“Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.”
The psalm begins to connect the cosmic theophany to the historical salvation: "Your way was through the sea, your path through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen." This verse explicitly links the cosmic storm imagery to the exodus narrative—God's passage through the sea at the Red Sea crossing. The paradox that God's path was through the waters yet the footprints were unseen suggests that God's way of acting can be both visible in its effects and hidden in its means; God's saving purpose becomes clear only in retrospect. This verse resolves the tension between God's hiddenness (felt as abandonment in the earlier lament) and God's mighty acts.
Church Fathers on Psalms 77:19
1. This Psalm's lintel is thus inscribed: “Unto the end, for Idithun, a Psalm to Asaph himself.” What “Unto the end” is, you know. Idithun is interpreted “leaping over those men,” Asaph is interpreted “a congregation.” Here therefore there is speaking “a congregation that leaps over,” in order that it may reach the End, which is Christ Jesus.. .. 2. “With my voice,” he says, “to the Lord I have cried” Psalm 76:1. But many men cry unto the Lord for the sake of getting riches…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!