Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 77:2

"In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted." — Psalms 77:2 (ASV)

My sore ran ... —The text of this verse is evidently faulty. As it stands it is unintelligible. My hand was poured out and grew not dull (like a corpse).

The Septuagint and Vulgate have, with my hands against Him, and I was not deceived, pointing to a different reading. Symmachus has, however, my hand was stretched out, which may be a possible meaning of the Hebrew, though a comparison with Lamentations 3:49 suggests that eye was written instead of hand. The Authorized Version’s sore comes from the Rabbis, who thought of the hand beating the breast, and rendered, my blows were poured out. Though the probable text may be beyond recovery, the feeling of the verse is quite palpable. It expresses the anguish of the poet’s soul—

“His vows in the night, so fierce and unavailing,
Stings of his shame and passion of his tears.”