John Calvin Commentary Psalms 77:5

"I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times." — Psalms 77:5 (ASV)

I have recounted the days of old. There is no doubt that he sought to lessen his grief by the remembrance of his former joy, but he informs us that relief was not so easily or so quickly obtained.

By the days of old, and the years of ancient times, he seems not only to refer to the brief course of his own life but also to include many ages.

The people of God, in their afflictions, ought undoubtedly to set before their eyes and recall not only the divine blessings they have individually experienced but also all the blessings God in every age has bestowed upon his Church. It may, however, be easily gathered from the text that when the prophet considered in his own mind the mercies God had bestowed in the past, he began with his own experience.