We’ve all had times when we’ve lain awake, overwhelmed by life’s pressures. Life is harder than we’d like it to be. And sometimes, the usual ways we seek comfort in God fall flat. In Psalm 77, a worship leader named Asaph is honest in addressing that reality and describing what we can do to push through the challenges.
1. Seek God even when help doesn’t come easily
Asaph was experiencing what he calls “the day of [his] trouble.” We don’t know whether this involved relational conflict, personal grief, or an illness that was plaguing him, but he cried out to God and sought Him in prayer (Psalm 77:2). Even still, his soul refused to be comforted—nothing brought him relief or peace. He moaned in desperation and felt spiritually worn out by it all (Psalm 77:3).
If the psalm was written by someone of a lesser stature than Asaph, we might just assume that he was doing it wrong. But his struggles normalize the challenges of prayer and invite us to follow his example by continuing to seek God in the darkness. Help doesn’t always come easily—or instantly—even to the people of God. That’s why Jesus urges us to continue to ask, seek, and knock for the door to be opened (Matthew 7:7).
2. Be honest with your questions and keep looking to His Word for answers
When we’re confronted with a crisis, it can easily become a crisis of faith. Easy answers are tested, and superficial beliefs need to be clarified. Fearing hard questions only adds to their power.
Asaph’s stress is so great that he can’t speak, and it feels like the Lord is holding his eyelids open, keeping him from sleep (Psalm 77:4). He says, “Let me remember my song in the night” and tries to reflect on worship songs that once brought him comfort—but this time, they don’t (Psalm 77:6).
He starts asking the kinds of questions that we often feel in those times: Will this ever end? Has God’s love run out? Are His promises over? Is He so angry that He can’t show mercy anymore? (Psalm 77:7-9)
Asking questions like these helps us to wrestle through our doubts until we come to a deeper understanding of the nuances in God’s promises, the complexity in His character, and the limitations in our own trust.
3. Reflect on what God has done, not what He hasn’t
Asaph’s turning point comes when he chooses to reflect on God’s past acts of deliverance (Psalm 77:11–12). When stress is high, we can obsess over our problems and complain about what God hasn’t done, but reviewing the history of God’s working anchors us in His faithfulness.
Asaph reflected on God’s holiness, greatness, and the many ways He had delivered God’s people (Psalm 77:13–15). As he did, he remembered the exodus and how the people were trapped by the Red Sea on one hand and Pharaoh’s army on the other (Psalm 77:19–20). It was when things seemed at their worst that God rescued them—right through the sea that threatened their destruction.
As Christians, we similarly look back to the cross where God worked salvation in what looked like it might be the ultimate defeat. God’s past faithfulness gives us confidence to trust His future faithfulness and wait on Him when help doesn’t come quickly.
When your prayers don’t feel like they’re getting through, don’t give up. Faith doesn’t walk by sight. Keep seeking the Lord. Be honest with your questions, but bring them to Scripture and look to God for answers. Remember what God has done in the past to give you hope as you wait on Him to act. Feelings will change, but God hasn’t.
In awe of Him,
Paul
