child who knows there is a loving and present God who does hear. As we move through the psalm we see that he is bewildered as to why God does not seem to answer—but see here at the beginning that Asaph does express confidence that “HE WILL HEAR ME!”

There is nothing wrong with bringing to God just how dark your darkness is! There is nothing sinful in telling God about the gloom and despair you struggle with—God created your emotions, He is not taken aback when you express them to Him!

This is true even as we see in verses 4-6 that Asaph seems to specifically complain to God that He is the source of his depression:

Psalm 77:4–6 (ESV)

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...”

His burden is so heavy that even as he brings it to God, he at the same time indicts God for his sadness— “God, You are the One Who has made me so miserable—I cry out to You, but when I think of how You used to be so good to me, it just makes me even sadder now!” In the darkness of that sleepless night of the soul, remembering the past when it did seem like God was good to you only serves to make you feel more abandoned now.

Fight the depths of your soul’s darkness by making your cry to God—cry out to Him and express to Him all of the despair, all of the sadness, the depression, the gloom and the anxiety. Trust Him with it—God’s Word here puts into words those doubts and fears and heaviness of spirit that can descend on you—use these words as you cry out to Him!

But there is something very crucial for you to understand about using this psalm to express your depression to God—you may (and should) cry out to God to express your despair or depression, but you may not WALLOW in it. This is the first and greatest temptation when we are visited by one of those sleepless nights of doubt and anxiety: That we hold on to that sadness, and feed it and become more and more self-absorbed in it.

In fact, you can see this in the first six verses of the psalm—as Asaph is crying out to God, notice how many times he says “I” or “me” or “my”—eighteen occurrences in all. Constant self-absorption and introspection—the modern idiom “getting into your own head”—is a surefire way to actually intensify depression and anxiety. So notice here that even though Asaph is very clear in expressing his darkness to God, he does not stay there!

This is reflected at the end of verse 6:

Psalm 77:6 (ESV)

6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:

Asaph doesn’t wallow; he doesn’t let the darkness of his emotional state swallow him up—he says, “I am going to put some work into searching out God in the midst of this!” And so in verses 7-9, he goes on to ask six rhetorical questions—see here how God’s Word shows you how to fight the depths of your soul’s darkness when you

Put your DISMAY into WORDS (vv. 7-9)

Asaph was plagued by a vague feeling that God had left him; an insubstantial feeling of dismay when he thought about God:

Psalm 77:3 (ESV)

3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints...

But instead of allowing that dismay to keep him from seeking out God in his darkness (the way so many people are tempted to), instead Asaph fights to define his anxiety about God and His presence. Look at the way he does this in verses 7-9:

Psalm 77:7–9 (ESV)

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?”

And as soon as he actually puts into words what has been bothering him, it is as though he has turned on the bedroom light and discovered that monster in the corner is nothing more than his coat hanging off the back of his desk chair. Because when you actually put into words your anxieties about God and His faithfulness, you realize that they are preposterous! Has God cancelled His steadfast love? Have God’s promises reached their expiration date? Has He rescinded His covenant? Is He no longer honoring the blood of Christ that has sealed you?? To ask the question is to answer it, isn’t it?

And there is something else that you see going on here in these verses—instead of constantly saying, “I”, “me” and “my”, Asaph is saying “the Lord”, “God” and “his” and “he”! He is turning his eyes away from himself, and looking to God instead—and that is the first step out of that darkness.

Asaph dispelled the dark night of his soul with his remembrance of God’s character—he fought the depths of his soul’s darkness, and in verses 10-15 he determined to

II. Battle the SIN of FORGETFULNESS (Psalm 77:10-15)

He has already begun to apply his thoughts towards God—putting his dismay into words has enabled him to see what is at the root of his sleepless night of the soul: He has forgotten God’s character. We tend to think that “forgetting” something is an innocent mistake, such as when a mother asks her son whether he has cleaned his room, and he says, “No, I forgot...” At which point Mom should thank him for confessing this additional sin along with his disobedience, and administer the appropriate consequences for both of his sins...

Forgetting where you put your car keys isn’t a sin; forgetting your anniversary (while foolhardy) isn’t necessarily a sin. Forgetting to pick up milk on the way home from town isn’t a sin. But forgetting God and forgetting to obey His commandments and forgetting His character IS.

