Psalm 77 with Commentary by Dr Noel Donnelly for Sunday 18B
Psalm 77 is a long psalm. Its 72 verses give us two parallel reminders, one after the other, of the salvation story of the Hebrew people. The psalm is addressed not to God but to the congregation, reminding them of the pattern of their story, and it does this as a teaching for the present. They are to learn from past mistakes and resolve for the present. The pattern goes like this: God acts, the people rebel, and God responds. God acted in liberating them from Egyptian slavery, the people lost faith and turned to idols like the bronze calf, and God responded, firstly in punishment but subsequently in the gifts of feeding with manna and quails.
It is this feeding section that the Sunday liturgy extracts from the72 verses for our use.
When we’re singing this selection we are neatly responding to the first reading from Exodus 16.2-4 about the feeding in the desert. But our psalm puts it really dramatically: “God opened the gates of heaven. He rained down manna for their food and gave them bread from heaven. He rained food on them like dust, winged fowl like the sands of the sea. They ate and had their fill”. (24-29). But verse 32 is omitted from our liturgy: “Despite this, they went on sinning; they had no faith in God’s wonders!”
While singing this section of the psalm and responding to the Exodus reading, we are also preparing everyone for the Gospel from John. In this Gospel section the people ask Jesus for a sign to prove they should believe in him, just like the sign of bread from heaven that the people saw in the time of Moses. Jesus says the Father gives them the true bread from heaven, Jesus himself. Our psalm singing is an important bridge between the two readings.
This whole psalm has been a teaching psalm, The psalmist is encouraging us to take a good look at our past behaviour, our defiance, rebellion, our “testing” God’s love and learning from it all. But it wants us not only to learn but to go further and teach our children. (6). Religious education, as we know, starts in the home. Not an easy task. Example is often the teaching that lasts in the long run.
Psalm 77: words and music (c) Noel Donnelly. Recorded by Grace Buckley. Graphic (c) Netta Ewing.
