The Psalmist’s questions are kind of haunting. Whatever his situation, you know it’s got to be desperate and confusing. The sort of circumstance where you need a bit of “heavenly sunshine” . . . where you’re looking for some evidence of God’s hand being active in the midst of it all . . . but the sort of situation where all you see is dark clouds . . . where you feel absolutely alone . . . where you wonder, “Where’s God?”

“Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
Has His steadfast love forever ceased? Are His promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah (Psalm 77:7-9 ESV)

The psalmist, to quote one of my daughters, “is done!” He can’t sleep at night . . . his soul is in a state of constant agitation . . . he is so troubled he can’t speak . . . the song is gone . . . the lyrics are forgotten . . . the melody has turned to a dirge. He is so done with this!

What to do? How to climb out of this hole? How to come up for a breath of air? The answer? . . . remember . . . ponder . . . meditate . . . on every evidence of God’s hand upon your life in the past . . . and know that He is so not done.

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:11-12 ESV)

Though he sees no evidence of God working in the present, the psalmist determines to recall the mighty deeds of God in the past. Though God seems silent to his trials right now, the psalmist sets his mind upon the wonder of the all too evident workings of God in the past. He would think of all the previous evidences of God’s presence . . . he would meditate, with renewed awe, on all God’s mighty deeds in the past.

And so, the psalmist recalls that God is holy . . . that He is great and like no other god . . . that He is a God who works wonders and makes known His might to His people . . . that He has, with a mighty and outstretched arm, redeemed His people . . . that He has led them like a flock (77:13-15, 20). He meditates on the God of the past and believes that He is the same God “yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8) . . . that while the psalmist may “be done”, God is so not done.

It’s not a formula that commands the immediate intervention of God’s hand. And, it’s not the “three quick and easy steps” to a sunny outlook. What it is, is work. An effort-requiring determination to bring every thought into captivity in the midst of gut churning, spirit crushing circumstance and “remember the wonders of old.” It is faith in motion. Believing the promises of God enough to recall the past works of God and know that, while He may be momentarily silent, He has not forsaken you nor left you . . . and that He is not done.

This morning I also read this in 1Corinthians . . . ” the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God . . . and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1Cor. 6:9-11). How’s that for a work of the hand of the LORD” to remember? Consider that “wonder of old” . . . ponder that evidence of God’s active agency in our lives . . . meditate on that “mighty deed” . . . and know that God’s purposes in bringing us into the light will be accomplished . . . even when the day seems dark.

Praise God . . . even in the storm . . . that He is so not done! Amen?