Judges 3:7 (ESV)

7 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.

Lord willing, we will explore this more fully next week in Psalm 78, a psalm Asaph wrote specifically to guard against the sin of forgetting God and His deeds:

Psalm 78:7–8 (ESV)

7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

So here in Psalm 77, we see Asaph battling his sin of forgetfulness. Instead of forgetting God and His character, he makes a conscious and concerted effort to remember:

Psalm 77:10–12 (ESV)

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.

Here is your light in the darkness of that sleepless night of the soul, Christian. Do not be forgetful--

Determine to REMEMBER God’s ATTRIBUTES (vv. 10-12)

In the next three verses, Asaph battles his sin of forgetting God by reminding himself of what he knows to be true about God. In verse 13 he remembers

- The HOLINESS of God (v. 13)

Psalm 77:13 (ESV)

13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?

His way is utterly holy; whatever God ordains is right. He can always be trusted to do the right thing, regardless of how you feel right now! In the midst of that sleepless night of the soul, remember the holiness of your God!

In verse 14, Asaph reminds himself of

- The POWER of God (v. 14)

Psalm 77:14 (ESV)

14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.

God is utterly able to do all He decrees. There is nothing that will thwart Him, and He means to do His people nothing but good, regardless of how impossible you might think it is. In the midst of that sleepless night of the soul, remember the power of your God!

In verse 15, Asaph reminds himself of

- The MERCY of God (v. 15)

Psalm 77:15 (ESV)

15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

God is the God Who saw His people’s misery in their slavery in Egypt—and so He put His power to work to redeem them out of their slavery. When they were at their most pitiful state, God reached down in His power and holiness to deliver them. And if He could reach down and deliver them out of their misery, He is powerful to reach down into your darkness and deliver you! In the midst of that sleepless night of the soul, remember the mercy of your God!

Asaph is going to war against his sin of forgetfulness—and as he does so, we see something very telling: Starting in verse 11, Asaph begins to shift his focus away from himself, and begins to focus instead on God— “Your wonders...” “Your work...” Your mighty deeds...” Your way...” From verse 11 to 15, there are seven yours and three yous—Asaph only refers to himself in connection with how he is going to ponder God’s character. Instead of dark self-absorption and wallowing in his anxiety, Asaph has begun to

III. Awaken to the LIGHT of God’s SPLENDOR (Psalm 77:16-20)

The end of this psalm is the exact opposite of the way it began—Asaph cried out in the darkness of his depression and sadness and anxieties, but he has fought the depths of his soul’s darkness, battling his forgetfulness by remembering God’s character and His attributes. And here as he closes this psalm he is no longer thinking at all about his anxieties or his depressions—his vision is full of the splendor of His God!

Asaph continues the thread of the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt that he was just considering in verse 15. He goes on to describe the miraculous work of his holy, powerful and merciful God as He parted the Red Sea:

Psalm 77:16–18 (ESV)

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.

Asaph revels in the splendor of God revealed here, that

He is a TERRIFYING STORM to His rivals (vv. 16-18)

Notice how verse 16 says that the waters were “afraid” of God, and how the deeps “trembled” at the sight of him. This seems like an odd way to describe the parting of the Red Sea, until you consider that the entire Exodus story was one long demonstration of YHWH’s power over all of the false gods of Egypt in the Ten Plagues. The language here in Psalm 77 is comparable to the way the Canaanite god Baal is described (Baal is the god of the storms and the lightnings and rains.) Here in these verses, Asaph (who would have had far more familiarity with Baal than the gods of Egypt) is describing YHWH’s superior power over His rival Baal—His superior power over all creation!

Consider, Christian, you and I wince and flinch when a bolt of lighting thunders over our heads—but the lightning itself trembles in the presence of your God! What darkness can frighten you, what gloom can swallow you up, what depression can smother you when this God is the One Who has sworn to deliver you?! Take your eyes off of yourself and the darkness that surrounds you and turn your eyes toward the light of His splendor and power that He has promised to work for you!

The God you serve is a terrifying storm to His rivals; the darkness that threatens you trembles at His approach! Asaph is strengthened at the sight of God’s power over His rivals, and he is comforted to know that

He is a GENTLE SHEPHERD to His people (vv. 19-20)

Psalm 77:19–20 (ESV)

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.

