This is a psalm of Asaph. Seeking God in the darkest moments in life. However, knowing that his life is in God’s hands, he looks to Him for hope.

Verses 1-9 seem more like self-pitying as he focused on himself: My soul refused to be comforted. Verses 10-20 are more hopeful as his focus was on God. Your ways, O God, are holy, and ending with hope for his future.

Verses 1-6, the theme of the self is expressed by these words: me, myself, and I - Help me, hear me, I am in distress, I sought the Lord, I stretched out, and I am not comforted. I remembered, I groaned, I meditated, my spirit, my eyes, I am troubled, I thought, my songs, my heart, and my spirit. Verses 7-9, the psalmist then asked God when He would show Himself and help him.

The verses not only focused on the self, but there was a tinge of self-pity in his cries for God to show pity to him. To have pity is noble because the focus is on others, but the focus of self-pity is not, as it is on the self. Faith focuses on God, while in His love, God focuses on us.

The sinner’s focus is on the self and his troubles, causing him to be fearful and unable to trust God. Thus, in times of trouble, we can easily fall into self-pity instead of trusting in God. As believers, we must not only focus on God, but trust God instead of falling into self-pity.

In verses 10-20, the psalmist did not stop here, but he turned his focus to God. He appeals to Him to do what He had done for him before, to do so shortly as he said: The Most High stretched out his right hand, the deeds of the Lord, the miracles of long ago, all of his works, and mighty deeds.

He appealed to the God who had performed great and powerful miracles among His “peoples” (nations).This is an allusion to God’s deliverance of them in the crossing of the Red Sea when they came out of Egypt. He said that even the waters saw the power of this God as described in verses 16-20 when He delivered them out of Egypt under Moses and Aaron’s leadership.

His focus on God is a call to remember the deeds of the Lord, particularly His wonders of old, ponder all your work, and meditate on all your mighty deeds. The verbs —remember, meditate, and consider — were also used in verses 3, 5, and 6. The call is for us to turn our focus to God in times of trouble, remember, meditate, and consider all that God has done for us in the past, as it will give us the hope to believe in what God can do for us in the future.

Therefore, do not let what we are going through presently cause us to take our eyes away from God. But to remember the past, which would give us hope, and to be able to put our faith in Him for the future, no matter what we might be going through now. Keep our focus on God, not on what we are going through. It can lead us to self-pity and hopelessness.

Prayer:

Lord, O God, even though my present situation does not look hopeful and the pain is unbearable, I will recall the past, what You have done for me, and look forward with hope to what You can do for me to save me from my situation.