His Way was through the Sea

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

You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
I said, ‘Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.’
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
‘Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?’ 

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.
Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people… 

When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock.” Psalm 77:1-20

The psalmist writes from choking trouble: Sleepless, agonizing despair in wearying darkness. Crying with no answers, seeking without relief. His churning mind goes from an anguished present to considering the past, and determines to meditate on what he knows to be true about God. There he finds a song, there the balm of his Lord’s former deeds and wonders and lavish displays of might. Ah, in his sure redemption won by God’s arm he takes hope!

The mind can be an unruly master. Let it meander into negativity and self-focused woe, bitterness or secret areas of temptation, dungeons of doubt or unreasonable, paralyzing fear, and it leads to doom. It twists and manipulates and deceives and convinces us we are bereft and the Lord has abandoned us. Failing to ponder God, the mind is led astray and wasteful. (Psalm 1:1-4)

Yet a mind redeemed by grace, directed toward the mercies of God, His past and ongoing works on behalf of His kingdom and glory and our personal good, leads to a very different place. With holy determination, a downward spiral inverts to a lifting upward, and gloom is flooded with light. We can cry out knowing we are heard, and that the Lord delivers. We remember songs the Lord wrote on our hearts, and our vision is filled with His greatness. Yes, we recall the turbulence and troubles of our experience, yet we remember that the Lord faithfully carried us through. And He will again.

How are we recounting God’s wondrous deeds toward us? Whom are we telling? How have His works of the past strengthened us for harsh troubles of the present?

Lord, fix my eyes and hope on You forever.