John Calvin Commentary Psalms 77:10

"And I said, This is my infirmity; [But I will remember] the years of the right hand of the Most High." — Psalms 77:10 (ASV)

And I said, My death, the years of the right hand, etc. This passage has been explained in various ways. Some, deriving the word חלותי, challothi, from חלה, chalah, which signifies to kill, consider the prophet as meaning that, being overwhelmed with an accumulation of calamities, the only conclusion to which he could come was that God had appointed him to utter destruction, and that his language is a confession of his having fallen into despair.

Others translate it to be sick, to be infirm or enfeebled, which is much more consistent with the scope of the passage. But they differ with respect to the meaning. According to some interpreters, the prophet accuses and reproves himself for his lack of fortitude, and for not setting himself more resolutely to resist temptation.

This exposition may be admitted, for the people of God ordinarily gather courage after having for a time wavered under the shock of temptation. I, however, prefer a different interpretation: namely, that this was a disease merely temporary, and on this account, he compares it indirectly to death, even as it is said in Psalm 118:18.

The Lord has chastened me severely: but he has not given me over to death. Also, I shall not die, but live (Psalms 118:18).

He, therefore, I have no doubt, unburdens himself by cherishing the confident conviction that, although he was presently cast down, it was only for a season, and that therefore it was fitting for him patiently to endure this sickness or disease, since it was not mortal. Nor do commentators agree in the explanation of the second clause.

Those who connect this verse with the preceding verses think that the prophet was reduced to such a state of despondency at first that he looked upon himself as utterly undone, and that afterwards he lifted up his head at times, even as those who are thrown into the deep in a shipwreck repeatedly rise above the water.

Besides, they would interpret this as a word of encouragement addressed by someone to the prophet, urging him to remember the years in which he had experienced that God was merciful to him. But it will be more appropriate to understand it this way: You have no reason to think that you are now doomed to death, since you are not suffering from an incurable disease, and the hand of God is accustomed to heal those whom it has struck.

I do not reject the opinion of those who translate שנות, shenoth, by changes; for as the Hebrew verb שנה, shanah, signifies to change, or to do a thing again and again, the Hebrews have taken from it the word שנות, shenoth, which they employ to denote years, from their revolving character, from their turning round, as it were, in the same orbit. But in whatever way we may understand it, the comfort of which I have spoken will remain firm, which is, that the prophet, assuring himself of a favorable change in his condition, does not look upon himself as doomed to death. Others give a somewhat different interpretation, arriving at it in another way: as if the prophet had said, Why should you not patiently endure the severity of God at this time, when until now He has cherished you by His beneficence? Even as Job said,

Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not
also receive evil? (Job 2:10)

But it is more probable that the prophet directs his view to the future and means that it was fitting for him to await the years or revolutions of the right hand of the Most High, until He should afford clear and undisputed evidence of the return of His favor towards him.