When Life Goes Wrong

Life sometimes hurts. It can seem that nothing is going right and that everything is going wrong. Past joys are swallowed up in the difficulty of the moment, and discouragement infiltrates the soul. Any Christian who thinks he alone has suffered such a difficult time is abysmally mistaken. Psalm 77 tells about Asaph, a man who struggled deeply with the discouragement of apparent reversals in life.

Asaph doesn't reveal the specific source of his discouragement; maybe it wasn't even anything in particular. What he does reveal is a heaviness in his spirit, a heaviness that has turned his life upside down. The first six verses of the psalm describe his desperately troubled spirit.

In verse 2, Asaph discloses that he is troubled "in the day" and that "in the night" he unceasingly seeks relief; in spite of his seeking day and night, he finds no comfort. Asaph notes in verses 3-4 that he is "disturbed," that he sighs, that his "spirit grows faint," that he is unable to sleep, and that he is "so troubled that [he] cannot speak." This man is crushed in his spirit and overwhelmed with the difficulty of his situation. He seems to be a mere shadow of a man, going through the motions of living, but with no joy or peace.

One thing adding to his discouragement is that it wasn't always this way. In verses 5-6, Asaph remembers better days. As he thinks about those prior days of blessing, he remembers the songs that he used to have. His heart has something to meditate on, and his spirit has something to ponder, because he has memories so positive that they further trouble his spirit. He is "disturbed" when he "remember[s] God" (v. 3), because his memories seem to mock his current life and seem to highlight the disparity between the past and the present.

In his despondency, Asaph asks some heart-wrenching questions in verses 7-9, questions that reveal Asaph believes God has forgotten him. "Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious, or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?"

These questions of despairing doubt lead to a distressing conclusion in verse 10. At this low point in his life, Asaph laments, "It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High has changed." This is a terrible conclusion indeed. Asaph has known a God of love, promises, grace, and compassion. He has known a God who helped him, blessed him, and encouraged him. Considering all that God has been in the past, it is the greatest disappointment ever to conclude that such a God no longer exists. Asaph believes that his previously faithful God is now characterized by rejection, anger, neglect, and forgetfulness.

Any true believer wants to cry out to Asaph, "No, it's not true. God hasn't changed. He is still the same great God that He always was." Asaph himself realizes that the conclusion he has just reached cannot be true, and he deliberately turns his thoughts for the remainder of the psalm.

Asaph makes a conscious choice to think about who God is - who He always has been and who He continues to be. Asaph resolves, "I shall remember,” “I will remember,” “I will meditate,” and “muse” (vs. 11-12). Asaph chooses to stop his wrong thinking and to think instead on the truth he knows. In verses 11-15, Asaph recalls God's deeds, His wonders, His work, His holiness, His greatness, His strength, and His power. He shouts out rock-solid truth: "What god is great like our God?" (v. 13).

Now that Asaph has determined to meditate on God's great works, he finds hearty sustenance for his thoughts. He considers some of the phenomenal things God has done in the past. In verses 16-20, Asaph recounts some of God’s most amazing deeds. He considers the flood - the depths of the waters that trembled before God, the clouds that poured out water as they had never done before, the thunder and lightning that proclaimed the power of God, and the upheaval that changed the entire earth. Asaph also recalls one of the most phenomenal epochs of Israel's history - the deliverance of God's people from Egypt. God performed unbelievable miracles leading up to and including the exodus, all so that He could deliver His chosen people.

Now Asaph has an anchor for his thoughts. He has just recalled the great deeds God has done in the past. He has checked his thoughts, realizing that God has not and cannot change. The God of Noah, of Abraham, and of Joseph is the God of Asaph. He is the same God with the same love, the same faithfulness, the same power, the same wisdom. God did whatever He wanted to do in the lives of those men, and the same God will do that for Asaph also. Nothing will stop God's plan now, just like it could not then.

The discouraging circumstances were the wrong place for Asaph to fix his gaze, leading him only deeper into despair. With his thoughts fixed on his amazing God, however, Asaph could trust steadily and confidently in his great God. His life situation may not have changed, but the state of his heart was altogether different. Thinking on what God had done and what God is like put Asaph again on the right path. Such a victory was possible because of Asaph's direction in the very first verse of the psalm. Even in his despair, he knew where he needed to turn. "My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; my voice rises to God, and He will hear me." Asaph started by going to the right Source and allowing his heart and thoughts to be directed in God's ways.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8 (NASB)