◄ Psalm 77:17 ►
The clouds poured down water; the skies resounded with thunder; Your arrows flashed back and forth.
Study Bible
The clouds poured down water
This phrase evokes a vivid image of a torrential downpour, symbolizing God's overwhelming power and presence. The Hebrew word for "clouds" here is "עָבִים" (avim), which often signifies the divine presence in the Old Testament, as clouds frequently accompany God's manifestations, such as during the Exodus (Exodus 13:21). The pouring of water can be seen as a metaphor for God's abundant blessings or His judgment, depending on the context. In this Psalm, it reflects the awe-inspiring nature of God's intervention in the world, reminding believers of His sovereignty over creation.

the skies resounded with thunder
The "skies" or "שְׁחָקִים" (shechakim) in Hebrew, are often associated with the heavens and the divine realm. The resounding "thunder" is a powerful auditory symbol of God's voice and authority. In biblical literature, thunder is frequently used to depict God's presence and His communication with humanity, as seen in the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16). This phrase underscores the majesty and might of God, who speaks through the natural elements, commanding attention and reverence from His creation.

Your arrows flashed back and forth
The imagery of "arrows" in this context can be understood as lightning, a common metaphor in ancient Near Eastern literature for divine weaponry. The Hebrew word "חִצֶּיךָ" (chitzekha) is used here, which can denote both literal arrows and metaphorical expressions of God's power. The flashing back and forth of these arrows suggests the swift and decisive nature of God's actions. This phrase serves as a reminder of God's active involvement in the world, executing His will with precision and authority. It inspires believers to trust in God's ability to protect and deliver them, as He wields His power for the sake of His people.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Asaph
The author of Psalm 77, a prominent Levite musician appointed by King David to lead worship in the tabernacle.

2. The Skies
Represents the heavens, often seen as the domain of God's power and majesty.

3. Thunder and Lightning
Natural phenomena used metaphorically to describe God's mighty presence and actions.

4. The Clouds
Symbolic of God's provision and the outpouring of His blessings or judgment.

5. Arrows
A metaphor for lightning, illustrating God's swift and powerful intervention.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty in Nature
The natural world is under God's control, and He uses it to reveal His power and presence.

Symbolism of Thunder and Lightning
Thunder and lightning are not just natural phenomena but are used in Scripture to symbolize God's voice and action.

God's Intervention in Human Affairs
Just as God used thunder and lightning in biblical events, He continues to intervene in our lives in powerful ways.

Trust in God's Power
In times of trouble, remember that the God who controls the storms is the same God who watches over us.

Reflecting on God's Past Deeds
Like Asaph, we should recall God's mighty works in history and in our lives to strengthen our faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of thunder and lightning in Psalm 77:17 enhance your understanding of God's power?

2. In what ways can recalling God's past interventions, as Asaph does, help you in your current struggles?

3. How do the natural elements described in this verse reflect God's sovereignty over creation?

4. Can you think of a time when you experienced God's intervention in a powerful way? How did it impact your faith?

5. How do the connections to other scriptures, like Exodus 19:16 and 1 Samuel 7:10, deepen your understanding of God's presence and power?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 19:16
The thunder and lightning at Mount Sinai when God gave the Law to Moses, demonstrating God's power and presence.

1 Samuel 7:10
God thunders against the Philistines, showing His intervention in battles.

Job 37:2-5
Describes God's voice in the thunder, emphasizing His majesty and power.

Revelation 4:5
Lightning and thunder around God's throne, symbolizing His authority and judgment.
Sermons
From Darkness to DawnS. Conway Psalm 77:1-20
God's Ear Open to the Cry of the NeedyJ. C. Ryle.Psalm 77:1-20
The Faculty of Human ThoughtHomilistPsalm 77:1-20
People
Aaron, Asaph, Jacob, Jeduthun, Joseph, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Abroad, Arrows, Clouds, Flashed, Flooded, Forth, Noise, Poured, Resounded, Skies, Thick, Thunder, Truly, Waters, Wide, Yea
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 77:17

