ponder

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 77:11-12

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 

I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Some of us can't remember where we left our keys or the name of a person.  And we have all said stepping into a room "What was I coming for?".  Frustrated we pause a moment (or even for longer than a moment) and then remember.  

In the first nine verses, the Psalmist is upset (Psalm 77:1-9).  Whatever the circumstances, he is filled with such anxiety that "my soul refuses to be comforted" (v2).

But then, in verse 10 something odd happens.  So odd, translators struggle to convey it.

Psalm 77:10 (NIV)

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 

Psalm 77:10 (ASV)

And I said, This is my infirmity;

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. 

In the Hebrew, the grief of his circumstance begins the verse, but there is a pause, a turning, a recollection.  It is so abrupt that many translations leave off the word "infirmity"(ḥālâ).

The Psalmist then makes a conscious decision, instead of staying in that place, he declares that he will actively pause and remember, and not just for a moment (to be forgotten again!).  Once recalled the mighty works of God will be pondered over (hāḡâ) and meditated upon (śîaḥ), for it is that internal repetitive conversation that is the ladder out of the pit of anxiety.