When your present is unstable and your future unclear, take a quick visit to the past and remember.
We all pass through rough times, some more than others. Storms can be very disorienting. In Psalm 77, Asaph explains how he regained his equilibrium after being battered by the winds and waves of trouble. The psalm is in four parts, separated by the Selahs. He begins telling us about trying to look up, and the uncertainty of unanswered prayer (vv 1-3). It’s like he calls out, but only hears the echo coming back. “I cried out to God with my voice— to God with my voice” (v 1). Picture him in the dark with his hand uplifted in appeal, but there seems to be no Hand reaching down (vv 2-3; but see v 15). Then he speaks about trying to look ahead, and the uncertainty of unanswered questions (vv 4-9). He’s really in rough shape. Can’t sleep, can’t speak (v 4), can’t sing, although he remembers the nights when he once did (v 6). His mind seems to be in overdrive, casting up so many questions: “Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” (vv 7-9). Verse 10 is the pivot point, and the sun breaks through. When you can’t seem to look up or look ahead, maybe it’s time to have a look back (vv 10-15). “I will remember…I will remember…I will remember” (vv 10-11). Remember what? His wonders (v 11), His works (v 12), and His way (v 13). First His way “in the sanctuary” (v 13), where it’s all calm, and then His way “in the sea” (v 19). When life’s storms hit, remember how He opened the sea for Israel (vv 16-20), how He spoke His Shalom both to the disciples and to the sea, and especially how “The winds and the waves still obey His will” (Mary Baker).