When Heaven Seems Silent

The title of Psalm 77 identifies it as a Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was a Levite whom David appointed to the ministry of music and worship before the Lord. He was a gifted musician, a worship leader, and a man well acquainted with the truth of God. Yet knowing the truth of God did not make Asaph a stranger to sorrow. Psalm 77 is a Psalm of lament, written from the depths of great distress. We are not told the exact circumstances that produced his anguish, but whatever the trial was, it was severe enough to shake him deeply.

Asaph begins the Psalm crying aloud to God. He says, “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.” His soul refused to be comforted. He was so troubled that he could not sleep, and his anguish became so great that he struggled even to speak. This was not the voice of an unbelieving man who had no knowledge of God. This was a believer whose circumstances had become so dark that he was struggling to reconcile what he knew about God with what he was presently experiencing.

In the darkness Asaph began looking backward. “I have considered the days of old, the years of long ago. I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart.” He remembered better days. He remembered the songs he once sang. But as he searched his heart, painful questions began to rise, “Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever?” Asaph knew the character of God, yet for a moment his circumstances seemed to contradict everything he knew to be true.

There are times when every believer can understand something of Asaph’s struggle. As a small bird seeks shelter in the cleft of a rock while a violent storm passes overhead, the troubled soul searches for somewhere solid to rest. Trials can become so severe that the providence of God becomes difficult for us to understand. We know He is faithful, yet we cannot understand what He is doing. We know He loves His people, yet His hand may seem hidden. We know He hears prayer, yet heaven can sometimes seem strangely silent.

But something changes in Psalm 77. Asaph stops measuring God by his present circumstances and begins measuring his circumstances by what God has already revealed about Himself. He declares, “I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds.” This is the great turning point of the Psalm.

Asaph remembers Israel standing before the Red Sea. Behind them stood Pharaoh and his army; before them stretched a body of water they could not cross. Humanly speaking, there was no escape. Yet the God who seemed to have led them into an impossible situation had not abandoned them. “The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You, they were in anguish.” God divided the sea and led His people safely through. Asaph then says something beautiful, “Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, and Your footprints may not be known.”

That is one of the great lessons of Psalm 77. The absence of visible footprints does not mean the absence of God. His providence may be hidden, but His faithfulness has not changed. His people may not understand the road He has chosen, but they can trust the One who chose it. Asaph did not escape his anguish by pretending that everything was well. He carried his anguish to God and then deliberately remembered the mighty works and unchanging character of the Lord.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, you will not be a stranger to the storms of life. There will be moments when the waves of disappointment, temptation, grief, and fear beat violently against the vessel of your soul. There may even be moments when the storm temporarily eclipses the warmth of God’s love from your sight. But when you cannot trace His hand, remember what He has already done.

Asaph looked back to the Red Sea and remembered redemption. The Christian looks back to an even greater demonstration of redeeming love, the cross of Jesus Christ. At Calvary, God gave His own Son for sinners, and on the third day Christ rose victoriously from the grave. The cross forever settles the question of whether God loves His people. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

So when the night becomes dark, remember your song. Meditate upon the works of God. Remember His promises. Remember His faithfulness. Remember the cross. Remember the empty tomb. The path before you may disappear beneath deep waters, and you may not be able to see a single footprint of God. But the Shepherd is still there, leading His people safely home.

let me meditate in my heart.’”

Psalm 77:6