Psalms 77:4

Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. -His sleepless nights, and his inability to speak, are attributed to the remembrance of the sad contrast which God's present desertion of His people forms to His former deliverances of them. Verse 4. THOU HOLDEST MINE EYES WAKING - literally, 'Thou holdest the watches [ shªmurowt (H8109), which differs from the form in Psalms 63:6, by only the Hebrew letter 'aleph (') prefixed in the latter] of mine eyes;' cf. Psalms 77:2, and the parallel Lamentations 2:19. I am so troubled that I cannot speak....

4._Thou hast held the watches of my eyes. _(288) This verse is to the same effect with the preceding. The Psalmist affirms that he spent whole nights in watching, because God granted him no relief. The night in ancient times was usually divided into many watches; and, accordingly, he describes his continued grief, which pre. vented him from sleeping, by the metaphorical term _watches. _When he stated a little before that he prayed to God with a loud voice, and when he now affirms that he will remain silent, there seems to be some appearance of discrepancy. This difficulty has already been solved in our exposition of Psalms 32:3, where we have shown that true believers, when overwhelmed with sorrow, do not continue in a state of unvarying uniformity, but sometimes give vent to sighs and complaints, while, at other times, they are silent as if the

1-10 Days of trouble must be days of prayer; when God seems to have withdrawn from us, we must seek him till we find him. In the day of his trouble the psalmist did not seek for the diversion of business or amusement, but he sought God, and his favor and grace. Those that are under trouble of mind, must pray it away. He pored upon the trouble; the methods that should have relieved him did but increase his grief. When he remembered God, it was only the Divine justice and wrath. His spirit was overwhelmed, and sank under the load. But let not the remembrance of the comforts we have lost, make us unthankful for those that are left. Particularly he called to remembrance the comforts with which he supported himself in former sorrows. Here is the language of a sorrowful, deserted soul, walking in darkness; a common case even among those that fear the Lord, Isaiah 50:10. Nothing wounds and pie...

Verse Psalms 77:4. _THOU HOLDEST MINE EYES WAKING_] Literally, _thou keepest_ _the watches of mine eyes _- my grief is so great that I cannot sleep. _I AM SO TROUBLED THAT I CANNOT SPEAK._] This shows an _increase_ of sorrow and anguish. At _first_ he felt his misery, and _called aloud_. He receives more light, sees and feels his deep wretchedness, and then his words are swallowed by excessive distress. His woes are too big for utterance. "Small troubles are loquacious; the great are dumb." Curae leves loquuntur; ingentes stupent....

THOU HOLDEST MINE EYES WAKING - literally, “Thou holdest the watchings of my eyes.” Gesenius (Lexicon) translates the Hebrew word rendered “waking,” “eyelids.” Probably that is the true idea. The eyelids are the watchers or guardians of the eyes. In danger, and in sleep, they close. Here the idea is, that God held them so that they did not close. He overcame the natural tendency of the eye to shut. In other words, the psalmist was kept awake; he could not sleep. This he traces to God. The idea is, that God so kept himself before his mind - that such ideas occurred to him in regard to God - that he could not sleep. I AM SO TROUBLED - With sad and dark views of God; so troubled in endeavoring to understand his character and doings; in explaining his acts; in painful ideas that suggest themselves in regard to his justice, his goodness, his mercy. That I cannot speak

EXPOSITION THIS psalm is the lament and expostulation with God of some afflicted person, perhaps Asaph, who speaks as the mouthpiece of his countrymen, complaining of Israel's apparent desertion by God (Psalms 77:1), but thence rising into a higher strain of hope and confidence, based on a recollection of Jehovah's past mercies (Psalms 77:10). The particular occasion which called forth the psalm cannot be determined. The psalm consists of six stanzas of three verses each, to which is appended one of two verses only. The pause mark, "selah," occurs at the end of the first, the third, and the fifth stanzas. PSALMS 77:1 I cried unto God with my voice, even

THOU HOLDEST MINE EYES WAKING,.... Or, "the watches", or rather "keepers of the eyes" m; the eyebrows, which protect the eyes; these were held, so that he could not shut them, and get any sleep; so R. Moses Haccohen interprets the words, as Jarchi observes; and so the Targum, "thou holdest the brows of my eyes;'' a person in trouble, when he can get some sleep, it interrupts his sorrow, weakens it at least, if it does not put a stop to it; wherefore it is a great mercy to have sleep, and that refreshing, Psalms 127:1, but to have this denied, and to have wearisome nights, and be in continual tossing to and fro, is very distressing: I AM SO TROUBLED THAT I CANNOT SPEAK; his spirits were so sunk with weariness, and want of sleep in the night, that he could not speak in the morning; or his heart was so full with sorrow, that he could not utter himse

This Psalm is headed «To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun,» He was one of the great singers; there is opportunity given in the Psalms for each of the sinners to take his turn.; it does not do for any of us to be idle in reference to the praise of God. It is called, «A Psalm of Asaph.» His Psalms have usually a dark tinge about them; he was a meditative man, «a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief»; but also a man of strong faith, and of an exulting spirit. You need to do business in great waters to understand Asaph; he is one who does not wade, but he gets into «waters to swim in.» Thus he begins: Psalms 77:1. _I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me._ The use of the voice in prayer is not essential; but usually, when men grow earnest, they use the voice as well as the mind. It was because of the intensity of h

Psalms 77 The Distressed Saint and His Comfort _ 1. The distress (Psalms 77:1)_ 2. The comfort (Psalms 77:11) This Psalm shows the distress of the saint in deepest exercise of soul. He earnestly seeks the Lord and never leaves off. “my hand was stretched out in the night, and failed not” (literal translation of Psalms 77:2). He moaned and complained and his spirit was overwhelmed. Then in still greater distress he asks, “Will the Lord cast off forever?--Is His mercy come to an end forever?”--”Hath God forgotten to be gracious?” The comfort comes to him as he thinks of God's past dealings, as he remembers His work of

LXXVII. ISRAEL'S PRESENT DISTRESS AND PAST GLORY. Psalms 77:1. The present distress. PSALMS 77:1. WITH MY VOICE: _i.e._ with a loud voice. PSALMS 77:4. Past glory. PSALMS 77:4. Perhaps we should translate, Mine eyelids are held fast, _i.e._ so that they cannot close in sleep. Psalms 77:6. The first words ought to stand at the end of Psalms 77:5, The years of ancient time I call to remembrance. MY SONG: in