I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
Psalm 77 records a man in trouble. He looks inward and finds no comfort, until one decision changes everything: he stops examining himself and starts recalling what God has done. Verse 11 is the hinge. It raises the question every troubled believer asks: how does remembering the past help now?
From "my" to "Your"
You can trace the change in this psalm by watching the pronouns. Before verse 10 the psalmist's own case fills the page; from verse 10 onward God fills it.
F. B. HoleIn verses 2 to 6, it was all "my" — my this, that and the other. In verses 10 to 20, it is all "Your" — "Your years … Your wonders … Your work … Your doings … Your way … Your strength … Your arm … Your arrows … Your thunder … Your path … Your footsteps." What deliverance, what blessing, what strength there is in looking at God's things, after the weakness and humiliation of looking at our own.
Not the days of old, but His wonders of old
Earlier in the psalm he had already looked backwards and gained nothing by it. The difference now is not that he looks back, but what he sees there.
F. B. HoleBefore, he was thinking about the "days of old" and finding no comfort in it. Now he is remembering "your wonders of old," which must have been a very welcome change.
Those wonders are not vague. They are a chain of things God really did, and for us that chain runs longer than it did for the psalmist.
L. M. GrantThis would include creation, then God's dealings in the flood, His choosing and blessing of Abraham, and His raising up of the nation Israel. It would include the power He showed when He delivered them from Egypt, brought them through the wilderness into the promised land, and did many other marvellous works of power and grace. Today we can add the wonders of the New Testament: the Son of God becoming man, His life of great goodness, His sacrifice of infinite value, His resurrection, and His return to heaven.
The name behind the deeds
Some translations use "Jah" here for the LORD's name. What that name carries explains why remembering the LORD's deeds steadies a frightened heart.
The Bible TreasuryWe first meet Jah in Exodus 15:2, after God delivered the people from Pharaoh at the Red Sea. It appears often in the Psalms in the well-known compound Hallelujah, and it occurs in Psalm 77:11 too. If we look at the context of most of the places where it occurs, I think we will be convinced that it is not just a short form of Jehovah. It has a meaning of its own, reminding His people that He has stepped in with power for them, and will do so again.
Why looking inward could never heal him
Earlier in the psalm, thinking about God only made him more troubled. The cure was not more honesty about himself, but a new object to look at.
A. PridhamOnly the enjoyment of grace, felt and known, casts fear out of the heart of a person born again. And you can never work out grace from the inward experience of a heart that judges itself by the truth. The springs of grace are in God. They flow out to meet the sinner in the word of His grace… Light and joy come back to the sin-burdened spirit of the self-condemned believer in one way only. The heart must turn away from cutting itself open and look at Him in whom the brightness of the Father's glory shines in loving mercy on us, as the effect of His atoning work.
Remembering is itself an act of faith
Earlier he judged by what he found inside himself. What he does in verse 11 draws on something else.
J. N. DarbyBefore, we judged from the resources of our own heart. Now we judge from the favour and resources God has shown. Remembrance of His doings is one of the marks of faith. "They soon forgot his works."
What the remembering produces
Remembering does not stop with the past. It gives back trust, speech, and praise.
A. PridhamA moment ago this broken-hearted man thought of God and only ended in complete confusion. Now his spirit revives at the fresh remembrance of God's ancient ways of truth and mercy. He finds heart and speech to trust Him and to speak His praise as he talks of His wonderful works. All turns to peace and hope when we remember God according to the proven truth of His own righteous and triumphant grace.
Summary
- Turn — The psalm turns from "my" to "Your". Strength comes from looking at God's things, not our own.
- Object — He was already remembering. Healing came when he looked at God's wonders instead of at the old days.
- Name — The name used here marks God as the One who stepped in with power for His people, and will again.
- Faith — Grace is never found by digging into yourself. It flows from God in His word, and remembering what He has done is a mark of faith.
- Result — Remembering gives back speech. Trust and praise return, and everything turns to peace and hope.