Reflection on Ps 77:2

“In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted.”

Each of us faces days of trouble in our life. The solution is not to fall into depression but to look for a way out. We have to seek it mainly from God. If we seek it from people rather than from God, it may be useful sometimes, but we can often get into more trouble. If we seek help from God in the first place, God will enlighten us or put people in our path to give us advice or to help us solve our seemingly unsolvable problem.

How shall we turn to God? The psalmist teaches us: “my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing”.

There is a difference if in a difficult situation you fall into depression which paralyses you in your trouble so that you just lie idle, sleepless, weighed down by negative thoughts, or if you have the same experience as the psalmist. In days of trouble, he lifts up his hands to God without ceasing and seeks the Lord even in this difficult, almost hopeless situation. The main problem is laziness which prevents us from being able to resist weakness or a depressive thought that torments us and to stand both physically and spiritually in true prayer before God. True prayer is no daydreaming, but rather consists in an inner self-denial. We have to put aside false thoughts and feelings, realize God’s presence and God’s word and abide in it. Abiding in His presence and His word, realize that God sees you, knows you and loves you. In this true attitude of prayer, it is also necessary to humble yourself before God, admit your sins and your folly, and bring them into God’s light to be cleansed by the power of Christ’s blood. Then give yourself wholly to God as if it were the last minute of your life. Realize God’s love, realize that He created you and gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for you, who paid for your sins. In Him He gives you eternal life but also the strength to withstand in this day of trouble and to make the most of it in order for your soul to be purified and your relationship to God strengthened, or in order to obtain grace for the conversion of those who live under the sway of darkness and in the bondage of lies and death.

The emphasis on the raised hands is not just a poetic expression, but a concrete and practical means of deep prayer. It helps to get out of the stagnant waters of laziness and dullness through physical self-denial, which also disposes you to mental self-denial.

What do the psalm’s words mean saying that the soul refused to be comforted? It means that the soul refused false comfort that distracts from the essence. The soul seeks a solution to the problem from God, and in Him it finds comfort. One can seek a false comfort in alcohol, drugs, watching films… People like to believe in delusion, but this leads to even worse problems. An example of a false comfort today is: “Take the vaccine, and everything will be fine. All problems will be solved.” No, they will not! On the contrary, they will become unsolvable.

Verse 11 reads: “I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old.” What wonders of old does the psalmist mean? From verses 19-20 it follows that he thinks of the passage through the Red Sea.

“I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.” (v.12) He means the deeds described in the Holy Scriptures but also his own life experiences.

It is ideal not only to raise your hands to the Lord and seek Him in the day of trouble, but to seek Him every day. Devote at least one hour a day to God in interior prayer, even if it will require a sacrifice, namely that you give up surfing the internet or your leisure time or futile entertainment. Doing all these things, we often waste time day after day, year after year and almost our whole life. But if we make a firm resolution to set aside at least one hour a day for God and our soul, God will compensate us abundantly. We will then have time for useful things and avoid vain, useless and harmful ones.

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The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate (BCP) is a community of monks, priests and bishops living in monasteries. The BCP is headed by Patriarch Elijah with two Secretary Bishops, +Timothy and +Methodius. The BCP arose from the need to defend the fundamental Christian truths against heresies and apostasy. It does not recognize pseudo Pope Bergoglio and is not subordinate to him.