Psalms 77:10

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

Psalms 77:10 in Other Translations

10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

10 Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High."

10 And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.”

10 "Just my luck," I said. "The High God goes out of business just the moment I need him."

10 And I said, This is my infirmity; [But I will remember] the years of the right hand of the Most High.

10 Then I said, "It makes me feel sick that the power of the Most High is no longer the same."

10 So I say, "It is my sorrow that the right hand of the Most High has changed."

10 Then I thought, "Here is what I will make my appeal to. For many years the Most High God showed how powerful his right hand is."

Psalms 77:10 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 77:10

And I said, this is my infirmity
Referring either to what he had said in the preceding verses; and which is to be considered either as checking and correcting himself for what he had said, and acknowledging his evil in it; and it is as if he had said, this is a sin against God, that I am guilty of in questioning his love, and disbelieving his promises; it is an iniquity I am prone unto, a sin that easily besets me; it flows from the corruption of my nature, and the plague of my heart, and shows a distempered mind; it is owing to the weakness of my faith and judgment; I have said this rashly, and in haste, without well weighing and considering things, and I am sorry for it, I will stop and proceed no further: or else as comforting and encouraging himself in his melancholy circumstances; and the sense is, this is an "infirmity", an affliction and trouble that I am at present exercised with; but it is but a temporal one, it will not always last; I shall get over it, and out of it; it is a sickness, but not to death; and it is "mine", what is allotted to me; every man has his affliction and cross, and this is mine, and I must bear it patiently; see ( Jeremiah 10:19 ) , or else this refers to what follows, which some render, "the changes of the right hand of the most High" ^F19; and the meaning may be, this is my affliction and trouble, that there are changes in the right hand of the most High; that is, that that hand which used to be exerted in his favour, and against his enemies, was now withdrawn, and hid in his bosom; see ( Psalms 74:11 ) , and that which liberally distributed favours to him was now laid upon him in an afflictive way; and to this sense is the Targum,

``this is my infirmity, the change of the power of the right hand (or the powerful right hand) of the most High;''

though another Targum is,

``this is my prayer the years of the end from the right hand;''

and Aben Ezra makes mention of some as so interpreting the first clause, to which De Dieu agrees, who renders the whole, "and I said, this is my prayer, that the right hand of the most High might be changed"; that is, that his dispensations of providence might be changed; that he would bring him out of these afflicted, sorrowful, and melancholy circumstances, into a more comfortable one: as these words may be understood as what the psalmist comforted himself with, that there are "changes of the right hand of the most High"; I have been greatly troubled and distressed, and I have been so weak as to call in question the mercy and favour of God, and his promises to me, which I own is my sin; but I have reason to believe it will not be always thus with me, God will take off his hand, it shall not always lie thus heavy upon me; though he cause grief, he will have compassion, and turn again to me; there will be a change, and I will wait till that comes: but Kimchi thinks the word (rwkza) , "I will remember", which stands at the beginning of the next verse, belongs to that and this; and is to be supplied here, as it is in our translation, and interprets the whole to the like sense;

but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High;
which the psalmist proposed to do as a means to remove his doubts, despondency, and unbelief, and to relieve and strengthen his faith; as that God was the most High in all the earth, and above his enemies; that he had a right hand of power, which in years past had been exerted on the behalf of his people, and on his behalf; which was not impaired and shortened, but the same as ever, and sooner or later would be again used in his favour.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (Nwyle Nymy twnv) "mutationes sunt dexterae excelsi", Musculus, Muis; so Ainsworth.

Psalms 77:10 In-Context

8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

Cross References

• 1. S Exodus 15:6; Psalms 31:22