Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
-His sleepless nights, and his inability to speak, are attributed to the remembrance of the sad contrast which God's present desertion of His people forms to His former deliverances of them.
Verse 4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking - literally, 'Thou holdest the watches х shªmurowt (H8109), which differs from the form in Psalms 63:6, by only the Hebrew letter 'aleph (') prefixed in the latter] of mine eyes;' cf. Psalms 77:2, and the parallel Lamentations 2:19.
I am so troubled that I cannot speak. The seeming contradiction here to Psalms 77:1, where he resolves to cry aloud to God, is explained by the fact that sorrow causes sufferers at one time to break forth in loud cries, at other times to be stupified so as not to be able to relieve their pain by giving it vent in words and tears.
Verse 5. I have considered the days of old - alluding to Deuteronomy 32:7.
Verse 6. I call to remembrance - resuming Psalms 77:3.
My song in the night - my former song of thanksgiving for grace experienced, sung in the still night, the season for meditation (note, Psalms 42:8; Psalms 92:2; Job 35:10). In sad contrast to 'my hand hangs open in the night' (note, Psalms 77:2), and to the "waking" nights which God now sends upon him (Psalms 77:4). The remembrance of the happy past aggravates the pain of the comfortless present.