John Calvin Commentary Psalms 77:1

"I will cry unto God with my voice, Even unto God with my voice; and he will give ear unto me." — Psalms 77:1 (ASV)

My voice came to God, and I cried. This is not a mere complaint, as some interpreters explain it. They suggest it denotes the surprise God's people felt when they found that He, who until now had been accustomed to grant their requests, shut His ears to them and was called upon in vain.

It appears more probable that the prophet is either speaking of the present feeling of his mind or else recalling how he had experienced God's inclination and readiness to hear his prayers. There can be no doubt that he describes the greatness of the sorrow with which he was afflicted. And, in my opinion, he indicates a continuous action through both the past and future tenses of the verbs.

In the first place, he declares that he did not foolishly rend the air with his cries, like many who pour forth bitter cries without measure and at random in their sorrows; rather, he addressed his speech to God when necessity compelled him to cry. The conjunction and, which is joined to the verb cried, should be understood as the adverb of time when, in this way: When I cried, my voice came to God. At the same time, he also shows that although he had often been compelled to repeat his cries, he had not stopped persevering in prayer.

What is added immediately after is intended for the confirmation of his faith: And he heard me. The conjunction and, as in many other places, is here used instead of the causal conjunction for. The meaning is that he encouraged himself to cry to God, based on the understanding that it was God’s usual way to show His favor and mercy towards him.