You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
The Holy Spirit dictated this psalm as a common prayer for the Church in her afflictions, not the private sorrow of one man, but the lamentations of God's chosen people. When we cry to Him, He hears; this is not mere complaint but the sure testimony of His readiness to answer those who call upon Him.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 77:1-20
Thou holdest mine eyes waking. The fears which thy strokes excite in me forbid my eyelids to fall, my eyes continue to watch as sentinels forbidden to rest. Sleep is a great comforter, but it forsakes the sorrowful, and then their sorrow deepens and eats into the soul. If God holds the eyes waking, what anodyne shall give us rest?
Here you see a good man drowning in melancholy, struggling in that horrible pit and miry clay. In his trouble he did not seek distraction or amusement, he sought the Lord Himself. Days of inward trouble must be days of prayer; you must pray your sorrow away, not drink it or laugh it away.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 77:1-10