This post was inspired by author and Bible teacher Kathleen Nielsen

Psalm 77 is a classic lament which moves from despair to remembrance to confident faith. The key word that connects each part is hand. Let’s look at those connections.

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. 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.

Asaph’s lament begins with raw despair. You can almost picture the physical agony that accompanies his prayer. Though his words reflect faith – he will hear me – his body reflects the misery of a saint who has poured his heart out to God and experienced a deafening silence in return. He is confused and in danger of losing heart. But his hand is stretched out. To where? To whom? To God.

Asaph will go on in verses 4-9 to look back – remembering, meditating, and questioning. His soul torment is so intense that he begins to wonder if God’s promises are at an end.

But then the turn comes. In almost every lament psalm there is a turn, a point at which the psalmist calls to mind God’s character and his former deliverances. This is what happens for Asaph. In the midst of his questions he turns.

Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.

In verse 3 Asaph remembered God. He meditated. But the result was moaning and fainting. How has his remembering and meditation changed? It’s hard to tell and isn’t that the case with all of us? There are no magic prayers in the life of faith. No silver bullets that bring us out of the darkness and into the light. In most cases, it just takes time. Asaph’s hand was stretched out without wearying, night after night. And finally he takes hold of the right hand of the Most High.

Have you ever noticed how often God’s right hand is mentioned in the Bible? It never mentions his left hand. But God doesn’t have a physical body, so what does it mean? The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary explains that God’s right hand is a central symbol in Scripture that points to God’s saving power and deliverance, his protection and support. And what Asaph calls to mind in the following verses is the most powerful demonstration of God’s saving might – the Exodus.

The Exodus is the paramount prototype of God’s salvation in the Bible. And Asaph remembers it in stunning detail. He says God is holy, he is great, he is mighty in his redemptive work. And then he recounts God’s wonders in opening the sea – the trembling waters, the crashing thunder, and the flashes of lightning that shook the earth. If the earth responds in such a way to God’s right hand, Asaph has nothing to fear.

But there is one more hand.

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.

God works miracles, but he also uses people to bring us through the deep darknesses of this life.

This is how Psalm 77 ends. Asaph’s unwearied and outstretched hand from verse 1 has waited and taken hold of God’s right hand of deliverance. And although I can’t prove this, I imagine that after pondering God’s mighty works of the past, Asaph has found rest in the present and a confident expectation of God’s continued merciful provision.