Psalm 77 is another of the psalms that express pain and distress (see yesterday’s post for another).  “My soul refuses to be comforted . . . I am so troubled that I cannot speak. . . . Will the Lord spurn for ever, and never again be favorable?  Has his steadfast love for ever ceased?  Has God forgotten to be gracious?” 

I can recall being on retreat quite a few years ago at a Trappistine monastery in Dubuque.  Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey is a wonderful and beautiful place to spend a retreat.  It is located on top of a bluff overlooking the Mississippi Valley.  Nonetheless, it had been a long season of dry, dry prayer in my life, and at one point that week I prayed my own version of Psalm 77: “Lord, have you forgotten me?”  (Short and to the point. 🙂  And I heard no answer at the time.

Psalm 77, with all its wonderful and clear expressions of anguish–yes, wonderful, because it is so important to find scriptures that actually express all the movements in our hearts–also includes a few lines of instruction for us when we find ourselves in those places of distress: “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.  I will meditate on all thy work, and muse on thy mighty deeds” (vv. 11-12).  If we can only stop to remember at least one thing the Lord has done for us–and there are easily more than one, aren’t there?–then we may experience at least a slight lifting up of our hearts. 

Take time today to remember, to call to mind, at least one way the Lord has blessed you in your life, and let your heart be lifted up, at least a little.