Experiencing God's Power and Presenceናሙና

When Problems Seem Huge

El Elyon literally means “God, the Most High.” It refers to God as creator and protector of the universe, acknowledging that he is above every person, power, position, or problem. So when Asaph refers to God as Elyon in Psalm 77:10, he is making a powerful statement. He is reminding himself that his God is not like the deities Canaanites believed would rule over their cities and local forces of nature. Asaph is training his mind in a new, true perspective based on his awareness of the great works and ways of God.

Asaph doesn’t stop there. He thinks about “the God who performs miracles (v. 14). He pictures God’s “mighty arm” (v. 15). He remembers all the times God’s people needed help, and God came through—how waters parted, the heavens thundered, and the earth shook (vv. 16-18). He brings his thoughts back to the basics about God: his holiness, his power, and the love and compassion that compels him to redeem. In the depths of his depression, Asaph resolutely fixes his mind on the God who pulls people out. Nothing is too difficult for him.

When you’re depressed, molehills look like mountains. When you persist in worship, those molehills return to their normal size, and God towers over them in your heart and mind. Perspective makes an enormous difference. A little problem held very close to the eye blocks everything else out of view. If you see anything else at all, you see it through the lens of that problem. Asaph demonstrates what it’s like to pull back and see from the right perspective. Hope is a powerful antidote to depression, but you can’t have it until you rediscover that God is a big God and problems are minuscule in comparison. 

Psalm 77 begins with huge problems and a tiny God. It ends with a huge God and tiny problems. That’s how perspective works. That how our hope is rekindled. And that’s how depression loses its power. Everything, even our worst problems and pain, bows to God when we see who he is.