The psalm that begins with Asaph crying out in the darkness for God ends with him praising God for gently leading His people through flood and turmoil to safety! Asaph begins his song mourning over how it seems God has abandoned him, and ends with a picture of His steadfast, gentle love! And with that, we see Asaph coming to the place where he has entirely forgotten about himself, and only God’s steadfast love fills his vision! At the beginning of the psalm Asaph wondered whether God had forgotten him; now he sings about Moses, who delivered God’s people when God saw their misery and remembered them! Asaph began this psalm wondering if God’s promises had come to an end; now he sings about Aaron, who was covered in the blood of bulls and goats as he sealed the promise of God to atone for His people!

Christian, the way you dispel that dark, sleepless night of the soul that weighs you down with anxiety and depression and fearfulness is to remember who God is! Cry out to Him with all your fears and anxieties, all your despair and heaviness—lay all of it before Him; a little child crying in the darkness for your daddy, knowing that He is faithful to hear you!

And then, having laid out all of that darkness and heaviness before Him, do not wallow in it anymore! Lay it before Him and then resolve to stop dwelling on it! Put your dismay into words— “Am I really afraid that God is cancelling His promises to me?” “Is this darkness I am living through really a sign that God has decided to stop honoring the blood of Jesus Christ that has cleansed me from my sin and given me His righteousness?” Preach to your doubting soul— “Soul, do you mean to tell me you believe that God has forgotten His grace towards you??” Step back and see your doubts and fears and anxieties for what they really are—it is not that God has forgotten you; it is that you are forgetting who God is!

So call yourself to remember the mighty deeds of God—as you see His holiness and power and mercy displayed in the Scriptures, and as you see them displayed in your life! Go back and recount the ways that He has delivered you in the past, let your spirit make a diligent search of your memory to come back to the amazing ways that He has demonstrated His faithfulness to you over and over again; turn your eyes outward, instead of focusing on “poor poor pitiful me”, look at your holy, powerful, merciful God who has led you out of slavery to your sin and redeemed you—not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, by which you have been sanctified through the offering of His body once for all! (Hebrews 10:10)!

But perhaps you are here today and you are spending sleepless nights not because you are afraid that God has forgotten you, but that He sees your guilt before Him; His holiness and power are not a comfort to you because you know how you have broken His laws and offended that holiness, that you want that darkness to hide you from Him because you know you have no excuse before His power and righteousness. Friend, if God’s hand is heavy on you for your sin, if He is holding your eyelids open at night because His Spirit is at work convicting you of your guilt, then your remedy is simple—call on the mercy of God through Jesus Christ!

Every vile deed that comes back to haunt you at night, every cruel word that rings in your ears in the silence of your room, every lie, all the bitterness, all the lust and reviling and slander that has poured out of you, all of the arrogance and slothfulness and envy that you have protected in your heart, all of the grudges that you cherish and the self-justifications that go with them—all of those sins that gnaw at you in the dark—you can be free of them! The fear and dread that settles upon you when you are alone in the dark with your own thoughts will be lifted when you cry out to God for mercy in the Name of Jesus Christ—He died to secure a far better promise of salvation than Asaph knew about; the covenant Aaron mediated could only cover sins temporarily; it had to be re-applied over and over and over.

But friend, the blood of Jesus Christ will not just “cover” your sins temporarily—it will free you from those sins forever! Don’t spend another sleepless night tormented by your shame and guilt, agonizing over the threat of God’s judgment. Confess your sin, leave it at the foot of the Cross, plead for the mercy of this holy, powerful and loving God. Come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Ephesians 3:20–21 (ESV)

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

When was the last time you spent a sleepless night because of anxiety? How does Asaph’s description of his sleepless night compare with your experience of that time?

Is God offended or taken aback by Asaph’s honest cries of depression and anxiety? Why not? How does this encourage you as you struggle with anxiety before God?

Take note of how many times Asaph says “I”, or “my” or “me” in this psalm. Then look at the times he says to God “You” or “your”. What is Asaph’s state of mind when he is talking mostly about himself? What happens when he shifts his focus to God?

Look at verses 7-9, and the six questions Asaph asks himself. What happens when we put our anxieties about God into words?

How does knowing that God is holy comfort you in your times of depression? How does knowing His power give you hope in your anxiety? How does His mercy provide you peace in your sleepless nights?