In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
Psalm 77 belongs with the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives in the Babylonian captivity, especially its latter part under Belshazzar, when Jewish persecution and distress were at their greatest. In the day of trouble the speaker sought the Lord, with his sore running in the night without ceasing and his soul refusing to be comforted.
Here soul names the person himself in the midst of sorrow and emotional trouble, experiencing distress and refusing comfort, not an immaterial or immortal part distinct from the person. The wider psalm sets God's mighty works before the troubled mind as a comfort.
Unlike the speaker who refused comfort, one in deep trouble may seek the Lord and cry to him and find that he hears, and not refuse to be comforted. So a grieving mother after her child's death sought God and found that he heard her, and remembering God's goodness and mercy in preserving her family helped her trust that God is good and does all things well.
Psalm 77 belongs with the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives in the Babylonian captivity, especially its latter part under Belshazzar, when Jewish persecution and distress were at their greatest. In the day of trouble the speaker sought the Lord, with his sore running in the night without ceasing and his soul refusing to be comforted.
Here soul names the person himself in the midst of sorrow and emotional trouble, experiencing distress and refusing comfort, not an immaterial or immortal part distinct from the person. The wider psalm sets God's mighty works before the troubled mind as a comfort.
Unlike the speaker who refused comfort, one in deep trouble may seek the Lord and cry to him and find that he hears, and not refuse to be comforted. So a grieving mother after her child's death sought God and found that he heard her, and remembering God's goodness and mercy in preserving her family helped her trust that God is good and does all things well.