My Voice Cries Out to God

Psalm 77 is a psalm of Asaph upon Jeduthun — the night song of the Book of Psalms. It is one of Scripture's most honest portraits of a soul in distress: a man awake at night, eyes that will not close, a hand stretched out to heaven, a soul refusing all comfort. There is no salvation here yet — there is a cry, there is silence, and there is memory.

Part 1 of the song (verses 1-7) is the night itself: the double cry — my voice unto God, my voice unto God — the hand poured out into the darkness, the spirit wrapped in sorrow, the eyes held open, and the heart searching through the days of old for one song that once filled the night.

This part does not rise from darkness into light — it dives inward: from cry to moan, from moan to silence, from silence to the still conversation of a man with his own heart. There his spirit begins to search.

The central verse of the psalm, chosen as the name of the song, is:

"I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me"

This is also the chorus of the song. Notice the repetition: my voice unto God — twice, like a cry that repeats itself when no other words are left. And at its end sits one quiet certainty: and he gave ear unto me. He listens. Even at night.