GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
PSALM 77:16-20
Asaph finishes his Psalm with a reminder of God’s most famous Old Testament miracle, the parting of the Red Sea. His thought is that surely the same God who did this amazing thing for Israel, rescuing them from bondage in Egypt through his grace and power alone, is able to do whatever is necessary to rescue Israel from whatever trouble they were in, in his day.
16 The waters saw you, O God.
The waters saw you and churned.
The deep seas shook.
The parting of the sea began all through the water, making it churn and shake. One of the words here is the word used when a woman writhes in pain as she gives birth to a baby. (Isaiah 26:17), and can mean “dance” as well. Twice the author says that this was because the waters “saw God.” This is poetry, of course, but setting aside the question of whether an inanimate object can see as we do, we are left with the inescapable judgment that nature is always subject to God. God’s creation must always obey him. The Lord commands, and creation obeys. He told Moses to raise his staff above the waters (Exodus 14:16), and the sea had no choice but to divide and allow Israel to pass through on dry ground. The Lord does whatever is necessary to save his people.
17 The dark clouds poured down water.
The thin clouds echoed with thunder.
Indeed, your arrows shot back and forth.
18 The sound of your thunder was heard in the tornado.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth shook and quaked.
Moses recalled the strong east wind that blew a path through the waves (Exodus 14:21). Asaph associates thunder to the event, as well as lightning and a tornado; perhaps his way of thinking about the pillar of fire that lit and led their way. Often, this kind of language is used to describe the violence and upheaval of the forming and changing God brought about during the second and third days of creation, when he shaped and moved the waters, dividing them, and then drawing the land up out of them (Jeremiah 51:15-16; Psalm 93:1-4). Other times, this is simply the language of the Bible’s poets about the voice of God in general: “The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded” (2 Samuel 22:14; see also Job 37:11-5). Asaph prophetically tells us that this is also how it was when the Red Sea divided. The tornado or whirlwind is his word for the “strong east wind” that tore through the sea and left the dry path behind. It created huge, high, walls of water that remained as long as the Israelites were still walking through. Moses also said: “By the blast of your nostrils the water piled up. The surging waters stood firm like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea” (Exodus 15:8). The Lord does whatever is necessary to rescue his people.
19 Your path led through the sea.
Your way went through the mighty waters,
but your footprints went unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The story of the Red Sea march concludes with Moses and Aaron leading the people, but God himself truly leading with unseen footprints. All the while, it was the Lord who was rescuing his people, who complained almost the whole time. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that God dragged his people kicking and screaming out of Egypt even though they couldn’t comprehend how he would do it.
Asaph reminds his people, and, good believing poet that he is, he reminds himself that God will accomplish what must be done in his own time and in his own way, as he did at the Red Sea. This is always better and more perfect than any timetable we might settle upon, for what timetable does anyone ever have in mind apart from right now, immediately, or at once? Luther said: “Your trust must not set a goal for God, not set a time and place, not specify the way or the means of his fulfillment, but it must entrust all of that to his will, wisdom, and omnipotence. Just wait cheerfully and undauntedly for the fulfilment without wanting to know how and where, how soon, how late, or by what means. His divine wisdom will find an immeasurably better way and method, time and place, than we can imagine. In fact, even miracles will take place” (LW 42:89).
When we pray, we shouldn’t be afraid to remember the way God saved his people in ancient times. By doing so, by including an example in the prayer as Asaph does, we will remind ourselves that God always has our good in mind. He will not forget us. If he makes us wait for a blessing, then we will wait. Like my mom telling me not to snack so that I wouldn’t spoil my dinner, the Lord has very good things in mind for us, and we should be joyful to show patience. The waiting will make the receiving all the better, and the waiting will help us to remember just who it is who gives the gifts.
The Lord does whatever is necessary to take care of his people. “The Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Psalm 77:16-20 Your path led through the sea