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My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud; My voice rises to God, and He will listen to me.
Psalms 77:1 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph. My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for him to listen to me.
  • KJV I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.
  • BSB For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me.
  • NKJV I cried out to God with my voice— To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me.
  • NLT I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Asaph cries aloud to God for help, longing for God to listen to him.

Overview

This psalm of lament opens with an earnest, persistent cry to God in distress. The repetition stresses the intensity of Asaph's plea for God to hear. Honest, urgent prayer in trouble is modeled here, teaching believers to bring their anguish directly to the God who hears, as supremely demonstrated by Christ's own cries in His suffering.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Ps 3:4I cry to Yahweh with my voice, and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah.
  • Ps 142:1–3A contemplation by David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy.
  • Ps 50:1A Psalm by Asaph. The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
  • Ps 39:1For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
  • Ps 62:1For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
  • Ps 34:6This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
  • 1 Chr 25:3Of Jeduthun; the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising Yahweh with the harp.
  • Ps 55:16–17As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me.
  • 1 Chr 25:6All these were under the hands of their father for song in Yahweh’s house, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of God’s house; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the order of the king.
  • Ps 116:1–2I love Yahweh, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy.
  • 1 Chr 16:41–42and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were mentioned by name, to give thanks to Yahweh, because his loving kindness endures forever;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 77:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 77:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.