settlement was changed from Naumkeag to ‘Salem’. Tradition has it that this was an intentional allusion to ‘Salem’ in Ps. 76:2 (‘His abode has been established in Salem’): this was the New Jerusalem, in line with Puritan political theology.
Christian reception succeeded in reading positively all four psalms of this *Asaphite collection; but this is the first psalm in the collection which Jewish reception also viewed in a more optimistic way. So even though this psalm has been interpreted very differently throughout Jewish and Christian tradition, both concur that God will have victory over the forces of evil.
Psalm 77: An Individual Lament about Ongoing Exile
Psalm 77 again suggests earlier northern elements: verse 15, with the reference to Jacob and Joseph, is the best example. However, the final cause for the lament is more likely to be the Babylonian exile rather than the Assyrian crisis: its use of cosmic and mythological traditions to describe the crossing of the Sea has correspondences with Psalm 74.71 Like the two previous psalms, there are a few complexities of translation: for example, *ketib/qere’ occurs three times, and the tenses and moods of the verbs are hard to follow. Two long strophes might be suggested: a lament in verse 1–12, with the theme of ‘remembering’ in verses 3, 6 and 11; and a hymn anticipating God’s victory in verses 13–20, which moves from the world of myth to a Jewish view of their history.
The *Septuagint translates verse 1 (and indeed most of verses 1–6) in the past tense, thus, like Ps. 76:1–3, making it clear that this is a prayer from the past which the psalmist is now reconsidering. Jewish reception again emphasises the long sojourn of exile up to the present time, thus linking together all the psalms in this first collection of Book Three. *Rashi, for example, interprets the reference to ‘night’ in verse 2 (Heb. v. 3) as an allusion to the exile, as in Ps. 74:16.72 Much is made of verses 18–21 (Eng. vv. 17–20) at the end of the psalm, reading this as an incitement to the people to purify themselves (as did Moses and Aaron) if God is to perform the same wonders again.73
The Christian response in both the eastern and western traditions is more positive, focussing on the hymn rather than the lament. *Eusebius, for example, reads ‘When the waters saw you… they were afraid’ in verse 16 as a reference to Jesus’ baptism.74 *Ambrose uses the same verse to argue that ‘turning back’ of the waters is an allegory for the church, which, gathered together like the waters, has to learn how to fear and obey.75 A similar interpretation is found in *Ephrem the Syrian’s commentary, who sees verse 16 as fulfilled in Mark 14:25 and 32, where both the waters and the disciples testify to the Deity of Christ.76 *Thomasius, again citing *Aquinas, follows *Augustine in taking a broader reading of the hymn and its prologue: both verses 11–12 and the hymn itself (verses 13–20) are the voice of Christ to the Father, who alone works great miracles.77 Verses 18–19 are read as the ‘chariot of Christ’, making its way through the chaotic seas.78
There is, however, one interesting example of the use of this lament in literature. The focus of the lament is a reproach to God for preventing the psalmist sleeping (verses 2, 4) because of the lack of answered prayer (7–10). A re-reading of this complaint is offered by Shakespeare in his Sonnet 61, which is not so much a prayer to God as the poet’s jealous reflections about his friend’s love which he fears is not as strong as his love is for him. So the initial lines address the friend (referred to later as ‘my love’), not God, but use the language of Ps. 77:1–10:79
Is it thy will thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Shakespeare’s attribution of the lack of sleep to his friend’s absent love, rather than to the absence of God, was in part influenced by the annotations made to this psalm in the *Genevan Psalter, which also places the blame on the psalmist’s distress more than on any failure by God.80
Is it thy spirit that thou send’st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenure of thy jealousy?
O no, thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eyes awake,
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake.
For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near.
This is perhaps the most radical re-working of the psalm in its reception history. Although there are specific allusions to this psalm in Christian art and music, they usually focus on the hymn rather the lament. One of the few musical examples is Henry *Purcell’s ‘Thy Way, O God, is Holy’, based on verses 13–18, which is sung by alto and bass against a short *SATB chorus of hallelujahs.
More positive (and Christianised) representations are found in Byzantine psalters. For example, the *Khludov Psalter (fol. 75v) and the *Bristol Psalter (fol. 124v) depict Christ, cross-*nimbed, before the personification of two rivers (illustrating verses 16–20): this is not the parting of the Red Sea, but rather Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan, as seen in the hand of God and the dove of the Spirit descending from heaven. The *Theodore Psalter has a similar theme: Christ’s baptism is represented on the first folio next to the hymn, and the second folio is of a full frontispiece, illustrating verses 19–20, with Christ enthroned between the rivers, with sheep, and Moses and Aaron.81 A similar but contemporary reading, also echoing that of Ephrem above, is found in Roger *Wagner’s woodcut accompanying these verse of the psalm: he illustrates verses 18–20 with Christ as a lone figure walking on the crest of a wave, against a dark sky filled with lightening forks; the terrified disciples in their pitching boat form the foreground (Figure 1).82
Figure 1 Jesus Walking on the Water in a Storm.
Source: Wagner, R. 2020. The Book of Praises. Translations from the Psalms. Norwich: Canterbury Press.
The difference between Christian and Jewish readings is exemplified in Marc *Chagall’s hand etching of verses 19–21 (Eng. vv. 18–20) which is about the experience of Israel not the Church: the interpretive text is Exodus 15 not the Gospel of Mark. The seas are represented, and the pathway through the sea suggests a drowning figure, but the tambourine of Miriam (Exod. 15:20–21) in the foreground intimates that this is, ultimately, a hopeful victory song.83 This compares with *Berger’s equally positive depiction of verse 16 of the psalm: Hebrew letters emerge and unfold from the changing colours of deep red, yellow and white. Of this image Berger writes: ‘My heart meditates and my spirit searches the ancient days of history for a solution to the problem of exile. For, since the fall of Adam, all nations are in exile. Only concerning the Jews is exile evident. But, says David, I find comfort in the study of God’s past wonders.’84
Hence although the interpretations of the psalm are again vastly different, both Jewish and Christian reception usually agree that the psalm can be read with hope, but do so by focussing mainly on the hymnic elements at the end of it.
