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Psalm 77:3
I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
1For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph. My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me.
2In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.
3I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
4You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak.
5I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
Notice
Remembering God brings a groan here, and the speaker’s spirit is overwhelmed, unsettling the expectation that thoughts of God must bring a sense of peace.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
When has remembering God brought a groan rather than relief, if ever?
Write on thisWhat complaint, if any, would you put beside the words “my spirit is overwhelmed”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 61:2From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.Both speakers describe being overwhelmed in prayer to God; Psalm 61 adds a plea to be led to a higher rock.
Psalm 42:5Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.Both describe inward distress while thinking of God; Psalm 42 speaks hope to the soul, while Psalm 77:3 remains a complaint.
Psalm 55:2Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moanComplaint and groaning mark both prayers, with Psalm 55 adding a direct plea for God to attend and answer.
Psalm 142:2–3I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.Both speakers voice complaint before God, naming trouble without reporting relief in the supplied lines.
Job 7:11“Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.Both speakers link complaint with anguish within: Job speaks from bitterness of soul, and the psalm describes an overwhelmed spirit.
Job 31:23For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.Both speakers describe distress in relation to God; Job names terror before God’s majesty, while the psalm names groaning.
Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.Both describe a distressed spirit in relation to God; Job uses arrows and poison, while the psalm names groaning and complaint.
Lamentations 3:39Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?Both passages speak of complaint, though Lamentations names punishment for sins and Psalm 77:3 leaves the cause of distress unstated.
Jeremiah 17:17Don’t be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil.Both passages bring distress into speech about God; Jeremiah asks him not to become a terror, while the psalm describes groaning.
Job 23:15–16Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.Thinking of God accompanies distress in both texts: Job describes fear at his presence, and the psalm describes groaning.
Lamentations 3:17You have removed my soul far away from peace. I forgot prosperity.Both speakers describe inner distress in relation to God: one names lost peace, the other an overwhelmed spirit.
Song of Songs 5:6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved left, and had gone away. My heart went out when he spoke. I looked for him, but I didn’t find him. I called him, but he …The shared thread is inward distress; Song of Songs concerns an absent beloved, while the psalm concerns remembering God.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. grief. doubt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
If remembering God brings a groan today, this psalm has room for that response. The speaker seeks God while his spirit is still overwhelmed.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 77:3. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).