Single lesson
Psalm 77: In the Day of Trouble I Sought the LORD
Psalms 77:1–20
Psalm 77 is a prayer that starts with deep trouble and hard questions, then turns to remembering God’s past works. Children can trace how the speaker moves from crying out to recalling God’s wonders and leading.
Before you teach
In this psalm, one speaker addresses God directly, speaks about sleepless trouble, and asks whether God’s kindness and compassion have ceased. Then the prayer shifts to remembering God’s deeds, wonders, strength, redemption of his people, God’s way through the sea, and God leading his people by Moses and Aaron.
Students will identify the speaker’s movement in Psalm 77 from crying out in trouble to remembering God’s deeds, redemption, and leading.
Welcome: From trouble to remembering
4 minTell the group that Psalm 77 is a prayer poem. Explain that they will listen for who is speaking, what the speaker feels, and how the words change across the psalm. Invite children to notice repeated ideas like cry, remember, wonders, waters, and led.
Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:20
Read and explain: The cry in the night
8 minRead the opening part slowly. Point out that the speaker cries to God for help, seeks the Lord in trouble, and cannot rest or easily speak. Show that the psalm includes real questions: will the Lord reject, has loving kindness vanished, and has God forgotten to be gracious.
Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:4, Psalms 77:7, Psalms 77:8, Psalms 77:9
Discuss: The turning point of the psalm
6 minRead the middle section. Help children hear the change in wording: “I will remember” and “I will meditate”. Explain that meditate here means carefully thinking about God’s work. Notice what the speaker says about God: his way, his wonders, his strength, and his redemption of his people.
Psalms 77:10, Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:12, Psalms 77:13, Psalms 77:14, Psalms 77:15
Make and respond: Illustrated prayer or image card
8 minChildren make a small card with two sides or two panels. On one side, they draw or write words from the troubled beginning, such as cry, night, overwhelmed, or questions. On the other side, they draw or write words from the ending, such as wonders, sea, flock, Moses and Aaron, and led.
Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:3, Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:19, Psalms 77:20
Closing: God’s way through the waters
4 minRead the closing lines again. Invite children to name the powerful images: waters, clouds, thunder, lightning, sea, and flock. Conclude that the psalm ends by remembering God’s powerful way through the sea and his leading of the people by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalms 77:16, Psalms 77:17, Psalms 77:18, Psalms 77:19, Psalms 77:20
Questions to explore
What words show that the speaker is in deep trouble at the start of the psalm?
Look for the lines about crying to God, seeking the Lord at night, refusing comfort, groaning, being overwhelmed, and being too troubled to speak.
Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:3, Psalms 77:4
Where does the psalm begin to change direction, and what does the speaker choose to do?
Notice the repeated decision in the middle of the psalm to appeal, remember, meditate, and consider God’s deeds and wonders.
Psalms 77:10, Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:12
Which pictures at the end of the psalm show God’s power and leading?
Find the storm and sea images, then connect them with the final picture of God leading his people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalms 77:16, Psalms 77:17, Psalms 77:18, Psalms 77:19, Psalms 77:20
Make, think or respond
Two-Part Psalm Card
What you’ll need
- paper or card
- pencils or crayons
- marker or pen
- Bible
Try it together
- Fold a sheet in half or divide it into two panels.
- On the first side, write or draw words and images from the opening cries and questions, such as those in Psalms 77:1, Psalms 77:2, Psalms 77:3 and Psalms 77:9.
- On the second side, write or draw words and images from the remembering and leading section, such as those in Psalms 77:11, Psalms 77:14, Psalms 77:19 and Psalms 77:20.
- Invite each child to briefly explain one image they chose from each side.
The card helps children see the movement of Psalm 77 from distress and questioning to remembering God’s deeds, wonders, and leading.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, read only selected verses aloud twice and offer a word bank such as cry, night, remember, wonders, sea, flock.
- For older or more confident children, ask them to label the two panels with short headings such as “trouble” and “remembering” and include one direct quote from each part of the psalm.
An optional closing prayer
“God, when we are troubled, help us cry to you honestly. Help us remember your deeds and your wonders, and remember that you led your people like a flock. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Psalms 77
1 My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
4 You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak.
5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
6 I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires:
7 “Will the Lord reject us forever? Will he be favorable no more?
8 Has his loving kindness vanished forever? Does his promise fail for generations?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he, in anger, withheld his compassion?” Selah.
10 Then I thought, “I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all your work, and consider your doings.
13 Your way, God, is in the sanctuary. What god is great like God?
14 You are the God who does wonders. You have made your strength known among the peoples.
15 You have redeemed your people with your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
16 The waters saw you, God. The waters saw you, and they writhed. The depths also convulsed.
17 The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder. Your arrows also flashed around.
18 The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea, your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.