     4293   water
     5210   arrows

Psalm 77:10-20

     8724   doubt, dealing with

Psalm 77:14-20

     1315   God, as redeemer

Psalm 77:16-18

     4272   sky

Psalm 77:17-18

     4852   thunder

Library
June the Eleventh the Path Across the Sea
"Thy way is in the sea." --PSALM lxxvii. 11-20. And the sea appears to be the most trackless of worlds! The sea is the very symbol of mystery, the grim dwelling-house of innumerable things that have been lost. But God's way moves here and there across this trackless wild. God is never lost among our mysteries. He knows his way about. When we are bewildered He sees the road, and He sees the end even from the beginning. Even the sea, in every part of it, is the Lord's highway. When His way is in …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

A Question for a Questioner
The question which makes our text is meant to end other questions. You may carry truth as far as ever you like, and it will always be truth. Truth is like those crystals which, when split up into the smallest possible fragments, still retain their natural form. You may break truth in pieces, you may do what you like with it, and it is truth throughout; but error is diverse within itself, and evermore bears its own death within itself. You can see its falsehood even in its own light. Bring it forward, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 31: 1885

Ere Another Step I Take
"I commune with mine own heart." -- Psalm 77:6. Ere another step I take In my wilful wandering way, Still I have a choice to make -- Shall I alter while I may? Patient love is waiting still In my Savior's heart for me; Love to bend my froward will, Love to make me really free. Far from Him, what can I gain? Want and shame, and bondage vile -- Better far to bear the pain Of His yoke a little while. Soon I might its comfort find; Soon my thankful heart might cry, "In Thy meek obedient mind, As …
Miss A. L. Waring—Hymns and Meditations

Despondency Self-Corrected. --Ps. Lxxvii.
Despondency Self-Corrected.--Ps. lxxvii. In time of tribulation, Hear, Lord, my feeble cries, With humble supplication To Thee my spirit flies: My heart with grief is breaking, Scarce can my voice complain; Mine eyes, with tears kept waking, Still watch and weep in vain. The days of old, in vision, Bring vanish'd bliss to view; The years of lost fruition Their joys in pangs renew; Remember'd songs of gladness, Through night's lone silence brought, Strike notes of deeper sadness, And stir desponding …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

A Path in the Sea
'And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. 21. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

How the Whole and the Sick are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 13.) Differently to be admonished are the whole and the sick. For the whole are to be admonished that they employ the health of the body to the health of the soul: lest, if they turn the grace of granted soundness to the use of iniquity, they be made worse by the gift, and afterwards merit the severer punishments, in that they fear not now to use amiss the more bountiful gifts of God. The whole are to be admonished that they despise not the opportunity of winning health for ever. …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Letter iii (A. D. 1131) to Bruno, Archbishop Elect of Cologne
To Bruno, [8] Archbishop Elect of Cologne Bernard having been consulted by Bruno as to whether he ought to accept the See of Cologne, so replies as to hold him in suspense, and render him in awe of the burden of so great a charge. He advises him to seek counsel of God in prayer. 1. You seek counsel from me, most illustrious Bruno, as to whether you ought to accept the Episcopate, to which it is desired to advance you. What mortal can presume to decide this for you? If God calls you, who can dare …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Letter Xlii to the Illustrious Youth, Geoffrey De Perrone, and his Comrades.
To the Illustrious Youth, Geoffrey de Perrone, and His Comrades. He pronounces the youths noble because they purpose to lead the religious life, and exhorts them to perseverance. To his beloved sons, Geoffrey and his companions, Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, wishes the spirit of counsel and strength. 1. The news of your conversion that has got abroad is edifying many, nay, is making glad the whole Church of God, so that The heavens rejoice and the earth is glad (Ps. xcvi. 11), and every tongue …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Joy
'The fruit of the Spirit is joy.' Gal 5:52. The third fruit of justification, adoption, and sanctification, is joy in the Holy Ghost. Joy is setting the soul upon the top of a pinnacle - it is the cream of the sincere milk of the word. Spiritual joy is a sweet and delightful passion, arising from the apprehension and feeling of some good, whereby the soul is supported under present troubles, and fenced against future fear. I. It is a delightful passion. It is contrary to sorrow, which is a perturbation …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137] …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Of Faith. The Definition of It. Its Peculiar Properties.
1. A brief recapitulation of the leading points of the whole discussion. The scope of this chapter. The necessity of the doctrine of faith. This doctrine obscured by the Schoolmen, who make God the object of faith, without referring to Christ. The Schoolmen refuted by various passages. 2. The dogma of implicit faith refuted. It destroys faith, which consists in a knowledge of the divine will. What this will is, and how necessary the knowledge of it. 3. Many things are and will continue to be implicitly …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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