Read Psalm 77 at Bible Gateway.
The Chiastic structure
Look at the D pair. The Psalmist communed within his heart, trying to find an instance when Adonai forgot to be gracious or shut up His compassion. He realized that there is no such instance – YHVH changes not. When his tears did not cease, he was thinking, perhaps subconsciously, that the right hand of the Most High could change. That lie that had slipped in, became his weakness. So what did he do in response? Instead of meditating on all his trouble (1C) he began to meditate on the work of YHVH (2C) – His greatness, His glory, and that His promises hold fast. Let us do the same!
I was reading through Psalm 77 today and noticed the Chiastic structure but wanted to confirm as I didn’t have time to diagram the passage. I found your helpful diagramming of the passage. Thank you. But I did have one observation that I’d love your thoughts on. Verses 1 and 16 have the same repeating structure but that specific pattern is not found elsewhere in the Psalm. Am I trying to draw a relationship where there is none or could the psalmist be drawing a parallel here between himself and the waters and each’s relationship with God?
Hello Alyssa!
The psalms were originally songs that were sung, so I think we are seeing a refrain in the structure of the song, but not in the structure of the words of the chiastic structure itself, if that makes sense. Structure elements pair by words and meaning, and not architecture, typically.