Why read Psalm 76?
Psalm 76 offers words for prayer when doubt and anxiety accompany distress. Questions about God's mercy give way to remembering His works, helping the psalmist view present trouble differently.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
"With my voice unto the Lord have I..." — so begins Psalm 76, nineteen verses from the Tenth Kathisma. The Psalter is read in the Orthodox Church at every service, and this psalm has its own place in the order of prayer. The Orthodox Septuagint numbering is preserved: this Psalm 76 corresponds to Psalm 77 in Hebrew numbering.
The text of Psalm 76
1. With my voice unto the Lord have I cried, with my voice unto God, and He gave heed unto me.
2. In the day of my affliction I sought God; even with my hands stretched out before Him by night, and I was not weakened; my soul refused to be comforted.
3. I remembered God and trembled; I meditated, and my spirit fainted.
4. Mine eyes went before me in wakefulness; I was troubled and spake not.
5. I thought upon the days of old, and I remembered the years of everlasting times, and I meditated;
6. By night upon my heart I pondered, and my spirit was troubled, saying:
7. Will the Lord cast me off for ever, and will He be favourable to me no more?
8. Will He cut off His mercy for ever, from generation to generation?
9. Will God forget to be merciful? Or will He shut up His compassions in His hands?
10. And I said: Now have I begun to understand; this is the change of the right hand of the Most High.
11. I remembered the works of the Lord, and I will remember Thy wonders from the beginning.
12. And I will meditate upon all Thy works, and upon Thy deeds will I ponder.
13. O God, in holiness is Thy way. Who is a great god as our God? Thou art God that doest wonders!
14. Thou hast made Thy power known among the nations. With Thine arm Thou hast redeemed Thy people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph.
15. The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee and were afraid, and the depths were troubled.
16. The clouds gave forth a sound, for Thy arrows pass by.
17. The voice of Thy thunder was in the whirlwind; Thy lightnings lightened the world; the earth was moved and shook.
18. In the sea is Thy way, and Thy paths in many waters, and Thy footsteps shall not be known.
19. Thou hast led Thy people like sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
When Psalm 76 is read
- It belongs to the Tenth Kathisma and is read in the course of the Psalter at the services; the faithful read it during fasts and in times of need.
- At the end of each psalm, the tradition adds: "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen."
Neighbouring psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
